Object-Role Modeling (ORM) is a fact-based approach to data modeling that expresses the information requirements of any business domain simply in terms of objects that play roles in relationships. All facts of interest are treated as instances of attribute-free structures known as fact types, where the relationship may be unary (e.g. Person smokes), binary (e.g. Person was born on Date), ternary (e.g. Customer bought Product on Date), or longer. Fact types facilitate natural expression, are easy to populate with examples for validation purposes, and have greater semantic stability than attribute-based structures such as those used in Entity Relationship Modeling (ER) or the Unified Modeling Language (UML). All relevant facts, constraints and derivation rules are expressed in controlled natural language sentences that are intelligible to users in the business domain being modeled. This allows ORM data models to be validated by business domain experts who are unfamiliar with ORM’s graphical notation. For the data modeler, ORM’s graphical notation covers a much wider range of constraints than can be expressed in industrial ER or UML class diagrams, and thus allows rich visualization of the underlying semantics. Suitable for both novices and experienced practitioners, this book covers the fundamentals of the ORM approach. Written in easy-to-understand language, it shows how to design an ORM model, illustrating each step with simple examples. Each chapter ends with a practical lab that discusses how to use the freeware NORMA tool to enter ORM models and use it to automatically generate verbalizations of the model and map it to a relational database.

Information Modeling and Relational Databases, Third Edition, provides an introduction to ORM (Object-Role Modeling) and much more. In fact, it is the only book to go beyond introductory coverage and provide all of the in-depth instruction you need to transform knowledge from domain experts into a sound database design. This book is intended for anyone with a stake in the accuracy and efficacy of databases: systems analysts, information modelers, database designers and administrators, and programmers. Dr. Terry Halpin and Dr. Tony Morgan, pioneers in the development of ORM, blend conceptual information with practical instruction that will let you begin using ORM effectively as soon as possible. The all-new Third Edition includes coverage of advances and improvements in ORM and UML, nominalization, relational mapping, SQL, XML, data interchange, NoSQL databases, ontological modeling, and post-relational databases. Supported by examples, exercises, and useful background information, the authors' step-by-step approach teaches you to develop a natural-language-based ORM model, and then, where needed, abstract ER and UML models from it. This book will quickly make you proficient in the modeling technique that is proving vital to the development of accurate and efficient databases that best meet real business objectives. "This book is an excellent introduction to both information modeling in ORM and relational databases. The book is very clearly written in a step-by-step manner and contains an abundance of well-chosen examples illuminating practice and theory in information modeling. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in conceptual modeling and databases." — Dr. Herman Balsters, Director of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering, University of Groningen, The Netherlands - Presents the most in-depth coverage of object-role modeling, including a thorough update of the book for the latest versions of ORM, ER, UML, OWL, and BPMN modeling. - Includes clear coverage of relational database concepts as well as the latest developments in SQL, XML, information modeling, data exchange, and schema transformation. - Case studies and a large number of class-tested exercises are provided for many topics. - Includes all-new chapters on data file formats and NoSQL databases.

This book offers a complete basic course in Fully Communication Oriented Information Modeling (FCO-IM), a Fact Oriented Modeling (FOM) data modeling technique. The book is suitable for self-study by beginner FCO-IM modelers, whether or not experienced in other modeling techniques. An elaborate case study is used as illustration throughout the book. The book also illustrates how data models in other techniques can be derived from an elementary FCO-IM model. The context of fact oriented modeling is given as well, and perspectives on information modeling indicate related areas of application and further reading.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of ten international workshops, OTM Academy, Industry Case Studies Program, EI2N, INBAST, Meta4eS, OnToContent, ORM, SeDeS, SINCOM and SOMOCO 2012, held as part of OTM 2012 in Rome, Italy, in September 2012. The 66 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 127 submissions. The volume also includes 7 papers from the On the Move Academy (OTMA) 2012 as well as 4 CoopIS 2012 poster papers and 5 ODBASE 2012 poster papers. The paper cover various aspects of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW), middleware, Internet/Web data management, electronic commerce, enterprise modelling, workflow management, knowledge flow, agent technologies, information retrieval, software architectures, service-oriented computing, and cloud computing.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of nine international workshops, EI2N+NSF ICE, ICSP, INBAST, ISDE, MONET, ORM, SeDeS, SWWS, and VADER 2011, held as part of OTM 2011 in Hersonissos on the island of Crete, Greece, in October 2011. The 64 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 104 submissions. The volume also includes three papers from the On the Move Academy (OTMA) 2011 and five ODBASE 2011 poster papers. Topics of the workshop papers are enterprise integration and semantics, information centric engineering, interoperability, industrial and business applications of semantic Web applications, information systems in distributed environments, process management in distributed information system development, distributed information systems: implementation issues and applications, industrial applications of fact-oriented modeling, data warehouse modeling, extensions to fact-oriented modeling, model validation procedures, schema transformations and mapping, semantic Web and Web semantics, ontology development, deployment and interoperability, data access and efficient computation, efficient information processing, exchange and knowledge synthesis algorithms, mobile and networking technologies for social applications, semantic and decision support, variability in software architecture, and dynamic and adaptive architectures.

This two-volume set LNCS 4805/4806 constitutes the refereed proceedings of 10 international workshops and papers of the OTM Academy Doctoral Consortium held as part of OTM 2007 in Vilamoura, Portugal, in November 2007. The 126 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 241 submissions to the workshops. The first volume begins with 23 additional revised short or poster papers of the OTM 2007 main conferences.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of 13 international workshops held as part of OTM 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico, in November 2008. The 106 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 171 submissions to the workshops. The volume starts with 19 additional revised poster papers of the OTM 2008 main conferences CoopIS and ODBASE. Topics of the workshop papers are ambient data integration (ADI 2008), agents and web services merging in distributed environment (AWeSoMe 2008), community-based evolution of knowledge-intensive systems (COMBEK 2008), enterprise integration, interoperability and networking (EI2N 2008), system/software architectures (IWSSA 2008), mobile and networking technologies for social applications (MONET 2008), ontology content and evaluation in enterprise & quantitative semantic methods for the internet (OnToContent and QSI 2008), object-role modeling (ORM 2008), pervasive systems (PerSys 2008), reliability in decentralized distributed systems (RDDS 2008), semantic extensions to middleware enabling large scale knowledge (SEMELS 2008), and semantic Web and Web semantics (SWWS 2008).