Abstract

Since relational database is not an efficient way for data explosion, electronic transfer of data and electronic business on the web, XML (Extensible Markup Language) becomes the data standard on the Internet. However, the XML schema of XSD (XML Schema Definition) is complex and difficult (if not impossible) to specify the user data requirements constraints. We introduce a methodology of using XSD-Builder for creating an XSD in a simple and efficient format on the web. We apply a data semantic oriented language solution to the problem. An XSD can be loaded into an XML database system. In our approach, the data semantics of participation, cardinality, generalization, aggregation, categorization, n-ary and u-ary relationships can be preserved in a transformed XSD. The XSD-Builder is a user friendly language for specifying the data semantics of an XSD. An XML tree model is also used as an XML conceptual schema to visualize the data semantics of XSD in a hierarchical structure. As a result, an user can draw an XML tree model for the data requirements and specifies the data semantics by using XSD-Builder according to the XML tree model diagram. The result is an generated XSD ready to be compiled and run for specifying an XML database. Keywords: XML Schema Definition, XSD-Translator, XSD-Builder, XML tree model, Constraints Specification Language, Data Semantics Oriented Language.

Introduction of speaker

Dr Joseph Fong is a visiting scholar at University of Macau. He is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department of City University of Hong Kong. His research interests are Database, Data Warehousing, Data Mining and XML technologies. He holds a US patent on Universal database, authors a book on ��Information Systems Reengineering�� by Springer Verlag and publishes many International academic journal papers in his research area. He is currently an editorial board member of International Journal on Web Information Systems and is the honorable founder chairman of Hong Kong Web Society. Dr Fong graduates from Sunderland University with a Ph.D. degree in Computing in 1993.