ON “CONCEPTUAL MODELING AND DATABASE DESIGN”

From: Michael McBride

Date: 9 Dec 2005

I agree that Zachman's Framework has very little to do with database management. However, in my purview, it has everything to do with Information Management and Data Administration. And my mind won't be changed in that regard, either.

BTW: I found your article, CONCEPTUAL MODELING AND DATABASE DESIGN: A FOUNDATION FRAMEWORK FOR DATA MANAGEMENT, to be fundamentally sound, and regardless if you care to admit it, you reflect the three-schema architecture perfectly where the Conceptual (or Business) model answers the question of definition, while the Logical model answers the question of function (substance not content), and the data model (I prefer the term Physical model) answers the question of organization (structure). I think my abstraction of what constitutes the meaning of data structure is what I see as the only real difference of opinion, but your perspective gives me some new things to ponder, and reinforces my own understanding of data management (notice I did not say 'database management').

I appreciate your intellectual efforts and the promotion and faithful adherence to relational theory and the origins of the relational model.

Thanks for your time, and I apologize If I overstepped my bounds, lecturing you was not my intent...I only hope someday to be able to put into print concepts such as these in such a concise manner as you have so deftly managed to do!

From: Fabian Pascal

Perhaps for business management, and even there it's fuzzy fluff. Any manager with half a brain does not need ZF for that; the success of ZF lies precisely in the lack of knowledge and ability to reason in the IT industry.

My material is sound because unlike all the stuff floating in the industry, the logical level is formal and the conceptual level was developed to allow 1:1 mapping to it.

· Conceptual model: informal business concepts (enterprise-specific)

· Logical model: formal representation (as much semantics as a system is capable of "understanding") (enterprise-specific)

· Physical model: implementation in hardware/software (enterprise-specific)

· Data model: A "formal mapping construct" to map conceptual to logical models (universal theory of data)

There are always at least 3 levels of representation, but that does not mean that they are the same in the 3SA. The people who came up with that knew zilch about fundamentals. Same as XML people.

Glad you found the information of use. But I advise against endeavors such as mine: the price to be paid for it is huge, and most people do not have to wherewithal to pay it.

Posted 2/17/06