Automated Evaluation of Correctness and Quality of Database Conceptual Schemas

A typical database design methodology based on the conceptual modelling is a standard component of many introductory database courses. Evaluation of correctness and quality of conceptual schemas created by the course participants is always a long and tedious task due the large number of solutions and complexity of the solutions. This work describes a new approach to automated evaluation of correctness and quality of database conceptual schemas. We propose a new notation based on simplified UML class diagrams as a way for unified representation of conceptual schemas and we describe a software tool that transforms the different notations into a common one. Many of simple syntactical mistakes can be detected and reported at a transformation stage. Then, we show how to compare the transformed conceptual schemas with a template solution provided by a course instructor and how to list the discrepancies found in the designs.