Generating Relational Database Transactions From Recursive Functions Defined on EB3 Traces

(c) IEEE Computer Society PressEB3 is a trace-based formal language created for the specification of information systems (IS). Attributes, linked to entities and associations of an IS, are computed in EB3 by recursive functions on the valid traces of the system. We aim at synthesizing relational database transactions that correspond to EB3 attribute definitions. Each EB3 action is translated into a transaction. EB3 attribute definitions are analysed to determine the key values affected by each action. Some key values are retrieved from SELECT statements that correspond to first-order predicates in EB3 attribute definitions. To avoid problems with the sequencing of SQL statements in the transactions, temporary variables and/or tables are introduced for these key values. Generation of DELETE statements is straightforward, but distinguishing updates from insertions of tuples requires more analysis