Enterprise Model Patterns: Describing the World (UML Version) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have to say before starting this review, that I played a role in publishing this book and David Hay is a personal friend of mine. However, I am also a data modeling practitioner and trainer and author, and hopefully these qualifications outweigh my subjectivity.
This book is a very important book for the data management industry. With the challenges of having to complete designs in unrealistic timeframes plus the trend in having people that have not been formally trained in data modeling completing some or all of the data modeling activities, there is a need more than ever to have sound data models as a foundation for our applications. This book provides a collection of sound data models for us to use and customize for our projects.
Here are my Top 5 favorite things about this book:
Levels of abstraction. Models can be used and customized at different levels of detail, depending on the analyst's or modeler's needs. There are four levels of modeling abstraction in this book. Level 0 contains the generic information assets and accounting areas, Level 1 contains people and organizations, geography, physical assets, activities and time. Level 2 models specific functional areas within an organization such as HR and marketing, and Level 3 consists of models specific to various industries. The models are extremely comprehensive and well connected. There are over 100 data models provided spanning close to 700 pages of text.
Applicability. I personally benefited from how the book takes real examples such as Highway Maintenance and Banking and connects them to the generic patterns, making them real and easy to apply to our own situations.
UML connection. The book uses the Unified Modeling Language to depict the models and contains a detailed explanation of how to read the UML class diagram and how it relates to relational modeling. Great comparison!
History of data modeling. The book contains a brief explanation of the history of modeling which I found very interesting.
Style of writing. I really like Dave's style of writing. He is selective of every word chosen and maintains consistency and clarity and humor throughout the text.


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This book teaches you how to capture and communicate both the abstract andconcrete building blocks of your organization's data, in order to provide acoherent and comprehensive foundation for systems development.
'Thisbook presents the most comprehensive treatment of high-level abstractionsI've seen. Any event, business, and/or systems analyst should have thisbook available, both as a learning text and as an indispensible referencebook. The knowledge packed away in this book takes decades to acquire andgestate. We are all fortunate to have it in a single volume."JamesOdellCo-chair, OMG - Analysis and Design "UML and SoaML" TaskForce
"David addresses a key, difficult, challenge for data modelling(and ontology) in this book - extracting the common pattern that underliesand unifies the variety of real data models that people use. And, what isalmost as important to many readers, he does this in a clear andunderstandable way."Chris PartridgeChief Ontologist, The BOROCentre

"A great data model, one that lays the essence of a businessbare, is a thing of beauty. It simplifies process, eases communication, andbrings order to chaos. A great data model serves for a lifetime. Powerfulstuff, this."Tom Redman, PresidentNavesink Consulting Group,LLC

"Finally, choosing a level of abstraction for a data model isaddressed methodically. David should be applauded for grasping this thornyissue and producing a wonderfully readable book. Every data modeler shouldhave one".Cliff Longman, PresidentAdaptable Data

In 1995,David Hay published Data Model Patterns: Conventions of Thought - thegroundbreaking book on how to use standard data models to describe thestandard business situations. Enterprise Model Patterns: Describing theWorld builds on the concepts presented there, adds 15 years of practicalexperience, and presents a more comprehensive view.

This modeladdresses your enterprise via four levels of abstraction:

Level0: An abstract template that underlies the Level 1 model, plus two metamodels: Information Resources and Accounting. Each of these itselfrepresents the rest of the enterprise, so to model it is to 'model a model",so to speak.

Level 1: An enterprise model that is genericenough to apply to any company or government agency, but concrete enough tobe readily understood by all. It describes people and organizations,geographic locations, (physical) assets, activities, and time.

Level 2: A more detailed model describing specific functionalareas: facilities and other addresses, human resources, communications andmarketing, contracts, manufacturing, and the laboratory.

Level3: Examples of the details that can be added to a model to address whatis truly unique in a particular industry. Here you see how to address theunique bits in areas as diverse as criminal justice, microbiology, banking,oil field production, and highway maintenance.

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Patterns of Data Modeling (Emerging Directions in Database Systems and Applications) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a much awaited real data modeling patterns book - corresponding to the programming pattern book by the so-called Gang of Four. This is a must-read book for all practitioners, intermediate or advanced data modelers, and researchers who work on conceptual modeling or systems analysis & design. The book covers data modeling patterns that we should apply, antipatterns that we should avoid, archetypes that are common modeling structures occurring across different applications, canonical patterns that correspond to meta models of modeling languages & diagrams, and relational database design that maps modeling constructs to relational schema. The book is rich with diagrams that illustrate each patterns and cases. In most cases, the book presents the diagrams in both UML and IDEF1X notations. The book is quite easy to read and rich with useful modeling techniques and tips based on the author's experience. Even with my 25 years of teaching and research activities in data modeling & research, I learned several important ideas. This is an outstanding and unique book in advanced data modeling. I strongly recommend the book for anyone who wants to be an expert in modeling!
Il-Yeol Song, Professor, College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University, USA

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Best-selling author and database expert with more than 25 years of experience modeling application and enterprise data, Dr. Michael Blaha provides tried and tested data model patterns, to help readers avoid common modeling mistakes and unnecessary frustration on their way to building effective data models. Unlike the typical methodology book, Patterns of Data Modeling provides advanced techniques for those who have mastered the basics.Recognizing that database representation sets the path for software, determines its flexibility, affects its quality, and influences whether it succeeds or fails, the text focuses on databases rather than programming. It is one of the first books to apply the popular patterns perspective to database systems and data models. It offers practical advice on the core aspects of applications and provides authoritative coverage of mathematical templates, antipatterns, archetypes, identity, canonical models, and relational database design.

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Information Modeling and Relational Databases, Second Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems) Review

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(More customer reviews)Everyone needs this book. Read more to find out why:
If you intend to create genuinely useful business applications without first creating an accurate conceptual data model and deriving the database schema from the model, then I hope your projects have very large budgets and flexible deadlines, because you'll need both. Accurate conceptual data models are not an academic curiousity, they are a practical necessity. Well designed databases are the heart of every business application, and accurate conceptual data models are the foundation of every well designed database.
This book presents a method for data modeling called Object Role Modeling (ORM). If you've never created a data model before, you might as well learn the best method from the start. If you've used E-R (Entity Relationship) modeling before, this is your chance to learn a method that overcomes the limitations of E-R, while building on the knowledge you already have.
ORM is based on facts (assertions about the business sphere you are modeling), not entities and attributes. Business users understand facts much better than they understand data modeling abstractions. By using ORM facts, you create your data model in a language that business users can understand and validate. Poor communication with business users and inadequate understanding of requirements are major causes of design deficiencies. ORM solves these issues through its fact based approach.
ORM is also much more expressive than any other popular data modeling notation, ncluding UML and all major flavors of E-R. Many business rules should be expressed as data constraints, but traditional data modeling languages don't do well at capturing these constraints. By capturing the constraints in an ORM model and validating with the users, you make the construction of a good application much easier.
Halpin is an excellent writer, and this book is very easy to read. The many examples and crisp writing style mean that you'll actually understand what the author intends, a refreshing change from most computer books. If you've read the previous edition of this book, this update is very worthwhile. There is a lot of expanded and new material, and you'll be happy you purchased the new edition.

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Information Modeling and Relational Databases, second 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. Terry Halpin, a pioneer in the development of ORM, blends conceptual information with practical instruction that will let you begin using ORM effectively as soon as possible. Supported by examples, exercises, and useful background information, his 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. *Presents the most indepth coverage of Object-Role Modeling available anywhere, including a thorough update of the book for ORM2, as well as UML2 and E-R (Entity-Relationship) modeling. *Includes clear coverage of relational database concepts, and the latest developments in SQL and XML, including a new chapter on the impact of XML on information modeling, exchange and transformation. * New and improved case studies and exercises are provided for many topics. * The book's associated web site provides answers to exercises, appendices, advanced SQL queries, and links to downloadable ORM tools.

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