An object-oriented modeling approach based on entity-relationship diagrams and Petri nets

Information systems (ISs) development process is usually characterized by several phases, among which a critical role is played by conceptual and logical design. To model static information structures, entity-relationship (ER) diagrams are probably the widespread formalism. To represent dynamic information, Petri nets are a flexible formalism as they are able to model processes from an aggregate point of view to a very detailed one. The purpose of this work is to try to integrate these two different formalisms in order to allow an automatic translation of conceptual models of process into a relational structure. Then, the functionality of an RDBMS could be extended by including in the relational database also a representation of dynamic information, and allowing the RDBMS to directly control the process execution.