Handling probabilistic integrity constraints in pay-as-you-go reconciliation of data models

Data models capture the structure and characteristic properties of data entities, e.g., in terms of a database schema or an ontology. They are the backbone of diverse applications, reaching from information integration, through peer-to-peer systems and electronic commerce to social networking. Many of these applications involve models of diverse data sources. Effective utilisation and evolution of data models, therefore, calls for matching techniques that generate correspondences between their elements. Various such matching tools have been developed in the past. Yet, their results are often incomplete or erroneous, and thus need to be reconciled, i.e., validated by an expert. This paper analyses the reconciliation process in the presence of large collections of data models, where the network induced by generated correspondences shall meet consistency expectations in terms of integrity constraints. We specifically focus on how to handle data models that show some internal structure and potentially differ in terms of their assumed level of abstraction. We argue that such a setting calls for a probabilistic model of integrity constraints, for which satisfaction is preferred, but not required. In this work, we present a model for probabilistic constraints that enables reasoning on the correctness of individual correspondences within a network of data models, in order to guide an expert in the validation process. To support pay-as-you-go reconciliation, we also show how to construct a set of high-quality correspondences, even if an expert validates only a subset of all generated correspondences. We demonstrate the efficiency of our techniques for real-world datasets comprising database schemas and ontologies from various application domains. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reconciling Matching Networks of Conceptual Models

Karl Aberer, Zoltán Miklós, Quoc Viet Hung Nguyen, Thành Tâm Nguyên

Conceptual models such as database schemas, ontologies or process models have been established as a means for effective engineering of information systems. Yet, for complex systems, conceptual models are created by a variety of stakeholders, which calls for techniques to manage consistency among the different views on a system. Techniques for model matching generate correspondences between the elements of conceptual models, thereby supporting effective model creation, utilization, and evolution. Although various automatic matching tools have been developed for different types of conceptual models, their results are often incomplete or erroneous. Automatically generated correspondences, therefore, need to be reconciled, i.e., validated by a human expert. We analyze the reconciliation process in a network setting, where a large number of conceptual models need to be matched. Then, the network induced by the generated correspondences shall meet consistency expectations in terms of mutual reinforcing relations between the correspondences. We develop a probabilistic model to identify the most uncertain correspondences in order to guide the expert's validation work. We also show how to construct a set of high-quality correspondences, even if the expert does not validate all generated correspondences. We demonstrate the efficiency of our techniques for real-world datasets in the domains of schema matching and ontology alignment.

2019

Pay-as-you-go Reconciliation in Schema Matching Networks

Karl Aberer, Zoltán Miklós, Quoc Viet Hung Nguyen, Thành Tâm Nguyên

Schema matching is the process of establishing correspondences between the attributes of database schemas for data integration purposes. Although several automatic schema matching tools have been developed, their results are often incomplete or erroneous. To obtain a correct set of correspondences, a human expert is usually required to validate the generated correspondences. We analyze this reconciliation process in a setting where a number of schemas needs to be matched, in the presence of consistency expectations about the network of attribute correspondences. We develop a probabilistic model that helps to identify the most uncertain correspondences, thus allowing us to guide the expert's work and collect his input about the most problematic cases. As the availability of such experts is often limited, we develop techniques that can construct a set of good quality correspondences with a high probability, even if the expert does not validate all the necessary correspondences. We demonstrate the efficacy of our techniques through extensive experimentation using real-world datasets.

2014

SMART: A tool for analyzing and reconciling schema matching networks

Karl Aberer, Vình Tuàn Chàu, Zoltán Miklós, Quoc Viet Hung Nguyen, Thành Tâm Nguyên, Tri Kurniawan Wijaya

Schema matching supports data integration by establishing correspondences between the attributes of independently designed database schemas. In recent years, various tools for automatic pair-wise matching of schemas have been developed. Since the matching process is inherently uncertain, the correspondences generated by such tools are often validated by a human expert. In this work, we go beyond the state-of-the-art of matching pairs of schemas and consider scenarios in which attribute correspondences are identified in a network of schemas. Here, correspondences between different schemas are interrelated, so that incomplete and erroneous matching results propagate in the network and the validation of a correspondence by an expert has ripple effects. To analyse and reconcile such matchings in schema networks, we present the Schema Matching Analyzer and Reconciliation Tool (SMART). It allows for the definition of network-level integrity constraints for the matching and, based thereon, detects and visualizes inconsistencies of the matching. The tool also supports the reconciliation of a matching by guiding an expert in the validation process and by offering semi-automatic conflict-resolution techniques.

2015