Principles of Data Management, 2nd Edition

APPENDIX ACOMPARISON OF DATA MODELLING NOTATIONS

This appendix compares five notations that are in common use for data modelling, with the same business scenario drawn in each notation. The notations are:

• the Ellis–Barker notation – see Figure A.1 and Figure A.2;
• the Chen entity-relationship notation – see Figure A.3;
• the Information Engineering notation – see Figure A.4;
• the IDEF1X notation – see Figure A.5;
• the UML notation for object class diagrams – see Figure A.6.

THE ELLIS–BARKER NOTATION

Figure A.1 shows a data model drawn using my preferred notation. This notation does not have a formal name, but I am calling it the Ellis–Barker notation because it was developed in the early 1980s by Harry Ellis and Richard Barker when they were working ...