NORMA
Encyclopedia
NORMA is a software based conceptual modeling tool based on Object Role Modeling
Object role modeling
Object Role Modeling is a method for conceptual modeling, and can be used as a tool for information and rules analysis, ontological analysis, and data modeling in the field of software engineering.- Overview :...

 (ORM), and is a free and open source plug-in to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008. It supports ORM 2 (second generation ORM), and maps ORM models to a variety of implementation targets, including major database engines, object-oriented code, and XML schema.

Dr. Terry Halpin
Terry Halpin
Terence Aidan Halpin is an Australian computer scientist who is known for his formalization of the object role modeling notation.- Biography :...

's latest book, Information Modeling and Relational Databases: From Conceptual Analysis to Logical Design "...uses the notation of ORM 2 (second generation ORM), as supported by the NORMA (Neumont ORM Architect) tool..." (page 10), and "(...)At the time of writing, the Neumont ORM Architect (NORMA) tool provides the most complete support for the ORM 2 notation discussed in this book." (Preface, xxv).

He also states: "A modeling method as good as ORM deserves a good CASE tool. Over the last decade, talented staff at ServerWare, Asymetrix Corporation, InfoModelers Incorporated,
Visio Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Neumont University have worked to develop state of the art CASE tools to support the specific ORM method discussed in this book. The following talented individuals currently working as lead software engineers on the NORMA tool deserve special mention: Matt Curland and Kevin Owen." (Preface, xxvi)

ORM2

ORM2 (second-generation ORM) is a new incarnation of Object-Role Modeling as well as a new modeling tool to support the new notation. Dr. Terry Halpin
Terry Halpin
Terence Aidan Halpin is an Australian computer scientist who is known for his formalization of the object role modeling notation.- Biography :...

 is leading the effort spearheaded by Neumont University
Neumont University
Neumont University was founded in 2003 by Graham Doxey, Scott McKinley, and Marlow Einelund. It is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah. Neumont's South Jordan campus is located in what has been labeled Utah's s between other technology-oriented companies like Ibahn, eBay, Oracle, and...

 and later continued through The ORM Foundation, a UK-based non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the fact-oriented approach to information modeling

ORM 2 is both a metamodel that defines an ORM2 model and a tool (NORMA) for creating ORM2 models. The NORMA (Natural ORM Architect) tool is an open source project. ORM2 leverages the work done by the BSBR group.

The main objectives for the ORM 2 graphical notation are:
  • More compact display of ORM models without compromising clarity
  • Improved internationalization (e.g. avoid English language symbols)
  • Notation changes acceptable to a short-list of key ORM users
  • Simplified drawing rules to facilitate creation of a graphical editor
  • Full support of textual annotations (e.g. footnoting of textual rules)
  • Extended use of views for selectively displaying/suppressing detail
  • Support for new features (e.g. role path delineation, closure aspects, modalities)

The NORMA Project

the NORMA project delivers frequent releases and is almost ready to encompass the entire life-cycle of databases.
Official CTPs are always posted on the ORM Foundation Library.

Generation Targets

Database engines Microsoft Sql Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...

, Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....

, DB2
IBM DB2
The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition is a relational model database server developed by IBM. It primarily runs on Unix , Linux, IBM i , z/OS and Windows servers. DB2 also powers the different IBM InfoSphere Warehouse editions...

, MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...

, PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X. It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software...

, etc.
Programming languages LINQ to SQL
Language Integrated Query
Language Integrated Query is a Microsoft .NET Framework component that adds native data querying capabilities to .NET languages, although ports exist for Java, PHP and JavaScript....

, PLiX (Programming Language in XML) and PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...

Other XML schemas (XSD)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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