Method and apparatus for modeling extensible markup language (XML) applications using the unified modeling language (UML)

An XML schema and model technology, applied in the field of modeling XML applications, can solve the problem of difficulty in distinguishing XML elements and attributes

CN1647078AInactive Publication Date: 2005-07-27KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NV
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2005-07-27
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

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Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for modeling XML applications using an extended UML notation. The present invention extends the UML model template to include an additional compartment, referred to as a constant attribute compartment. The constant attribute compartment allows the constant attributes of an XML element to beexplicitly represented in the UML model. The disclosed UML model can thereby distinguish XML elements and XML attributes using the additional constant attribute compartment to represent attributes that remain constant through all instances of an object. The UML modeling of XML elements is more clear and readable by separately modeling the constant attributes and the variable attributes of the XML element. The present invention facilitates the automatic generation of XML schemas and source code with the appropriate software tools.
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Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a device for building an XML application model, in particular, to a method and a device for building an XML application model using UML notation. Background technique

[0002] The Extensible Markup Language (XML) recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a popular standard for encoding textual information. For a discussion of the XML standard, see, eg, the W3C Introduction to Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0, http: / / www.w3.org / TR / 1998 / REC-xml-19980210. The XML standard allows XML-enabled applications to interoperate with other compliant systems to exchange encoded information.

[0003] As XML becomes more popular with information technology professionals, the ability to accurately model XML applications becomes increasingly important. Currently, most XML applications are modeled using the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG) and descri...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0019] As described below, the present invention extends the UML model to allow explicit representation of constant properties of classes in the UML model. Thus, the present invention provides methods and devices that allow for a more precise representation of XML documents or application objects. Specifically, the disclosed UML model distinguishes XML elements from XML attributes by inserting an additional constant attribute column for containing attributes that generally remain constant throughout all instances of an XML element type.

[0020] In UML, attributes are members / data variables of a class. These properties can be broken down into two categories: constant properties such as class identifiers and mutable properties that vary from object to object. Here, the attributes we mentioned are UML attributes and not XML attributes.

[0021] Building XML Application Models Using UML

[0022] A number of techniques have been provided or suggested for modeling XML applicatio...