A master thesis from Aalborg University
DBLint: A Tool for Automated Analysis of Database Design
Author(s)
Term
3. term
Education
Publication year
2011
Submitted on
2011-01-10
Pages
33 pages
Abstract
Evaluating the quality of a database schema by manual review is time consuming, error-prone and requires a good overview. To accommodate these problems, we propose DBLint, a tool for automated analysis of database design. DBLint includes 25 design rules which encapsulate good database design practices. The architecture in DBLint is highly extensible in that new rules can be added easily. This paper presents a number of novel components necessary to create a thorough analysis of a schema design. This includes the use of PageRank to find central tables, a visualization component providing a comprehensible overview of the schema, and automatic discovering and checking of naming conventions. Furthermore, DBLint provides a score which summarizes the quality of the schema. DBLint has been implemented and evaluated on a large set of widely used database schemas, and a great number of design issues were identified. An evaluation of issues verified that the 25 implemented rules identify relevant issues. DBLint was tested by two database design teams that responded with positive feedback and suggestions to the tool.
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