Visual modeling conventions

This chapter will highlight all the semantic elements that will be used throughout the rest of the book. As described earlier, no fixed and universally prescribed standard for drawing modeling diagrams exists. The conventions used here, along with their accompanying visual semantics, are the author’s attempt at simplifying the broad spectrum of modeling concepts and notations into a core set of elements, using the most widely used symbols to represent them. The visual semantics in this book do not conform to any single modeling notation but borrow freely from several leading industry standards. The aim is to provide a modeling language that is both precise enough to accurately reflect technical database details and simple enough for business users to understand the business context that lies beyond the technical specifications.

Unlike those textbooks that separate conceptual, logical, and physical models and force users to convert and adapt one...