Fuzzy database modeling of imprecise and uncertain engineering information. (Q2276646)

The book offers a survey of fuzzy approaches to databases that serve for engineering applications. In more database-oriented terms, the book is devoted to fuzzification of conceptual and logical database models as well as to their implementation. Unfortunately, the latter problems are mentioned only shortly, rather than on a logical level. This means that indexing and query processing, so essential for any database performance, are not mentioned in the book. The book is structured into 10 Chapters. In the Introduction the author briefly summarizes various conceptual and database models. Conceptual models include ER/EER and UML, IDEFIX, and EXPRESS. Since the principles of these approaches are approximately the same, a disadvantage of this approach is that their fuzzifications are very similar. Only the EXPRESS model offers explicit operations making it possible to express the behaviour of the model. Consequently, some notions and definitions are repeated and only vary in subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 is devoted to information imprecision and uncertainty in engineering. The chapter describes also some typical technical architectures where a fuzzy approach is reasonable. The third chapter summarizes basics of fuzzy set theory and related topics. Chapters 4--6 are devoted to fuzzification of ER/EER and UML, IDEFIX, and EXPRESS, respectively. Fuzziness is introduced into conceptual structures, in the case of EXPRESS also into particular query operations. Although the syntax is well described, no relevant non-trivial examples are at disposal. The title ``The fuzzy logical databases'' of Chapter 7 is confusing. The topic of logical databases is not presented there, but fuzzy notions applied to databases, like relational ones etc., are discussed. Chapter 8 shortly discusses an important topic of conceptual design of fuzzy databases. Finally, Chapters 9 and 10 are devoted to implementation issues. Chapter 9 describes how to transform the fuzzy IDEFIX data model and the EXPRESS-G data model into the fuzzy relational database schema and the fuzzy nested relational database schema, respectively. Similar issues are discussed in Chapter 10 in the context of object-oriented database platforms. Although formal in nature, the book uses a simple and rather imprecise style, even in basic definitions like the one concerning the ER model. The main value of the book is that it describes fuzzy approaches to databases in two levels: conceptual and logical. This makes the book different from other ones in this area and can be recommended to interested readers.