Verifying Semistructured Data Normalization Using SWRL

Semistructured data has become more and more prominent in the fast growing areas of web information technology. XML has been used as a standard format for semistructured data in representing and exchanging information in various applications. However, the lack of formality and verification support in the design of a good semistructured data model may hinder its development. For example, redundant data in XML must be removed or minimized to avoid inconsistent and inefficient information processing. Normalization algorithms have been developed to overcome these problems by transforming the schema of a semistructured document into a better form. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that a transformed schema model preserves the same information that its original form holds. In this paper, we present an approach to investigate and verify the no-data-loss property of semistructured data normalization. We encode the verification criteria in the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) and make use of its ontology reasoning engine to provide automated support for the checking process. In summary, our approach not only investigates the information preserving aspect of semistructured data normalization, but also provides a scalable and automated solution towards the problem.