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should provide. The combined list yields that a generic merge operator should
support:
Renaming in a systematic fashion
Merging multiple elements into a single element
Modifying subsumption relationships in objects
Automatic merging
Interactive merging
Merging many different types of objects
The semantics of the objects to drive the merging rather than just requiring that
all objects merge in the same way
The users to specify what policies they prefer
Allowing all of these interactions will give the users the control that they need
over the merging process.
9
Conclusions
This paper surveyed what it means to merge complex structures, such as relational
schemas or ontologies, through a variety of applications, including view integration,
data integration, and computer supported collaborative work. The work has a long
history. Advances in other areas such as schema matching are likely to mean that
work on merging continues to be a fruitful and interesting subject for the foreseeable
future.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are given to Phil Bernstein and Alon Halevy for their previous work
and discussion with the author on the subject and to Jamila Salari, Steve Wolfman, and the editors
for reading earlier drafts of this paper.
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