Enhancing the Capabilities of Attribute Correspondences - Schema Matching and Mapping - page 49

Chapter 3
Enhancing the Capabilities of Attribute
Correspondences

Av i g d o r G a l

Abstract In the process of schema matching, attribute correspondence is the asso-
ciation of attributes in different schemas. Increased importance of attribute corre-
spondences led to new research attempts that were devoted to improve attribute
correspondences by extending their capabilities. In this chapter, we describe recent
advances in the schema matching literature that attempt to enhance the capabil-
ities of attribute correspondences. We discuss contextual schema matching as a
method for introducing conditional correspondences, based on context. The use
of semantic matching is proposed to extend attribute correspondences to results in
an ontological relationship. Finally, probabilistic schema matching generates mul-
tiple possible models, modeling uncertainty about which one is correct by using
probability theory.

1 Introduction

In the process of schema matching, attribute correspondence is the association of
attributes in different schemas. Creating attribute correspondences is considered
a basic step in schema matching. Attribute correspondences serve the community
well. For example, they are useful as input to a manual refinement, especially if not
limited to 1 W 1 constraint matching. Also, in ontology matching, attribute correspon-
dences are used to express the relatedness of product categories or bioinformatics
concepts. Finally, attribute correspondences can be used for recommending schema
matchings for restricting query search space or as input for ontology merging.
Given two schemas, a matcher first evaluates the level of confidence in the corre-
spondence of any pair of attributes. Then, decisions are made as to which attribute
correspondences should be retained as part of a schema matching outcome. In recent
years, new applications have emerged, putting more and more emphasis on the

A. Gal
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
e-mail: [e-mail]