Overview

In this chapter we discuss conceptual modeling techniques in the context of XML-based applications. After revisiting the classic entity relationship model, we introduce asset-oriented modeling an approach to conceptual modeling that is specifically targeted at XML environments.

RDF is the W3C s official framework to model complex Web-based information structures and semantics. Currently, RDF is undergoing a revision process that will result in a new syntax and content model. If you are not particularly interested in RDF, you may want to skip Section 3.3.

Finally, we discuss how UML can be utilized with XML. UML is a de facto standard for object-oriented scenarios and is also used in some XML applications such as ebXML as the modeling method of choice.