RELATIONAL ALGEBRAIC SYSTEM ENTITY STRUCTURE FOR MODELS MANAGEMENT

Models management with a large number of models has placed demands on a highly structured and rigorous framework. The paper proposes a new f ramework, called RASES, that is based on the system entity structure ( SES) formalism and the relational algebra (RA) formalism. These formal isms provide conceptual bases for the hierarchical management of model s. Within the RASES framework, the hierarchical structures of models a re represented in the form of entity structure that may be stored as r elational tables in a database. Furthermore, several operations can be formulated in terms of relational algebra which can be coded in a sta ndard query language such as the SQL. The RASES framework can be easil y implemented on, and fully utilise the functionality of, the relation al database management system (RDBMS). Huge amount of models and model structures, which is inevitable in the models management of real worl d systems, can be efficiently managed by virtue of the capability of R DBMS. The framework supports modellers to synthesise simulation models that meet their modelling objectives, and conduct appropriate experim ents on the models under investigation.