REACH: automated database design integrating first-order theories, reconstructive expertise, and implementation heuristics for accounting information systems

This paper describes the integrated use of different knowledge types in an automated software engineering tool called REACH. These types include: (1) a first-order domain theory called the REA accounting model, (2) reconstructive expertise gleaned from textbooks on accounting system design in a bookkeeping environment, and (3) implementation compromise heuristics derived from the design experience of database designers. This tool aids an enterprise database analyst in the conceptual design stages of view modeling and view integration.