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AURORA: An Automated Database Schema Change Logging System

Authors:
Bradley Camilleri
Joseph G Vella

Keywords: schema evolution; computer information systems; databases; software deployment; software upgrades

Abstract:
Database schema changes pose a critical challenge when updating Computer Information Systems (CIS) since they require careful synchronization between codebase updates and the database. Traditional approaches to schema evolution often lack automated tracking of schema changes, leading to duplicated coding, data loss, inconsistency, and increased downtime. This paper presents AURORA, an automated solution that captures the Data Definition Language (DDL) and Data Manipulation Language (DML) operations performed by the data designer. The captured data is then used to drive client-side database schema upgrades. By leveraging Database Management System (DBMS) event triggers, this system ensures that any relevant DML and DDL events are logged and used for the generation of a schema upgrade script. This script includes the schema changes performed by the data designer and the respective pre and post data checks to ensure database consistency and integrity at the client’s database. This client-side script also includes a rollback mechanism to reverse a schema upgrade in the case of failure. AURORA was evaluated through a set of real-world scenarios which highlighted its practicality, coverage and validity.

Pages: 12 to 17

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2025

Publication date: April 6, 2025

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4391

ISBN: 978-1-68558-265-4

Location: Valencia, Spain

Dates: from April 6, 2025 to April 10, 2025