Can UML be used for data modeling?
UML class diagrams do not explicitly support data modeling. They can be extended to do so. Dulcian’s BRIM product does this. I am not sure that anyone else credibly plays in that space yet. There is talk about the UML standard being enhanced to explicitly support data modeling. I am not aware of this being done yet. Oracle JDeveloper will support UML class diagrams for data modeling in the next year or so; but it is not there yet. You can get an idea of the directions they are thinking by looking at the way in which the product generates tables from BC4J entity objects. UML class diagrams will not be included in Designer. I wrote a paper about UML data modeling for DM Review online. One link to it is at http://www.datawarehouse.com/article/?articleid=3040 I guess they also put on their data warehouse SIG page. The book I wrote in 1998 Database Design Using UML Object Modeling (Dorsey & Hudicka, Oracle Press) is an in-depth (though now dated) treatment of the topic.
