Synopsis
Object-oriented databases were originally developed as an alternative to relational database technology for the representation, storage, and access of non-traditional data forms that were increasingly found in advanced applications of database technology. After much debate regarding object-oriented versus relational database technology, object-oriented extensions were eventually incorporated into relational technology to create object-relational databases. Both object-oriented databases and object-relational databases, collectively known as object databases, provide inherent support for object features, such as object identity, classes, inheritance hierarchies, and associations between classes using object references. This monograph presents the fundamentals of object databases, with a specific focus on conceptual modeling of object database designs. After an introduction to the fundamental concepts of object-oriented data, the monograph provides a review of object-oriented conceptualmodeling techniques using side-by-side Enhanced Entity Relationship diagrams and Unified Modeling Language conceptual class diagrams that feature class hierarchies with specialization constraints and object associations. These object-oriented conceptual models provide the basis for introducing case studies that illustrate the use of object features within the design of object-oriented and object-relational databases. For the object-oriented database perspective, the Object Data Management Group data definition language provides a portable, language-independent specification of an object schema, together with an SQL-like object query language. LINQ (Language INtegrated Query) is presented as a case study of an object query language together with its use in the db4o open-source object-oriented database. For the object-relational perspective, the object-relational features of the SQL standard are presented together with an accompanying case study of the object-relational features of Oracle. For completeness of coverage, an appendix provides a mapping of object-oriented conceptual designs to the relational model and its associated constraints. Table of Contents: List of Figures / List of Tables / Introduction to Object Databases / Object-Oriented Databases / Object-Relational Databases
About the Author
Suzanne W. Dietrich is an associate professor in the Applied Computing program within the Divi[1]sion of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University.Her research interests include database query languages, data modeling, and computer science education. Dr. Dietrich’s research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, including the maintenance of materialized views over heterogeneous structured data sources in a distributed environment with events and streams; the integration of declarative, object, and active features for distributed multi[1]tiered applications; and the development of novel approaches to undergraduate database education. She is recognized by the ACM as a Distinguished Educator and is the author of Understanding Relational Database Query Languages (Prentice Hall 2001). Susan D. Urban is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include data and process modeling as well asintegrated techniques for event, rule, and transaction processing to address data consistency and active behavior in distributed, data[1]centric applications. Dr. Urban has been the recipient of several grants from the National Science Foundation for her research on constraints, active rule processing in centralized and distributed environments, data consistency issues in service-oriented environments, the use of databases in engineering design, and the development of innovative teaching concepts for database instruction. She has published over 100 refereed papers and book chapters on the results of her research.
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