Introduction to Object Oriented

Database Management System

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT
ORIENTED DATABASE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Structure
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 What are Next Generation Data Base System?
1.3 New Database Application
1.4 What is Object Oriented Database Management System?
1.5 Promises of Object Oriented System
1.6 Promises and Advantages of Object Oriented Database Management System
1.7 Deficiencies of Relational Database Management System
1.8 Difference Between Relational Database Management System and Object Oriented
Database Management System
1.9 Alternative Objective Oriented Database Strategies
1.10 Summary
1.11 Model Answers
1.12 Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Since 1960s, Data Base Management Systems (DBMS) have been widely used in data processing
environment. The support of characteristics such as data sharing, independence, consistency,
integrity is the main reason for its success which traditional file management system does not
inherently offer.

A database system is usually organised according to a data model. In the previous block, we
discussed three most popular models: hierarchical, network and relational. The difference among all
these three models is in the way of organising records, although they are record based. They were
mainly designed to process large amount of relatively simple and fixed format data. DBMS based on
these models along with sophisticated indexing and query optimization techniques have served
business oriented database application especially well.

RDBMSs were originally designed for mainframe computer and business data processing
applications. Moreover, relational systems were optimized for environments with large number of
users who issue short queries. But today's application has moved from centralised mainframe
computer to networked workstation on every desk. These applications include computer aided
design (CAD), multimedia system, software engineering (design of complex project), knowledge
database (to be discussed in unit 3 of this block). These operations require complex operations and
data structure representation. For example, a multimedia database may contain variable length text,
graphics, images, audio and video data. Finally a knowledge base system requires data rich in
semantics.

Existing commercial DBMS, both small and large scale have proven inadequate for these
applications. The traditional database notion of storing data in two-dimensional tables or in
flat files breaks down quickly in the face of complex data structures and data types used in
today's applications.

Research to model and process complex data has gone in two directions:
(a) extending the functionality of RDBMS
(b) developing and implementing OODBMS that is based on object oriented
programming paradigm.
OODBMSs are designed for use in today's application areas such as multimedia, CAD, office
automation, etc. In this unit, we will touch up some of the basic issues related to OODBMS. 5
Emerging Trends in Database
Management System
1.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

• define what is object oriented DBMS
• differentiate between RDBMS and OODBMS
• list next generation database systems
• list advantages of object oriented DBMS

1.2 WHAT ARE NEXT GENERATION DATABASE

SYSTEM?
Computer sciences have gone through several generation of database management starting
with indexed files and later, network and hierarchical data base management systems
(DBMS). More recently, relational DBMS revolutionalised the industry by providing
powerful data management capabilities based on few simple concepts. Now, we are on the
verge of another generation of database system called Object Oriented DBMS based on
object oriented programming paradigm. This new kind of DBMS, unlike previous DBMS
models, manages more complex kind of data for example multimedia objects. The other kind
of next generation DBMS is knowledge database management system (KDBMS) which is
used to support the management of the shared knowledge. It supports a large number of
complex rules for automatic data inferencing (retrieval) and maintenance of data integrity.

The goal of these new DBMS is to support a much wider range of data intensive applications
in engineering, graphic representation-scientific and medical. These new DBMS can also
support new generations of traditional business applications.

1.3 NEW DATABASE APPLICATIONS

Some applications that require the manipulation of large amounts of data can benefit from
using a DBMS. However, the nature of the data in these applications does not fit well into
the relational framework.

(1) Design databases: Engineering design databases are useful in computer-aided

design/manufacturing/software engineering (CAD/CAM/CASE) systems. In such
systems, complex objects can be recursively partitioned into smaller objects.
Furthermore, an object can have different representations at different levels of
abstraction (equivalent objects). Moreover, a record of n object's evolution (object
versions) should be maintained. Traditional database technology does not support the
notions of complex objects, equivalent objects, or object versions.
(2) Multimedia databases: In a modern office information or other multi-media system,
data include not only text and numbers but also images, graphics and digital audio and
video. Such multimedia data are typically stored as sequences of bytes with variable
lengths, and segments of data are linked together for easy reference. The variable length
data structure cannot fit well into the relational framework, which mainly deals with
fixed-format records. Furthermore, applications may require access to multimedia data
on the basis of the structure of a graphical item or by following logical links.
Conventional query languages were not designed for such applications.
(3) Knowledge bases: Artificial intelligence and expert systems represent; information as
facts and rules that can be collectively viewed as a knowledge base. In typical Artificial
Intelligence applications, knowledge representation requires data structures with rich
semantics that go beyond the simple structure of the relational model. Artificial
decomposition and mapping would be necessary if a relational DBMS were used.
Furthermore, operations in a knowledge base arc more complex than those in a
traditional database. When a rule is added, the system must check for contradiction and
redundancy. Such operations cannot be represented directly by relational operations, and
the complexity of checking increases rapidly as the size of the knowledge base grows.

6
 Introduction to Object Oriented
In general, these applications require the representation of complex data elements as Database Management System
well as complex relationships among them. Users in these environments have found
relational technology inadequate in terms of flexibility, modeling power, and efficiency.

1.4 WHAT IS OBJECT ORIENTED DATABASE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
Object-oriented technologies in use today include object- oriented programming languages
(e.g., C++ and Smalltalk), object- oriented database systems, object-oriented user interfaces
(e.g., Macintosh and Microsoft Windows systems) and so oh. An object-oriented technology
is a technology that makes available to the users facilities that are based on object-oriented
concepts. To define object-oriented concepts, we must first understand what an object is.

Object
The term object means a combination of dam and program that represents some real-world
entity. For example, consider an employee named Amit; Amit is 25 years old, and his salary
is $25,000. Then Amit may be represented in a computer program as an object. The data part
of this object would be (name: Amit, age: 25, salary: $25,000). The program part of the
object may be a collection of programs (hire, retrieve the data, change age, change salary,
fire. The data part consists of data of any type- For the Amit object, suing is used for the
name, integer for age; and monetary for salary; but in general, even any user-defined type,
such as Employee, may be used. In the Amit object, the name, age, and salary are called
attributes of the object.

Encapsulation
Often, an object is said to encapsulate data and program. This means that the users
cannot see the inside the object but can use the object by calling the program part of
the object. This is not much different from procedure calls in conventional programming;
the users call a procedure by supplying values for input parameters and receive results in
output parameters.

Inheritance and Class

The term object-oriented roughly means a combination of object encapsulation and
inheritance. The term inheritance is sometimes called reuse. Inheritance means roughly that a
new object may be created by extending an existing object. Now let us understand the term
inheritance more precisely. An object has a data part and a program part. All objects that
have the same attributes for the data part and same program part are collectively
called a class (or type). The classes are arranged such that sonic class may inherit the
attributes and program part from some other classes.

Amit, Ankit and Anup are each an Employee object. The data part of each of these objects
consists of the attributes Name, Age and salary. Each of these Employee objects has the same
program part (hire, retrieve the data, change age, change salary, fire). Each program in the
program part is called a method. The term class refers to the collection of all objects that
have the same attributes and methods. In our example, the Amit, Ankit anti Anup objects
belong to the class Employee since they all have the same attributes and methods. This class
may be used as the type of an attribute of any object. At this lime, there is only one class in
the system namely, the class Employee; and three objects that belong to the class namely
Amit, Ankit and Anup objects.

Inheritance Hierarchy or Class Hierarchy

Now suppose that a user wishes to create two sales employees, Jai and Prakash. But sales employees
have an additional attribute namely, commission. The sales employees cannot belong to the class
Employee. However, the user can create a new class, Sales Employee, such that all attributes anti methods
associated with the class Employee may be reused and the attribute commission may be added to Sales Employee.
The user does this by declaring the class Sales Employee to be a subclass of the class Employee. The user can now
proceed to create the two sales employees as objects belonging to the class Sales Employee. The users can create
new classes as subclasses of existing classes. In general, a class may inherit front one or more existing classes
and the inheritance structure of classes becomes a directed acyclic graph (DAG); but for simplicity, the inheritance
structure is called an inheritance hierarchy or class hierarchy. 7
Emerging Trends in Database The power of object-oriented concepts is delivered when encapsulation and inheritance work
Management System together.
• Since inheritance makes it possible for different classes to share the same set
of attributes and methods, the same program can be run against objects that belong to
different classes. This is the basis of the object-oriented user interface that desktop
publishing systems and windows management systems provide today. The same set
of programs (e.g., open, close, drop, create, move, etc.) apply to different types of
data (image, text file, audio, directory, etc.).

• If the users define many classes, and each class has many attributes and methods,
the benefit of sharing not only the attributes but also the programs can be dramatic.
The attributes and programs need not be defined and written from scratch. New
classes can be created by adding attributes and methods of existing classes, thereby
reducing the opportunity to introduce new errors to existing classes.
1.5 PROMISES OF OBJECT ORIENTED SYSTEMS
Object-oriented systems make these promises:

• Reduced maintenance
The primary goal of object-oriented development is the assurance that the system
will enjoy a longer life while having far smaller maintenance costs. Because most of
the processes within the system are encapsulated, the behaviours may be reused and
incorporated into new behaviours.

• Real-world modeling
Object-oriented systems tend to model the real world in a more complete fashion
than do traditional methods. Objects are organised into classes of objects, and
objects are associated with behaviours. The model is based on objects rather than on
data and processing.

• Improved reliability
Object-oriented systems promise to be far more reliable than traditional systems,
primarily because new behaviours can be built from existing objects.

• High code reusability

When a new object is created, it will automatically inherit the data attributes and
characteristics of the class from which it was spawned. The new object will
also inherit the data and behaviours from all superclasses in which it participates.
1.6 PROMISES AND ADVANTAGES OF OBJECT
ORIENTED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
An object-oriented programming language (OOPL) provides facilities to create classes for
organising objects, to create objects, to structure an inheritance hierarchy to organise classes
so that subclasses may inherit attributes and methods from superclasses, and to call methods
to access specific objects. Similarly, an object-oriented database system (OODB) should
provide facilities to create classes for organising objects, to create objects, to structure an
inheritance hierarchy t organise classes so that subclasses may inherit attributes and
methods from superclasses, and to call methods to access specific objects. Beyond these, an
OODB, because it is a database system, must provide standard database facilities found in
today's relational database systems (RDBs), including nonprocedural query facility for
retrieving objects, automatic query optimisation and processing, dynamic schema changes
(changing the class definitions and inheritance structure), automatic management of access
methods (e.g., B+-tree index, extensible hashing, sorting, etc.) to improve query processing
performance, automatic transaction management, concurrency control, recovery from
system crashes, and security and authorisation, Programming languages, including
OOPLs, are designed with one user and a relatively small database in mind. Database
systems are designed with many users and very large databases in mind; hence performance,
security and authorisation, concurrency control, and dynamic schema changes become
important issues. Further, transaction systems are used to maintain critical data accurately;
8 hence, transaction management, concurrency control, and recovery are important facilities.
 Introduction to Object Oriented
In so far as a database system is a system software, whose Functions are called from Database Management System
application programs written in some host programming languages, we may distinguish two
different approaches to designing an OODB. One is to store and manage objects created by
programs written in an OOPL. Some of the current OODBs arc designed to store and
manage objects generated in C++ or Smalltalk programs. Of course, an RDB can be used to
store and manage such objects. However, RDBs do not understand objects-in particular,
methods and inheritance. Therefore, what may be called an object manager or an
object-oriented layer software needs to written to be manage methods and inheritance and to
translate objects to tuples (rows) of a relation (table). But the object manager and RDB
combined are in effect an OODB (with poor performance, of course).
Another approach is to make object-oriented facilities available lo users of non-OOPLs. The
users may create classes, objects, inheritance hierarchy, and so on, and the database system
will store and manage those objects and classes. This approach in effect turns non-OOPLs (e.g., C,
FORTRAN, COBOL, etc.) into object-oriented languages. In fact, C++ has turned
C into an OOPL, and CLOS has added object-oriented programming facilities to Common LISP. An
OODB designed using this approach can of course be used to store and manage objects created by
programs written in an OOPL. Although a translation layer would need to be written to map the
OOPL objects Lo objects of the database system, the layer should be much less complicated than the
object manager layer that an RDB would require.
In view of the fact that C++, despite its growing popularity, is not the only programming language
that database application programmer’s arc using or will ever use, and there is a significant gulf
between a programming language and a database system that will deliver the power of object-
oriented concepts Lo database application programmers. Regardless of the approach, OODBs, if done
right, can bring about a quantum jump in the productivity of database application programmers and
even in the performance of the application programs.
One source of the technological quantum jump is the reuse of a database design and program that
object-oriented concepts make possible for the first time in the evolving history of database
technologies. Object-oriented concepts arc fundamentally designed to reduce the difficulty of
developing and evolving complex software systems or designs. Encapsulation and inheritance allow
attributes (i.e., database design) and programs to be reused as the basis for building complex
databases and programs. This is precisely the goal that has driven
the data management technology from file systems to relational database systems during the past three
decades. An OODB has the potential to satisfy the objective of reducing the difficulty
of designing and evolving very large and complex databases.
Another source of the technological jump is die powerful data type facilities implicit in the object-
oriented concepts of encapsulation and inheritance.
Advantages of Object-Oriented Databases
Systems developed with object-oriented languages have many benefits, as previously discussed.
Yet, as also described, these systems have particular attributes that can be complemented with
object-oriented databases. These attributes include lack of persistence, inability to share objects
among multiple users, limited version control, and lack of access to other data, for example, data
in other databases.
In systems designed with object-oriented languages, objects are created during the running of a
program and arc destroyed when the program ends. Providing a database that can store the objects
between runs of a program offers both increased flexibility and increased security. The ability to store
the objects also allows the objects to be shared in a distributed environment. An object-oriented
database can allow only the actively used objects to be loaded into memory and thus minimizes or
preempts the need for virtual memory paging. This is especially useful in large-scale systems.
Persistent objects also allow objects to be stored for each version. This version control is useful not
only for testing applications, but also for many object-oriented design applications where version
control is a functional requirement of the application itself. Access Lo other data sources can also be
facilitated with object-oriented databases, especially those built as hybrid relational systems, which
can access relational tables as well as other object types.
Object-oriented databases also offer many of the benefits that were formerly found only in
expert systems. With an object-oriented database, the relationships between objects and the
constraints on objects are maintained by the database management system, that is, the object
themselves. The rules associated with the expert system arc essentially replaced by die object
schema and the methods. As many expert systems currently do not have adequate

9
Emerging Trends in Database database support, object-oriented databases afford the possibility of offering expert system
Management System functionality with much better performance.

Object-oriented databases offer benefits over current hierarchical and relational database models.
They enable support of complex applications not supported well by the other models. They enhance
programmability and performance, improve navigational access, and simplify concurrency control.
They lower the risks associated with referential integrity, and they provide a better user metaphor
than the relational model.

Object-oriented databases by definition allow the inclusion of more of the code (i.e. the object's
methods) in the database itself. This incremental knowledge about the application has a number of
potential benefits of the database system itself, including the ability to optimize query processing and
to control the concurrent execution of transactions.

Performance, always a significant issue in system implementation, may be significantly improved by

using an object-oriented model instead of a relational model. The greatest improvement can be
expected in applications with high data complexity and large numbers of inter-relationships.
Clustering, or locating the related objects in close proximity, can be accomplished through the class
hierarchy or by other interrelations. Caching, or the retention of certain objects in memory or storage,
can be optimised by anticipating that the user or application may retrieve a particular instance of the
class. When there is high data complexity, clustering and caching techniques in object databases gain
tremendous performance benefits that relational databases, because of their fundamental architecture,
will never be able to approach.
Object-oriented databases can store not only complex application components but also larger
structures. Although relational systems can support a large number of tuples (i.e. rows in a table),
individual types are limited in size. Object-oriented databases with large objects do not suffer a
performance degradation because the objects do not need to be broken apart and reassembled by
applications,’ regardless of the complexity of the properties of the application objects.

Since objects contain direct references to other objects, complex data set can be efficiently assembled
using these direct references. The ability to search by direct references significantly improves
navigational access. In contrast, complex data sets in relational databases must be assembled by the
application program using the slow process of joining tables.

For the programmer, one of the challenges in building a database is the data manipulation language
(DML) of the database. DMLs for relational databases usually differ from the programming language
used to construct the rest of the application. This contrast is due to differences in the programming
paradigms and mismatches of type systems. The programmer must learn two languages, two tool sets,
and two paradigms because neither alone has the functionality to build an entire application. Certain
types of programming tools such as application generators and fourth-generation languages (4GLs)
have emerged to produce code for the entire application, thereby bridging the mismatch between the
programming language and the DML, but most of these tools compromise the application programming
process.
With object-oriented databases much of this problem is eliminated. The DML can be extended so that
more of the application can be "written in the DML. Or an object-oriented application language, of
example C++ can be extended Lo be the DML. More or the application can be built into the database
itself. Movement across the programming interface between the databases the application then occurs
in a single paradigm with a common set of tools, Class libraries can also assist the programmer in
speeding the creation of databases. Class libraries encourage reuse of existing code and help to
minimise the cost of later modifications. Programming is easier because the data structures model the
problem more closely. Having the data and procedures encapsulated in a single object makes it less
likely that a change to one object will affect the integrity of other objects in the database.
Concurrency control is also simplified with an object-oriented database. In a relational database, the
application needs to lock each record in each table explicitly because related data re-represented
across a number of tables. Integrity, a key requirement for databases, can be better supported with an
object-oriented database, because the application can lock all the relevant data in one operation.
Referential integrity is better supported in an object-oriented database because the pointers are
maintained and updated by the database itself. Finally, object-oriented databases offer a better user
metaphor than relational databases. The tuple or table, although enabling a well-defined
implementation strategy, is not an intuitive modeling
10
 Introduction to Object Oriented
framework, especially outside the domain o f numbers. Objects offer a more natural and Database Management System
encompassing modeling metaphor.

1.7 DEFICIENCIES OF RELATIONAL DATA BASE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The data type facilities in fact are the keys to eliminating three of the important deficiencies of
RDBs. These are summarized below, we will discuss these points in greater detail later.

• RDBs force the users to represent hierarchical data (or complex nested data or
compound data) such as bill of materials in terms of tuples in multiple relations.
This is awkward to start with. Further, to retrieve data thus spread out in multiple
relations. RDBs must resort to joins, a generally expensive operation. The data
type of an attribute of an object in OOPLs may be a primitive type or an arbitrary
user-defined type (class). The fact that an object may have an attribute whose value
may be another object naturally leads to nested object representation, which in turn
allow hierarchical data to be naturally (i.e., hierarchically) represented.

• RDBs offer a set of primitive built-in data types for use as domains of columns of
relation, but they do not offer any means of adding user-defined data types. The
built-in data types arc basically all numbers and short symbols. RDBs are not
designed to allow new data types to be added and therefore often require major
surgery to the system architecture and code to add any new data type. Adding a new
data type to a database system means allowing its use as the data type of an attribute -
that is, storage of data of that type, querying, and updating of such data. Object
encapsulation in OOPLs does not impose any restriction on the types of data that the
data may be primitive types or user-defined types. Further, new data types may be
created as new classes, possibly even as subclasses of existing classes, inheriting
their attributes and methods.

• Object encapsulation is the basis for the storage and management of programs as
well as data in the database. RDBs now support stored procedures—that is, they
allow programs to be written in some procedural language and stored in the
database for later loading and execution. However, the stored procedures in RDBs
are not encapsulated with data--.that is, they are not associated with any relation or
any tuple of a relation. Further, since RDBs do not have the inheritance
mechanism, the stored procedures cannot automatically be reused.

1.8 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELATIONAL

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND OBJECT
ORIENTED DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
RDBMSs were never designed to allow for the nested structure. These types of applications are
extensively found in CAD/CAE, aerospace, etc. OODBM can easily support these applications.
Moreover, it is much easier and natural to navigate through these complex structures in form of
objects that model the real world in OODBMS rather than table, tuples and records in RDBMS.
It is hard to confuse a relational database with an object-oriented database. The normalised
relational model is based on a fairly elegant mathematical theory. Relational databases derive a
virtual structure at run time based on values from sets of data stored in tables. Databases construct
views of the data by selecting data from multiple tables and loading it into a single table (OODBs
traverse the data from object lo object).
Relational databases have a limited number of simple, built-in data types, such as integer and
string, and a limited number of built-in operations that can handle these data types. You can create
complex data types in a relational database, but you must do it on a linear basis, such as combining
fields into records. And die operations on these new complex types are restricted, again, to those
defined for the basic types (as opposed to arbitrary data types or subclassing with inheritance as
found in OODBs).

The object model supports browsing of object class libraries, which allows the reuse, rather 11
Emerging Trends in Database than the reinvention, of commonly used data elements. Objects in an OODB survive
Management System multiple sessions; they are persistent If you delete an object stored in a relational database,
other objects may be left with references to die deleted one and may now be incorrect The
integrity of the data thus becomes suspect and creates inconsistent versions.

In the relational database, complex objects must be broken up and stored in separate tables.
This can only be done in a sequential procedure with the next retrieval replying on the
outcome of the previous. The relational database does not understand a global request and
thus cannot optimise multiple requests; OQDBs can issue a single message (request) that
contains multiple transactions.

The relational model, however, suffers at least one major disadvantage. It is difficult to
express the semantics of complex objects with only a table model for data storage. Although
relational databases are adequate for accounting or other typical transaction-processing
applications where the data types are simple and few in number, the relational model offers
limited help when data types become- numerous and complex.

Object-oriented databases are favored for applications where the relationships among
elements in the, database carry the key information, Relational databases are favored when
the values of the database elements carry die key information. That is, object-oriented models
capture the structure of the data; relational models organise the data itself. If a record
can be understood in isolation, then the relational database is probably suitable. If a record
makes sense only in the context of other records, then an object-oriented database is more
appropriate.
Engineering and technical applications were the first applications to require databases that
handle complex data types and capture the structure of the data. Applications such as
mechanical and electrical computer-aided design (MCAD and ECAD) have always used
nontraditional forms of data, representing such phenomena as three-dimensional images and
VLSI circuit designs. Currently these application programs store their data in
application-specific file structures. The data-intensiveness of these applications is not only
in the large amount of data that need to be programmed into the database, but in the
complexity of the data itself. In these design-based applications, relationships among
elements in the database carry key information for the user. Functional requirements for
complex cross references, structural dependences, and version management all require a
richer representation than what is provided by hierarchical or relational databases.
Check Your Progress
1. What are the drawbacks of current commercial databases?
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2. What is the meaning of multi-media data?
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3. List few requirements for multi-media data management.
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 Introduction to Object Oriented
1.9 ALTERNATIVE OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE Database Management System
STRATEGIES
There are at least six approaches for incorporating object orientation capabilities in
databases:

1. Novel database data model/data language approach: The most aggressive approach is to
develop entirely new database language and database management system with object
orientation capabilities. Most of the research projects in object-oriented databases have pursued
this approach. In the industry introduces novel DML (Data Manipulation Language) and DDL
(Data Definition Language) constructs for a data model based on semantic and functional data
models.
2. Extending an existing database language with object orientation capabilities: A number of
programming languages have been extended with object-oriented constructs. C++ flavors (an
extension of LISP), and Object Pascal arc examples of this approach in programming
languages. It is conceivable to follow a similar strategy with database languages. Since SQL is
a standard and the most popular database language, the most reasonable solution is to extend
this language with object-oriented constructs, reflecting the object orientation capabilities of
underlying database management system. This approach being pursued by most vendors of
relational systems, as they evolve the next generation products. There have been many such
attempts incorporating inheritance, function composition for nested entities, and even some
support of encapsulation in an SQL framework.
3. Extending on existing object-oriented programming language with database
capabilities: Another approach is to introduce database capabilities to an existing object-
oriented language. The object orientation features abstract data typing, inheritance, object
identity-will already be supported by the object-oriented language. The extensions will
incorporate database features (querying, transaction support, persistence, and so on).
4. Embedding object-oriented database language constructs in a host (conventional)
language: Database languages can be embedded in host programming languages. For example,
SQL statements can be embedded in PL/1 C, FORTRAN and Ada. The types of SQL (that is
relations and rows in relations) are quite different from the type systems of these host
languages. Some object-oriented databases have taken a similar approach with a host language
and an object-oriented database language.

1.10 SUMMARY
During the past decade, object oriented technology has found its way into database user interface,
operating system, programming languages, expert system and the like. Object Oriented database
product is already in the market for several years and several vendors of RDBMS are now
declaring that they will extend their products with object oriented capabilities. In spite of all these
claims there is no wide acceptability of OODBMS because of lack of industry standard. This
technology is still evolving and takes some more time to get fully settled.

1.11 MODEL ANSWERS

Check Your Progress

Most of the current commercial database systems suffer from an inability to manage
arbitrary types of data, arbitrary large data and data stored on devices other than
magnetic disks. They understand a relatively limited set of data types such as integer,
real data, monetary unit, short strings. Further they are not designed to manage data
stored on such increasingly important storage devices such as CD-ROM and Videodisks.

Broadly, multimedia data means arbitrary data types and data from arbitrary data sources.
Arbitrary data types include the numeric data and short string data supported in conventional
database systems; large unstructured data, such as charts, graphs, tables, and arrays; and
compound documents that are comprised of such data. Arbitrary data

13
Emerging Trends in Database sources include a native database; external (remote) databases; host file base; data input,
Management System storage, and presentation (output) devices; and even data generating and
data-consuming programs (such as a text processing system).

3a) The ability to represent arbitrary data types (including compound documents) and
specification of procedures (programs) that interact with arbitrary data sources.

3b) The ability to query, update, insert and delete multimedia data (including retrieval of
multimedia data via associative search within multimedia data; minimally, text).

3c) The ability to specify and execute abstract operations on multimedia data; for example,
to play, fast forward, pause, and rewind such one-dimensional data as audio and text; to
display, expand and condense such two-dimensional data as a bit-mapped image.

3d) The ability to deal with heterogeneous data sources in a uniform manner; this includes
access to data in these sources and migration of data from one data source to another.

1.12 FURTHER READINGS

1. Modem Database Systems—the Object Model, Interoperability and Beyond, By WON
KIM, Addison Wesley, 1995.

2. Object-Oriented DBMS: Evolution &. Performance Issues, A.R.Hurson & Simin H.

Pakzad, IEEE Computer, Feb. 1993.

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