Composite object support in an object-oriented database system

Authors:
  • WKWon Kim
    Won Kim
  • JBJay Banerjee
    Jay Banerjee
  • HCHong-Tai Chou
    Hong-Tai Chou
  • JGJorge F. Garza
    Jorge F. Garza
  • DWDarrel Woelk
    Darrel Woelk
Open Access
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Abstract
Many applications in such domains as computer-aided design require the capability to define, store and retrieve as a single unit a collection of related objects known as a composite object. A composite object explicitly captures and enforces the IS-PART-OF integrity constraint between child and parent pairs of objects in a hierarchical collection of objects. Further, it can be used as a unit of storage and retrieval to enhance the performance of a database system. This paper provides a formal definition of the semantics of composite objects within an object-oriented data model, and describes their use as units of integrity control, storage and retrieval, and concurrency control in a prototype object-oriented database system we have implemented.