MultiView : a methodology for supporting multiple view schemata in object-oriented databases

It has been widely recognized that object-oriented database (OODB) technology needs to be extended to provide a mechanism similar to views in relational database systems. We define an object-oriented view to be an arbitrarily complex virtual schema graph with possibly restructured generalization and decomposition hierarchies - rather than just one virtual class as has been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we propose a methodology, called MultiView, for supporting multiple such view schemata. MultiView breaks the schema design task into the following independent and well-defined subtasks: (1) the customization of type descriptions and object sets of existing classes by deriving virtual classes, (2) the integration of all derived classes into one consistent global schema graph, and (3) the definition of arbitrarily complex view schemata on this augmented global schema. For the first task of MultiView, we define a set of object algebra operators that can be used by the view definer for class customization. For the second task of MultiView, we propose an algorithm that automatically integrates these newly derived virtual classes into the global schema. We solve the third task of MultiView by first letting the view definer explicitly select the desired view classes from the global schema using a view definition language and then by automatically generating a view class hierarchy for these selected classes. In addition, we present algorithms that verify the closure property of a view and, if found to be incomplete, transform it into a closed, yet minimal, view. In this paper, we introduce the fundamental concept of view independence and show MultiView to be view independent. We also outline implementation techniques for realizing MultiView with existing OODB technology

Federation views as a basis for querying and updating database federations

This paper addresses the problem of how to query and update so-called database federations. A database federation provides for tight coupling of a collection of heterogeneous component databases into a global integrated system. This problem of querying and updating a database federation is tackled by describing a logical architecture and a general semantic framework for precise specification of such database federations, with the aim to provide a basis for implementing a federation by means of relational database views. Our approach to database federations is based on the UML/OCL data model, and aims at the integration of the underlying database schemas of the component legacy systems to a separate, newly defined integrated database schema. One of the central notions in database modelling and in constraint specifications is the notion of a database view, which closely corresponds to the notion of derived class in UML. We will employ OCL (version 2.0) and the notion of derived class as a means to treat (inter-)database constraints and database views in a federated context. Our approach to coupling component databases into a global, integrated system is based on mediation. The first objective of our paper is to demonstrate that our particular mediating system integrates component schemas without loss of constraint information. The second objective is to show that the concept of relational database view provides a sound basis for actual implementation of database federations, both for querying and updating purposes.