ConceptBase — A deductive object base for meta data management

摘要

Deductive object bases attempt to combine the advantages of deductive relational databases with those of object-oriented databases. We review modeling and implementation issues encountered during the development of ConceptBase, a prototype deductive object manager supporting the Telos object model. Significant features include: 1) The symmetric treatment of object-oriented, logic-oriented and graph-oriented perspectives, 2) an infinite metaclass hierarchy as a prerequisite for extensibility and schema evolution, 3) a simple yet powerful formal semantics used as the basis for implementation, 4) a client-server architecture supporting collaborative work in a wide-area setting. Several application experiences demonstrate the value of the approach especially in the field of meta data management.