Woodger Computing Inc.

- Architecture: Object-oriented Databases

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Woodger Computing Inc. - Architecture: Object-oriented

Databases
Object Capabilities in Databases
The article describes the emerging object capabilities that are being provided in database
management systems. Traditional relational databases and object oriented databases are
compared first. Next, reasons that object oriented databases have failed to garner
substantial market share are presented. The capabilities provided by the new relational
(or object relational) databases are then presented.
The major topics in this article:
A comparison of relational databases and object oriented databases
The limited presence of object oriented databases
Emerging requirements for object database capabilities
The new wave of object relational databases
The future
A Comparison of Relational Databases and Object Oriented Databases
In the late 1980s, the distinction between relational database management systems
(RDBMS) and object oriented database management systems (ODMBS) was stark. Most
RDBMS's allowed you to store simple data types (character, numeric, date) but you
could not automatically trigger actions or store complex data types. By contrast, an
ODBMS allowed you to store complex data types and perform operations on such data.
By the early-to-mid 1990s, most major RDMBS's had added some very basic object
features in the form of triggers and binary large objects (or BLOBs). A comparison of the
typical RDBMS and ODBMS prior to 1997 is given in Table 1.
Table 1: Typical RDBMS and ODBMS features prior to 1997
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Relational Databases
(RDBMS)

Object Oriented Databases (ODBMS)

complex data
types

- supports binary large objects

(BLOBs) which are essentially
very large database columns
- database columns must
generally be simple data elements,
rather than structures and arrays

- supports complex data types, including

user defined data types

locating data

- fast at locating simple data types

- no support for searching or
indexing BLOBs

- usually slower than RDBMS when

locating simple data types
- sophisticated algorithms used to search
for data within complex data types

language
standards

- Major RDBMS's use a standard

language (SQL2 / SQL92) with
vendor-specific extensions. SQL is
both a data definition language
(DDL) and a data manipulation
language (DML).

- Many ODBMS's support object query

language (OQL) and object definition
language (ODL) which are part of the
larger Object Data Management Group
(ODMG) standard. There are varying
degrees of compliance amongst ODBMS
vendors with the overall ODMG standard.
- unlike RDBMS's which use SQL Insert,
Update, Delete, data manipulation is
performed in the programming language
by invoking methods on the object -- this
allows for better object encapsulation.

functions /
methods on
DBMS

- provides triggers / stored

procedures which are written in
the native DBMS language
- function / method inheritance
not supported

- object methods are typically written in a

selected OO programming language
(usually C++, Java or Smalltalk)
- object/method inheritance is supported

Prior to 1997, ODBMS had a clear technical advantage in providing object capabilities.
Limited Presence of Object Oriented Databases
Almost a decade after their introduction, ODBMS's account for about 3% of the overall
database market and their market share is growing. The lack of significant market
presence could explain why major client/server tools (e.g. PowerBuilder, Visual Basic)
do not yet operate directly with ODBMS's.

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Traditional weaknesses that have held back ODBMS's include:

weaker transaction processing capabilities
weaker ad hoc data manipulation
scalability issues
security issues
a lack of small, inexpensive personal ODBMS's (to encourage early adoption)
weak local/onsite support since ODBMS vendors are comparatively small
a shortage (or complete absence) of local IT professionals with previous experience
with a target ODBMS
To date, the benefits of an ODBMS have not justified the costs of a revolution in data
storage for most companies.
Emerging Requirements for Object Database Capabilities
ODBMS vendors inability to gain a significant market presence is not a sign that object
capabilities are not needed. In fact, the requirement for more object features in
databases is increasing due to the following underlying trends in application
development:
increasing use of multimedia (video, audio, animation) in applications, especially in
Internet applications
increased application complexity which requires complex data types to effectively
solve problems
increased requirements to search, index and effectively optimize queries for
complex data
widespread use of object oriented techniques for analysis, design and development
in application development. The use of object oriented techniques has increased
demand for object oriented capabilities in the database (e.g. inheritance,
polymorphism).

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The New Wave of Object Relational Databases

Most companies that want to obtain the object features are more comfortable with the
evolutionary approach provided in the new offerings from the RDBMS vendors. The new
databases are called Object Relational Database Management Systems (ORDBMS) or
universal servers. These new databases add features which augment existing relational
capabilities. In doing so, they provide a number of the key object features that are in
demand.
Important features provided in the new ORDBMS's are outlined below.
User Defined Types: User defined types (UDTs) let the developer define their own data
types and create columns of those types. Sample UDTs include structures, arrays, text,
multimedia, time-series, etc.
User Defined Functions: User defined functions (UDFs) are defined methods for
manipulating data. UDFs can be invoked independently or inside a SQL statement (e.g.
in the WHERE clause). UDFs can usually be overloaded to take different numbers and
types of arguments. UDFs usually operate on complex data (i.e. UDTs). A UDF might
decompress a video image or extract a desired date range from time-series data.
Extended Search/Index Capabilities: Some ORDBMS's provide the ability to search
complex data types, which is a notable improvement on the opaque BLOBs which came
earlier. The new ORDBMS's are starting to provide the capability to specify the "cost" of
searching UDTs or executing UDFs to better optimize queries that involve complex data.
Accurate query optimization will be key to obtaining good performance in applications
that make extensive use of complex data types.
Predefined Extensions: The ORDBMS vendors are offering a number of predefined
extensions (called DataCartridges by Oracle, Snapins by Sybase, DataBlades by
Informix). Each extension handles complex information in a particular application
domain such as text search, images, video, messaging, etc. Some of these extensions are
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provided by the vendors themselves and others are being written by third parties.
Extended Support for Programming Languages: Functions in traditional RBDMS's had
to be written in the database vendor's native language (e.g. PL/SQL in Oracle, T-SQL in
SQL Server, SPL in Informix). ORDBMS are now providing support for C, C++ and Java
when writing UDFs in their databases.
Many of the common extensions being provided by the new ORDBMS's are being
included in the new SQL3 standard. SQL3 includes support for UDTs, UDFs, hierarchies
of types and inheritance in these hierarchies and SQL/Multimedia.
Early users of the new ORDBMS's will need to carefully consider which object-relational
extensions to use. Some of the new object-relational extensions (e.g. complex data types)
are not yet compatible with all the existing database features like data replication and
distributed databases.
The Future
Will object oriented databases (ODBMS's) grow and displace the dominant relational
databases? This seems very unlikely now. ODBMS did not make a breakthrough in the
market in the early-to-mid 1990s when they had the clear technical edge in object
capabilities. With the relational vendors closing the object capability gap, it is difficult to
see a large number of customers opting for ODBMS's now. It appears likely that ODBMS
will likely continue to serve niche markets, as they do today.
... back to Architecture Topics
Copyright 1997-2015, Woodger Computing Inc.

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