Chapter 2

Object Database Standards,

Languages, and Design
Chapter 2: Outline
1 Overview of the Object Model ODMG
2 The Object Definition Language DDL
3 The Object Query Language OQL
4 Object Database Conceptual Model
Chapter Objectives
◼ Discuss the importance of standards (e.g.,
portability, interoperability)
◼ Introduce Object Data Management Group
(ODMG): object model, object definition language
(ODL), object query language (OQL)
◼ Present Object Database Conceptual Design
2.1 The Object Model of ODMG
◼ Provides a standard model for object databases
◼ Supports object definition via ODL
◼ Supports object querying via OQL
◼ Supports a variety of data types and type
constructors
ODMG Objects and Literals
◼ The basic building blocks of the object model are
◼ Objects
◼ Literals
◼ An object has four characteristics
1. Identifier: unique system-wide identifier
2. Name: unique within a particular database and/or program;
it is optional
3. Lifetime: persistent vs. transient
4. Structure: specifies how object is constructed by the type
constructor and whether it is an atomic object
ODMG Literals
◼ A literal has a current value but not an identifier
◼ Three types of literals
1. atomic: predefined; basic data type values (e.g.,
short, float, boolean, char)
2. structured: values that are constructed by type
constructors (e.g., date, struct variables)
3. collection: a collection (e.g., array) of values or
objects
ODMG Interface Definition:
An Example
◼ Note: interface is ODMG’s keyword for class/type

interface Date:Object {
enum weekday{sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat};
enum Month{jan,feb,mar,…,dec};
unsigned short year();
unsigned short month();
unsigned short day();
…
boolean is_equal(in Date other_date);
};
Built-in Interfaces for
Collection Objects
◼ A collection object inherits the basic
collection interface, for example:
◼ cardinality()
◼ is_empty()
◼ insert_element()
◼ remove_element()
◼ contains_element()
◼ create_iterator()
Collection Types
◼ Collection objects are further specialized into
types like a set, list, bag, array, and dictionary
◼ Each collection type may provide additional
interfaces, for example, a set provides:
◼ create_union()
◼ create_difference()
◼ is_subset_of()
◼ is_superset_of()
◼ is_proper_subset_of()
Object Inheritance Hierarchy
Atomic Objects
◼ Atomic objects are user-defined objects and are defined
via keyword class
◼ An example:
class Employee (extent all_emplyees key ssn) {
attribute string name;
attribute string ssn;
attribute short age;
relationship Dept works_for;
void reassign(in string new_name);
}
Class Extents
◼ An ODMG object can have an extent defined
via a class declaration
◼ Each extent is given a name and will contain all
persistent objects of that class
◼ For Employee class, for example, the extent is
called all_employees
◼ This is similar to creating an object of type
Set<Employee> and making it persistent
Class Key
◼ A class key consists of one or more unique
attributes
◼ For the Employee class, the key is ssn
◼ Thus each employee is expected to have a unique
ssn
◼ Keys can be composite, e.g.,
◼ (key dnumber, dname)
Object Factory
◼ An object factory is used to generate individual
objects via its operations
◼ An example:
interface ObjectFactory {
Object new ();
};
◼ new() returns new objects with an object_id

◼ One can create their own factory interface by

inheriting the above interface
Interface and Class Definition
◼ ODMG supports two concepts for specifying
object types:
◼ Interface
◼ Class
◼ There are similarities and differences between
interfaces and classes
◼ Both have behaviors (operations) and state
(attributes and relationships)
ODMG Interface
◼ An interface is a specification of the abstract
behavior of an object type
◼ State properties of an interface (i.e., its attributes
and relationships) cannot be inherited from
◼ Objects cannot be instantiated from an interface
ODMG Class
◼ A class is a specification of abstract behavior and
state of an object type
◼ A class is Instantiable
◼ Supports “extends” inheritance to allow both
state and behavior inheritance among classes
◼ Multiple inheritance via “extends” is not allowed
2.2 Object Definition Language
◼ ODL supports semantics constructs of ODMG
◼ ODL is independent of any programming
language
◼ ODL is used to create object specification
(classes and interfaces)
◼ ODL is not used for database manipulation
ODL Examples (1)
A Very Simple Class

◼ A very simple, straightforward class definition

◼(all examples are based on the university schema
presented in Chapter 4 of the text book):
class Degree {
attribute string college;
attribute string degree;
attribute string year;
};
ODL Examples (2)
A Class With Key and Extent

◼ A class definition with “extent”, “key”, and more

elaborate attributes; still relatively straightforward

class Person (extent persons key ssn) {

attribute struct Pname {string fname …} name;
attribute string ssn;
attribute date birthdate;
…
short age();
}
ODL Examples (3)
A Class With Relationships
◼ Note extends (inheritance) relationship
◼ Also note “inverse” relationship

class Faculty extends Person (extent faculty) {

attribute string rank;
attribute float salary;
attribute string phone;
…
relationship Dept works_in inverse
Dept::has_faculty;
relationship set<GradStu> advises inverse
GradStu::advisor;
void give_raise (in float raise);
void promote (in string new_rank);
};
Inheritance via “:” – An Example
interface Shape {
attribute struct point {…} reference_point;
float perimeter ();
…
};

class Triangle: Shape (extent triangles) {

attribute short side_1;
attribute short side_2;
…
};
2.3 Object Query Language
◼ OQL is ODMG’s query language
◼ OQL works closely with programming languages
such as C++
◼ Embedded OQL statements return objects that
are compatible with the type system of the host
language
◼ OQL’s syntax is similar to SQL with additional
features for objects
Simple OQL Queries
◼ Basic syntax: select…from…where…
◼ SELECT d.name
◼ FROM d in departments
◼ WHERE d.college = ‘Engineering’;
◼ An entry point to the database is needed for
each query
◼ An extent name (e.g., departments in the above
example) may serve as an entry point
Iterator Variables
◼ Iterator variables are defined whenever a
collection is referenced in an OQL query
◼ Iterator d in the previous example serves as an
iterator and ranges over each object in the
collection
◼ Syntactical options for specifying an iterator:
◼ d in departments
◼ departments d
◼ departments as d
Data Type of Query Results
◼ The data type of a query result can be any type
defined in the ODMG model
◼ A query does not have to follow the
select…from…where… format
◼ A persistent name on its own can serve as a
query whose result is a reference to the
persistent object. For example,
◼ departments; whose type is set<Departments>
Path Expressions
◼ A path expression is used to specify a path to
attributes and objects in an entry point
◼ A path expression starts at a persistent object
name (or its iterator variable)
◼ The name will be followed by zero or more dot
connected relationship or attribute names
◼ E.g., departments.chair;
Views as Named Objects
◼ The define keyword in OQL is used to specify an
identifier for a named query
◼ The name should be unique; if not, the results will
replace an existing named query
◼ Once a query definition is created, it will persist
until deleted or redefined
◼ A view definition can include parameters
An Example of OQL View
◼ A view to include students in a department who
have a minor:
define has_minor(dept_name) as
select s
from s in students
where s.minor_in.dname=dept_name

◼ has_minor can now be used in queries

Single Elements from Collections
◼ An OQL query returns a collection
◼ OQL’s element operator can be used to return a
single element from a singleton collection that
contains one element:
element (select d from d in departments
where d.dname = ‘Software Engineering’);
◼ If d is empty or has more than one elements, an
exception is raised
Collection Operators
◼ OQL supports a number of aggregate operators
that can be applied to query results
◼ The aggregate operators and operate over a
collection and include
◼ min, max, count, sum, avg
◼ count returns an integer; others return the same
type as the collection type
An Example of an OQL
Aggregate Operator

◼ To compute the average GPA of all seniors

majoring in Business:

avg (select s.gpa from s in students

where s.class = ‘senior’ and
s.majors_in.dname =‘Business’);
Membership and Quantification
◼ OQL provides membership and quantification
operators:
◼ (e in c) is true if e is in the collection c
◼ (for all e in c: b) is true if all e elements of
collection c satisfy b
◼ (exists e in c: b) is true if at least one e in
collection c satisfies b
An Example of Membership
◼ To retrieve the names of all students who completed
CS101:

select s.name.fname s.name.lname

from s in students
where 'CS101' in
(select c.name
from c
in s.completed_sections.section.of_course);
Ordered Collections
◼ Collections that are lists or arrays allow retrieving
their first, last, and ith elements
◼ OQL provides additional operators for extracting
a sub-collection and concatenating two lists
◼ OQL also provides operators for ordering the
results
An Example of Ordered Operation
◼ To retrieve the last name of the faculty member
who earns the highest salary:

first (select struct

(faculty: f.name.lastname,
salary f.salary)
from f in faculty
ordered by f.salary desc);
Grouping Operator
◼ OQL also supports a grouping operator called group by
◼ To retrieve average GPA of majors in each department
having >100 majors:

select deptname, avg_gpa:

avg (select p.s.gpa from p in partition)
from s in students
group by deptname: s.majors_in.dname
having count (partition) > 100
2.4 Object Database
Conceptual Design

◼ Object Database (ODB) vs. Relational Database

(RDB)
◼ Relationships are handled differently
◼ Inheritance is handled differently
◼ Operations in OBD are expressed early on since
they are a part of the class specification
Relationships: ODB vs. RDB (1)
◼ Relationships in ODB:
◼ relationships are handled by reference attributes
that include OIDs of related objects
◼ single and collection of references are allowed
◼ references for binary relationships can be
expressed in single direction or both directions via
inverse operator
Relationships: ODB vs.. RDB (2)
◼ Relationships in RDB:
◼ Relationships among tuples are specified by
attributes with matching values (via foreign keys)
◼ Foreign keys are single-valued
◼ M:N relationships must be presented via a
separate relation (table)
Inheritance Relationship
in ODB vs. RDB

◼ Inheritance structures are built in ODB (and

achieved via “:” and extends operators)
◼ RDB has no built-in support for inheritance
relationships; there are several options for
mapping inheritance relationships in an RDB (see
Chapter 7 of the text book)
Early Specification of Operations
◼ Another major difference between ODB and RDB
is the specification of operations
◼ ODB:
◼ Operations specified during design (as part of class
specification)
◼ RDB:
◼ Operations specification may be delayed until
implementation
Mapping EER Schemas
to ODB Schemas

◼ Mapping EER schemas into ODB schemas is

relatively simple especially since ODB schemas
provide support for inheritance relationships
◼ Once mapping has been completed, operations
must be added to ODB schemas since EER
schemas do not include an specification of
operations
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 1

◼ Create an ODL class for each EER entity type or

subclass
◼ Multi-valued attributes are declared by sets, bags
or lists constructors
◼ Composite attributes are mapped into tuple
constructors
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 2

◼ Add relationship properties or reference attributes

for each binary relationship into the ODL classes
participating in the relationship
◼ Relationship cardinality: single-valued for 1:1 and
N:1 directions; set-valued for 1:N and M:N
directions
◼ Relationship attributes: create via tuple
constructors
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 3

◼ Add appropriate operations for each class

◼ Operations are not available from the EER
schemas; original requirements must be reviewed
◼ Corresponding constructor and destructor
operations must also be added
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 4
◼ Specify inheritance relationships via extends
clause
◼ An ODL class that corresponds to a sub-class in
the EER schema inherits the types and methods of
its super-class in the ODL schemas
◼ Other attributes of a sub-class are added by
following Steps 1-3
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 5

◼ Map weak entity types in the same way as

regular entities
◼ Weak entities that do not participate in any
relationships may alternatively be presented as
composite multi-valued attribute of the owner
entity type
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 6

◼ Map categories (union types) to ODL

◼ The process is not straightforward
◼ May follow the same mapping used for EER-to-
relational mapping:
◼ Declare a class to represent the category
◼ Define 1:1 relationships between the category and
each of its super-classes
Mapping EER to ODB Schemas
Step 7

◼ Map n-ary relationships whose degree is

greater than 2
◼ Each relationship is mapped into a separate class
with appropriate reference to each participating
class