Support for Design Processes in a Structurally Object-Oriented Database System

Database support for engineering applications requires mechanisms appropriate for managing design processes. The DAMOKLES database system implements a structurally object-oriented data model providing complex objects, general relationships and object versions, and is thus well suited for design environments. In this paper, we describe design transactions in terms of the DAMOKLES data model as a flexible concept to enhance parallelism of design activities and enable controlled exchange of stored design information. Disjoint logical databases assigned to users or user groups are maintained to reflect the hierarchical structure of project organization. During a design transaction, the user may deal with any number of objects by checking them out into her/his private area from any other admissible database. The operational framework of the design transactions supported by the DAMOKLES system is described and a precise definition of the checkout/checkin semantics is given. Subsequently, some implementation aspects are surveyed.

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