Object-oriented databases and their impact on future business database applications

Abstract The relational data model cannot handle the increasingly complex data management requirements imposed by many of today's applications. The object-oriented database concept provides greater capabilities through the support of user defined abstract data types, complex data objects that may contain other objects, procedural attachment to attributes, inheritance, and a more flexible means of deriving values and representing constraints. Existing object-oriented development projects, besides developing systems from scratch, are extending relational systems to include user defined data types or expanding object-oriented languages to allow storage of complex objects on mass storage devices. They are, however, still evolving. An application involving product configuration and sales quotation generation is presented. It illustrates the advantages of using the object-oriented approach.