Implementing ECA rules in an active database

Traditional database systems are designed to manage large volumes of data, but rule support is generally not a strong feature. On the other hand, expert systems have the deductive capability to manage rule processing. A coupling between these two systems to support advanced database applications results in what is termed an active database. An approach to implementing active database systems is to represent knowledge as Event–Condition–Action (ECA) rules. ECA rules determine when and how to react to different kinds of events. This paper focuses on the different type of events supported by an active database CLOSE. A set of primitive and composite events is presented together with examples of their application. Event detection in this system is also discussed.