Temporal Constraints for Object Migration and Behavior Modeling Using Colored Petri Nets

In databases based on a multi-aspects object-oriented data model which enables multiple aspects of a real-world entity to be represented and to be acquired/lost dynamically, Object Migration (OM) updating membership relationships between an object and classes occurs, as the properties of the object evolve in its lifetime. To keep an object consistent in OM, this paper introduces temporal consistency constraints such as temporal transitional constraints and temporal multiplicity constraints by extending OM consistency constraints for snapshot databases. To this end, a temporal interval is attached to each aspect of an object for representing its duration in the real world. Then, temporal transitional constraints are represented by transitional rules with conditions referring to temporal intervals. Additionally, temporal multiplicity constraints are represented by object-schemas. Furthermore, the paper proposes OM behavior modeling using Colored Petri Nets (CPN) based on temporal consistency constraints.