IPL: a multidatabase transaction specification language

A multidatabase system (MDBS) integrates preexisting and heterogeneous databases in a distributed environment. A multidatabase transaction is a consistent and reliable execution of an application over a multidatabase system. The authors summarize the characteristics of multidatabase transactions and present a multidatabase transaction specification language, the InterBase Parallel Language (IPL). IPL allows users to write MDBS transactions by specifying all associated actions, their sequences, control flow, and data flow among subtransactions, and yet retaining the autonomies of the preexisting software systems. IPL also allows users to specify different commit protocols for different subtransactions and to control the atomicity and isolation granularity of an MDBS transaction. IPL components and design issues are described in detail. The implementation of IPL is also discussed.<<ETX>>

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