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| Object-Relational Database Design |
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Traditionally, relational database management systems (DBMS) are viewed as efficient, reliable, and
relatively static repositories for business data. Database servers provide a flexible framework
for storing facts about interesting real-world situations, and a mechanism for manipulating the data
recording these facts. But there are many things that DBMS simplicity make difficult for developers to
achieve.
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Object-relational database management systems (ORDBMS) combine relational and object-oriented capabilities.
Choose an object-relational database if you need greater flexibility in the types of data that the database
server can store and manipulate. An example of an object-relational database is an online store catalog.
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You can extend the capability of the database server by defining new data types and user-defined routines
(UDRs) that let you store, access, and manage images, audio, video, large text documents, and so on.
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| An object-relational database supports the following data types and extensibility: |
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- Alphanumeric data (such as character strings, integers, decimal, floating point, and date)
- Simple large objects (TEXT and BYTE data types)
- Smart large objects (BLOB and CLOB data types)
- User-defined types (opaque and distinct types)
- Complex data types (composites of existing data types)
- User-defined routines
- Operator functions
- User-defined casts
- User-defined aggregates
- Type and table inheritance
- Data Blade modules
- User-defined virtual processors
- User-defined access methods
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These are the objectives of any information system, regardless of the technology used to build it. Projects
differ with respect to the weight each objective is assigned. Embedded applications that are accessed mainly
by other software systems place a premium on efficiency and consistency, but are not required to be particularly
flexible. On the other hand, systems supporting managerial decision-makers should above all be correct and flexible.
A clear understanding of the goals and objectives of a new system's user community is very helpful when deciding
between alternative designs.
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