Unbundling Active Functionality

Abstract New application areas or new technical innovations expect from database management systems more and more new functionality. However, adding functions to the DBMS as an integral part of them, tends to create monoliths that are difficult to design, implement, validate, maintain and adapt. Such monoliths can be avoided if one configures DBMS according to the actually needed functionality. In order to identify the basic functional components for the configuration the current monoliths should be broken up into smaller units, or in other words they could be "unbundled". In this paper we apply unbundling to active database systems. This results in a new form of active mechanisms where active functionality is no longer an integral part of the DBMS functionality. This allows the use of active capabilities with any arbitrary DBMS and in broader contexts. Furthermore, it allows the adaption of the active functionality to the application profile. Such aspects are crucial for...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: SIGMOD
• Authors: Stella Gatziu, Arne Koschel, Günter von Bültzingsloewen, Hans Fritschi
• Keywords: Active Functionality, Database, DBMS, Monoliths, SIGMOD 1998