Language Constructs for Programming Active Databases

: This paper presents database programming language constructs that. can be used to realize a variety of different semantics for rule application in active database syst.ems. The primary novel feature introduced is the “delayed update”, or delta, which is a first-class value representing a set of proposed modifications to the underlying persistent store. Deltas can be created, inspected, and combined without committing t.o the given modifications. The utility of these concepts for expressing the semantics of active databases is demonstrated through a series of examples, including the presentation of the essential features of rule application in the AP5 system of USC/Information Sciences Institute and the Starburst Rule System being developed at IBM Almaden. Technical results concerning the simulatability of certain fundamental constructs by other fundamental constructs are also presented. The discussion is baaed on Heraclitus[Rel], an imperative language containing a relational cal...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1991
• Where: VLDB
• Authors: Richard Hull, Dean Jacobs
• Keywords: Active Databases, Database, Fundamental Constructs, Rule Application, VLDB 1991