Implementation of an object-oriented front-end to a relational database system

The authors describe the implementation of an object-oriented SQL (structured query language) front-end, called OOSQL, for the IBM DB2 relational database system. The restricted semantic entity-relationship model is used as the data model. The syntax of OOSQL is based on the syntax of SQL, which is the database language for DB2. SQL was chosen as the basis because it is expressive, powerful, and provides an easy evolution for DB2 SQL users. The authors modify and extend SQL by providing object management functions. OOSQL relies on the features of DB2 for dealing with concurrency, transaction management, integrity, and security. OOSQL provides constructors for object definition of any type, including recursive objects and complex objects. A prototype of the front-end described here has been successfully implemented.<
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