Versioning model of image objects for easy development of image database applications

A versioning model is presented for managing and controlling image objects in an image database. Image objects consist of attributes such as pixel data and methods such as image processing operations. Furthermore, image objects can be represented in terms of an application site model from the user viewpoint and an internal model from the implementation viewpoint. The former results in a virtual image object and the latter produces an actual object. When image processing is applied to an image object, a new image object is generated. The new object is understood to be a version of the original object, and a series of interactive operations generates a version history. Two concepts are introduced in order to manage version histories: a generic image object (GIO), a composite generic image object (CGIO). The kind of object generated depends on the image processing application. The features of versioning model are described and differences between version management of image objects and that of objects in CAD are discussed. An architecture that produces image objects and manages versions is proposed. The architecture is composed of three layers: an application layer, database layer, and an image object server. The server generates versions and controls their histories.