The object database standard: ODMG 2.0. Contrib.: Dirk Bartels, Mark Berler, Jeff Eastman, Sophie Gamerman, David Jordan, Adam Springer, Henry Strickland, Drew Wade. (English) Zbl 0873.68050

San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann. 270 p. (1997).

The book “Object Database Standard: ODMG 2.0” succeeds the edition of the ODMG-93, Release 1.2 book. It contains a strong suggestion to push a standard for object databases, side stepping traditional standardization bodies. ODMG 2.0 is written by a group of the authors from organizations developing and using Object Database Management Systems (ODBMS’s). Thus, the work is based on strong experience in the field and started in 1991 when the ODMG group was organized to overcome one of the major limitations to a more widespread use of ODBMS’s compared with relational database systems, the lack of a standard.
A standard enables vendors to support a common object database interface, and it enables customers to develop their applications with the promise that it will be portable to other ODBMS’s. Release 2.0 is assumed to be stable and it is considered to have reached a new level of maturity. Rick Cattell, the main editor of the book, considers products now available to be reasonably compliant with the C++ Binding, Smalltalk Binding, OQL, and even the new Java Binding. A few changes have to be expected with respect to the backward compatibility to Release 1.2 and with respect to the new Java Binding.
The book consists of 7 chapters: Overview, Object Model, Object Specification Language, Object Query Language, C++ Binding, Smalltalk Binding, Java Binding. The appendix contains a comparison with the OMG Object Model and an overview on ODBMS’s in the OMG ORB environment. The content of the book is considerably updated compared with its predecessors. The Object Model has been totally rewritten, a standard external format form for data and the data schema is defined, updates and improvements have been made to the C++ Binding, the Smalltalk Binding, and to the OQL. A Java Binding has been added.
The book is recommended to all who are developing ODBMS’s and object database applications, as well as to all who are still just thinking about introducing object databases into their organizations.

Reviewer: W.Gerhardt (Rostock)

MSC:

68P15	Database theory
68-00	General reference works (handbooks, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc.) pertaining to computer science
68P05	Data structures
68P20	Information storage and retrieval of data

Keywords:

object database management systems; object specification language; object query language