Integration of heterogeneous data repositories by using object-oriented views

A discussion is given on how object-oriented techniques can be used to solve the problem of integrating semantically heterogeneous schemas. The author defines an object-oriented view mechanism which allows integrated views to be defined starting from local views which are expressed in a uniform object-oriented data model, but still semantically heterogeneous. A view model based on the object-oriented paradigm has several advantages, since it is a semantically rich model and allows object behavior to be described by using methods. This allows several semantic conflicts to be solved on a structural basis, that is, the model naturally supports the structural mapping approach traditionally used in heterogeneous distributed database systems. Moreover, the usage of methods allows complex mapping to be defined, when the structural mapping cannot be used. The proposed view model uses mechanisms for method combination similar to those defined in some object-oriented programming languages. These mechanisms allow an integrated view to reuse and extend methods defined for the various local views