Comparative analysis of RDBMS and OODBMS: a case study

The underlying hypothesis of the case study described is that the development, implementation, operations, and maintenance of large, complex, data-intensive applications, such as computer-integrated manufacturing, can be simplified through the use of object-oriented database management systems (DBMSs). The objective of the case study is to verify this hypothesis. The approach is to prototype selected representative components of a computer-integrated-manufacturing system; these components have been developed on top of a relational DBMS, using an object-oriented DBMS, called Iris. The fundamental elements of the data model of Iris are objects, types, and functions. An Iris object is represented by a unique identifier. Each object is associated with at least one type. This association supports classification. An object is said to be the instance of the types with which it has classification associations. The results of the study illustrate that the object-oriented prototype has a superior schema, is capable of providing convenient access to information, and is easier to extend and maintain.<>