Dynamic evolution and consistency of collaborative configurations in object-oriented databases

Discusses design evolution support using the semantic extension of versions of a configuration that is composed of a set of component objects. The notion of transient, working and released versions of a simple object is extended to transient, working and released versions of a configuration. We look at how the consistency between a configuration version and its components´ versions can be maintained using a special object called a consistency descriptor. Further, the problem of maintaining the semantic consistency of relationships in multi-version configurations is also addressed. A novel hybrid architecture of design workspaces in object-oriented databases is introduced that allows the collaboration at all levels of the workspace hierarchy