Introduction to RDBMS, OODBMS and ORDBMS - Object-Relational Database
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Object-Relational database (ORDBMS) is the third type of database common today. ORDBMS are systems that “attempt to extend relational database systems with the functionality necessary to support a broader class of applications and, in many ways, provide a bridge between the relational and object-oriented paradigms.”
ORDBMS was created to handle new types of data such as audio, video, and image files that relational databases were not equipped to handle. In addition, its development was the result of increased usage of object-oriented programming languages, and a large mismatch between these and the DBMS software.
One advantage of ORDBMS is that it allows organizations to continue using their existing systems, without having to make major changes. A second advantage is that it allows users and programmers to start using object-oriented systems in parallel.
There are challenges in implementing an ORDBMS. The first is storage and access methods. The second is query processing, and the third is query optimization.
Since the development of RDBMS, OODBMS, and ORDBMS, many vendors have extended their systems with the ability to store new data types such as images and texts, and with the ability to ask more complex queries.
One rising technique is enterprise resource planning and management resource planning, which add another layer of application-oriented features on top of a DBMS. Included applications come from Baan, Oracle, SAP, and Siebel. These programs each identify a set of common tasks encountered by a large number of organizations and provide a general application layer to carry out these tasks.
More importantly, DBMS have advanced into the Internet and Web Age. Stored data is widely being accessed through a Web browser. Today, queries are being generated through Web-accessible forms and answers are being formatted using a mark-up language such as HTML. In addition, many vendors and distributors are adding features to their DBMS aimed at making it better equipped for Internet usage.
In summary, relational and object-oriented database systems each have certain strengths as well as certain weaknesses. In general, the weakness of one type of system tends to be strength of the other.
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