Booknews
Promotes and explains a software package for object-relational database management, with tutorials on architecture, design, and datablades from big names in the database field. A sampling of topics turns up building complex decision-support models using a universal warehouse, using custom datablades to move beyond a three-tier architecture, and online optical storage management. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option: Best Practices
by Angela Sanchez, Informix Press StaffInformix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option: Best Practices shows you how organizations in a variety of fields are using ORDBMS technology to change the way they think about business. When you've implemented this scalable high-performance technology, your organization can share libraries of rich content, manage projects dynamically through groupware solutions,… See more details below
Overview
Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option: Best Practices shows you how organizations in a variety of fields are using ORDBMS technology to change the way they think about business. When you've implemented this scalable high-performance technology, your organization can share libraries of rich content, manage projects dynamically through groupware solutions, and implement user-defined aggregates for decision-support systems. The best minds in the field offer you their experience and insights, including: tutorials for extending your existing database framework, case studies of real-world applications, do's and don'ts from experienced developers, and tips on extending your server to the World Wide Web.
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Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780139110740
- Publisher:
- Pearson Education
- Publication date:
- 09/15/1998
- Series:
- Informix Press Series
- Pages:
- 432
- Product dimensions:
- 7.06(w) x 9.26(h) x 1.19(d)
Read an Excerpt
PREFACE: Foreword by Michael Stonebraker
The Next Great Wave is beginning to take shape.
This book contains a collection of articles describing what it looks like, written by those involved in daily, hands-on work with object-relational database management systems.
A bit of background: the original motivation for extensible databases was born out of the frustration users felt in trying to apply relational technology to manage business data. From the first, the focus of object-relational research was to improve this situation by bringing business knowledge closer to where the data was stored. This meant creating a new database management system (DBMS) technology, one based on the best of existing technology, but with the added ability to accept new data types and methods.
In the short term, the object-relational DBMS will succeed simply because it is a better relational DBMS. And extensible technology is maturing rapidly— Informix is in the process of preparing the second release of its object-relational DBMS. Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option, version 9.2, represents the complete integration of the relational DBMS with the extensible DBMS.
Which brings us back to this book. Several of the articles you'll find here are tutorials on how to create extensions to the basic database framework, and how to apply them to solve real-world problems. Others describe the experiences of developers who use Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option to support Web site development, a traditionally strong market for the technology.
Beyond the Web, however, the book describes how organizations have used object-relationalDBMS technology to change the way they do business, by allowing their employees to share libraries of rich content, and by providing groupware solutions for project management— all with high levels of performance and scalability. It also demonstrates how object-relational database features like user-defined aggregates are ideal for advanced decision-support systems.
Looking ahead, it is clear that object-relational databases will become the mainstream DBMS technology of choice within the next few years, if only because technically aggressive organizations view them as delivering strong competitive advantage. There exists an enormous, pent-up demand for applications such as digital image management ("Find all the photographs we took in Paris last April with the model wearing this shirt."), geo-location ("Show me the nearest Italian restaurant."), e-commerce ("Compute the shipping costs to send my Hawaiian shirts to Toledo, Ohio, by air freight"), and digitizing X-rays and ultrasound ("Show me the difference between this X-ray and the last one."), to name just a few.
Over time, these are the kinds of applications that will drive the database market. Since the object-relational DBMS acts as a framework for integrating the components of the solution, there is no limit to the potential for innovation.
This book, for all of its depth, barely scratches the surface.
Dr. Michael Stonebraker
Chief Technology Officer
Informix Software, Inc.
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