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Keim, Daniel A.; Kriegel, Hans-Peter; Miethsam, Andreas
(1993):
Object-oriented querying of existing relational databases.
4th International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA'93) 6-8 Sept., 1993, Prag.
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![[img]](https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4240/1.hassmallThumbnailVersion/4240.pdf)  Preview |
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Abstract
In this paper, we present algorithms which allow an object-oriented
querying of existing relational databases. Our goal is to provide an improved query
interface for relational systems with better query facilities than SQL. This
seems to be very important since, in real world applications, relational systems
are most commonly used and their dominance will remain in the near future. To
overcome the drawbacks of relational systems, especially the poor query facilities
of SQL, we propose a schema transformation and a query translation algorithm.
The schema transformation algorithm uses additional semantic information to enhance
the relational schema and transform it into a corresponding object-oriented
schema. If the additional semantic information can be deducted from an underlying
entity-relationship design schema, the schema transformation may be done
fully automatically. To query the created object-oriented schema, we use the
Structured Object Query Language (SOQL) which provides declarative query facilities
on objects. SOQL queries using the created object-oriented schema are
much shorter, easier to write and understand and more intuitive than corresponding
S Q L queries leading to an enhanced usability and an improved querying of
the database. The query translation algorithm automatically translates SOQL queries
into equivalent SQL queries for the original relational schema.
