rmy@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Rasthiyaadu Yakaa) (10/13/90)
In programming languages, there are (and have been) several efforts towards meta-level or reflective languages .. I am interested in knowing if there are similar efforts in the database area in developing meta-level or reflective DBMS architectures. In particular, I would like to find a fairly good definition of what constitutes a meta-level or reflective architecture (if there is one !) and in compiling a list of projects or efforts that are working on such architectures. I would like to hear from those working on such architectures (papers, reports, references would be welcome). I would also like to hear comments from those knowledgeable in the area regarding the capability of such an approach to "make a system fit the application" rather than "make an application fit the system" (a claim i have seen in reflective prog. lang.). This, in my opinion, represents an interesting approach to extensible systems, rather than individual extensible query optimizers, or extensible abstract data types, etc And, one final question, I would like to know if there is a particular theory (math) that governs such systems. E-mail would be appreciated and i will post a summary if there are enough responses. yaseen (rmy@beach.cis.ufl.edu OR rmy@trout.cis.ufl.edu) ********************************************************* .sig OOPS this got censored ********************************************************* I am interested in compiling a list of DBMS architectures that fall
sjbr@ut-emx.uucp (Sjaak Brinkkemper) (10/16/90)
In article <24869@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> rmy@beach.cis.ufl.edu () writes: > >In programming languages, there are (and have been) several >efforts towards meta-level or reflective languages .. > >I am interested in knowing if there are similar efforts in >the database area in developing meta-level or reflective >DBMS architectures. In particular, I would like to find >a fairly good definition of what constitutes a meta-level >or reflective architecture (if there is one !) and in >compiling a list of projects or efforts that are working >on such architectures. I would like to hear from those >working on such architectures (papers, reports, references >would be welcome). In the SOCRATES project at the Software Engineering Research Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands, a reflective language is currently being designed and implemented. This language is called MRL (Method Representation Language) and is aimed to describe structured analysis and design processes and its products for customised CASE-tool generation. The MRL desciptions are input to a so-called CASE-tool shell and a CASE-tool is generated. This language can be described in itself and, moreover, the its use can be described (static and dynamic reflectivity). Thus, although not specificly designed for DBMS, this language meets the reflectivity requirement. >I would also like to hear comments from those knowledgeable >in the area regarding the capability of such an approach >to "make a system fit the application" rather than "make >an application fit the system" (a claim i have seen in >reflective prog. lang.). This, (...). This language is used to describe the strategy of experienced analists. It is capable of detailed task description and the additional concepts that experts usually have. The generated CASE-tool has an agenda mechanism that monitors and suggests tasks in the analysis process. The concepts and their rules are then been incorporated in customised analysis techniques. This tool fits therefore the approach of the analist. This in contrast to contemporary CASE-tools to which the analists have to adapt themselves. Selected References of the SOCRATES-project 1. Hofstede, A.H.M. ter, T.F. Verhoef, G.M. Wijers and S. Brinkkemper, The SOCRATES-project. In S. Brinkkemper and G.M. Wijers (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on the Next Generation of CASE-tools, Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, April 1990. 2. Wijers, G.M. and H. Heijes, Automated Support of the Modelling Process: a view based on experiments with expert information engineers. In: B. Steinholtz, A. Solvberg and L. Bergman (Eds.), Advanced Information Systems Engineering, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 436, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp.88-108, May 1990. 3. Wijers, G.M., A.H.M. ter Hofstede and S. Brinkkemper, Flexible Guidance of the Design Process, SERC report, September 1990 (Submitted for publication). These publications can be obtained from: Arthur ter Hofstede SERC P.O.Box 424 3500 AK Utrecht The Netherlands tel. +31.30.322640 email: hofstede@serc.nl -- Sjaak Brinkkemper Organizational Computing Lab MSIS, CBA 5.202 University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA sjbr@emx.utexas.edu tel.: +1.512.471.8879