A FRAMEWORK FOR OBJECT MIGRATION IN OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASES

This article presents a framework developed for accommodating various object migrations in 'statically-typed' object databases. Requirements for supporting object migrations are stipulated, and a conceptual model for describing and facilitating different kinds of migrations is described. Associated issues of controlling such migrations are then addressed, along with an initial investigation on the inference of implied migration paths and the completeness of migration operators. Some guidelines are then given to help users conduct migrations more effectively. An implementation prototype on top of an object-oriented database system was built, which embodies full support of all migration types specified in the migration model.