Advantages of a Compact Semantic Data Model
J.H. ter Bekke

Abstract
The Xplain data model is a powerful semantic model developed at TU Delft. The first goal in the research project was the development of an effective conceptual framework for databases. Meanwhile a complete DBMS has been developed which has been used to illustrate the advantages of semantic concepts. This paper presents an overview of some of the benefits of semantic modeling in practice and emphasizes semantic meta modeling aspects as implemented in Xplain DBMS. The system consists of modules for data definition, data manipulation, application generation, report generation and authorization. It is an interpretative and completely interactive system: all modules operate on metadata in an active data dictionary that guards all user operations for integrity and consistency. Its performance is in complex situations mostly an order of magnitude faster than classical relational systems. A live demonstration of Xplain DBMS is part of the presentation.
Keywords: semantic data model, xplain dbms, metadata.

Publication Data
Proceedings 2nd IEEE Metadata Conference, Silver Spring (1997)
Publisher: IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, California
Year: 1997

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