An object-oriented office data model: Simon J. Gibbs: Computer Systems Research Group, University of Toronto, (Jan. 1984)

Abstract

Office activities involve the sharing of a large quantity and variety of stored information. Consequently computer-based systems for managing office information (referred to as office information systems) demand a specification of the structure and organization of information present within the system. Current database management systems and their underlying data models lack the flexibility required by office information systems. In this thesis a data model for the specification of data structures, operations, and constraints relevant to office information systems is presented. The model relies on techniques from conceptual data modelling to specify the structure and semantics of common office objects. The unusual features of the model include a constraint mechanism based on triggers, templates for presenting objects in different media, and unformatted data types such as text and audio. The representation of the office environment is described. An example is given of a high-level interface for which user commands can be translated to model operations.