Abstract
Many new database applications require computational and data modelling power simply not present in conventional database management systems. Developers are forced to design complex encodings of complex data into a limited set of database types, and to embed DML commands into a host programming language, a notoriously tricky and error-prone enterprise. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of GESTALT, a system and methodology for organizing and interfacing to multiple heterogeneous, existing database systems. Application programs are written in a supported programming language (currently C and Lisp) using high-level data and control abstractions native to the language. The system is flexible in that the underlying database systems can easily be replaced/upgraded/augmented without affecting existing application programs. We also describe our experience with the system: GESTALT has been in daily operational use at MIT for over a year, supporting an information system for CAF, a research facility for the automation of semiconductor fabrication.
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