Modelbase Construction with Object‐Oriented Constructs*

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes modelbase construction mechanisms in a decision support system (DSS) for representing and managing models of diverse management science/operations research modeling paradigms, using object‐oriented database management systems (ODBMS) constructs. It focuses on the construction of a modelbase that maintains logical independence among the DSS components including modelbase, database, and solvers, but relieves the mismatching characteristics by facilitating intelligent and stabilized integration of them. As a conceptual framework to build such a modelbase, this research uses generic model concepts, and adopts structured modeling language (SML) as a paradigm‐neutral model representation sublanguage. In the modelbase, three model abstraction layers including model type, model structure, and model instance are devised to facilitate the capture of multiple modeling paradigms and specific application models in different instantiation levels. The constructs and methods discussed are flexible enough to be applied to a wide variety of decision‐making and problem‐solving paradigms. A prototype system is developed under a commercial ODBMS called OBJECTSTORE with the C++ programming language, and diverse model manipulation commands are illustrated by an object‐oriented structured query language (OSQL).