TOPAZ: A Tool Kit for the Construction of Application-Specific Transaction Managers

Abstract

‘Advanced database applications’, such as CAD/CAM, CASE, large AI applications or image and voice processing, place demands on transaction management which differ substantially from those in traditional database applications. In particular, there is a need to support ‘enriched’ data models, ‘synergistic’ cooperative work, and application- or user-supported consistency. Unfortunately, the demands are not only sophisticated but also diversified, which means that different application areas might even place contradictory demands on transaction management. This paper deals with these problems and offers a solution by introducing a flexible and adaptable tool kit approach for transaction management. This tool kit enables a database implementor or applications designer to assemble application-specific transaction managers. Each such transaction manager is meant to provide a number of individualized, application-specific transaction types. To be able to emulate each kind of application environment the nesting of transaction is supported. In particular, different transaction types can be executed in any order within such a hierarchy. Particular emphasis is placed on a flexible and comprehensive support of cooperative work.