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Data abstractions for database systems

Published: 01 March 1979 Publication History

Abstract

Data abstractions were originally conceived as a specification tool in programming. They also appear to be useful for exploring and explaining the capabilities and shortcomings of the data definition and manipulation facilities of present-day database systems. Moreover they may lead to new approaches to the design of these facilities. In the first section the paper introduces an axiomatic method for specifying data abstractions and, on that basis, gives precise meaning to familiar notions such as data model, data type, and database schema. In a second step the various possibilities for specifying data types within a given data model are examined and illustrated. It is shown that data types prescribe the individual operations that are allowed within a database. Finally, some additions to the method are discussed which permit the formulation of interrelationships between arbitrary operations.

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cover image ACM Transactions on Database Systems
ACM Transactions on Database Systems  Volume 4, Issue 1
March 1979
131 pages
ISSN:0362-5915
EISSN:1557-4644
DOI:10.1145/320064
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 March 1979
Published in TODS Volume 4, Issue 1

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Author Tags

  1. abstract data type
  2. data abstraction
  3. data definition language
  4. data manipulation language
  5. data model
  6. data structure
  7. data type
  8. database consistency
  9. database design
  10. database schema
  11. integrity constraints
  12. specification

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