Database support for software engineering environments

The authors address the problem of database support in the context of software engineering (SE). They introduce an appropriate object-oriented data model and a nonprocedural data definition and manipulation language. The manipulation language offers a nonprocedural way of querying the database and functions as a gateway through which the entire flow of incoming-outgoing objects is carried out. Evolution of the system scheme becomes feasible, since the model maintains metadata and therefore changes can easily take place. A transaction management policy is described. A notification bulletin mechanism is used to warn of changes occurring in shared objects. The locking protocol is flexible enough to deal with SE inherited problems. It satisfies the desire not to isolate a large portion of the hierarchy structure and many object files for a long time