In Section 28.1 we examine the background to the ORDBMS and the types of application
that they may be suited to. In Section 28.2 we examine two third-generation manifestos
based on the relational data model that provide slightly different insights into what the next
generation of DBMS should look like. In Section 28.3 we investigate an early extended
RDBMS, followed in Section 28.4 by a detailed review of the main features of the
SQL:1999 standard released in 1999 and the SQL:2003 standard released in the second
half of 2003. In Section 28.5 we discuss some of the functionality that an ORDBMS will
typically require that is not covered by SQL. In Section 28.6 we examine some of the
object-oriented extensions that have been added to Oracle, a commercial ORDBMS.
Finally, in Section 28.7 we provide a summary of the distinctions between the ORDBMS
and the OODBMS.
To benefit fully from this chapter, the reader needs to be familiar with the contents of
Chapter 25. The examples in this chapter are once again drawn from the DreamHome case
study documented in Section 10.4 and Appendix A.