The hierarchical model is a restricted type of network model. Again, data is represented as
collections of records and relationships are represented by sets. However, the hierarchical
model allows a node to have only one parent. A hierarchical model can be represented
as a tree graph, with records appearing as nodes (also called segments) and sets as edges.
Figure 2.6 illustrates an instance of a hierarchical schema for the same data set presented
in Figure 2.4. The main hierarchical DBMS is IBM’s IMS, although IMS also provides
non-hierarchical features. We discuss the hierarchical data model in more detail on the
Web site for this book (see Preface for the URL).
Record-based (logical) data models are used to specify the overall structure of the
database and a higher-level description of the implementation. Their main drawback lies
in the fact that they do not provide adequate facilities for explicitly specifying constraints
on the data, whereas the object-based data models lack the means of logical structure
specification but provide more semantic substance by allowing the user to specify constraints
on the data.
The majority of modern commercial systems are based on the relational paradigm,
whereas the early database systems were based on either the network or hierarchical data