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P/FDM

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Definition

P/FDM [5–7] integrated a functional data model with the logic programming language Prolog for general-purpose computation. The data model can be seen as an Entity-Relationship diagram with sub-types, much like a UML Class Diagram. The idea was for the user to be able to define a computation over objects in the diagram, instead of just using it as a schema design aid. Later versions of P/FDM included a graphic interface [2,4] to build queries in DAPLEX syntax by clicking on the diagram and filling in values from menus.

P/FDM was subsequently extended with constraints [3] and with alternative back-ends to remote databases [6], in the spirit of the original MULTIBASE system.

P/FDM is a vehicle to test a system designed on the principle of Data Independence, whereby Functions represent computations that are expressed in a way that is completely independent of data storage (arrays, lists of objects, indexed files etc.). Functions can be sent across the internet and applied to...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Embury S.M. User Manual for P/FDM V.9.1. Technical report, Dept. of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, 1995.

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  2. Gil I., Gray P.M.D., and Kemp G.J.L. A Visual Interface and Navigator for the P/FDM Object Database. In Proc. User Interfaces to Data Intensive Systems, 1999, pp. 54–63.

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  3. Gray P.M.D., Embury S.M., Hui K.Y., and Kemp G.J.L. The evolving role of constraints in the functional data model. J. Intell. Inform. Syst., 12:113–137, 1999.

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  4. Gray P.M.D. and Kemp G.J.L. Capturing quantified constraints in FOL, through interaction with a relationship graph. In Proc. 15th Int. Conf. Knowledge Eng. and Knowledge Management: Ontologies and the Semantic Web, 2006, pp. 19–26.

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  5. Gray P.M.D., Moffat D.S., and Paton N.W. A Prolog interface to a Functional Data Model database. In Advances in Database Technology, Proc. 1st Int. Conf. on Extending Database Technology, 1988, pp. 34–48.

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  6. Kemp G.J.L., Dupont J., and Gray P.M.D. Using the functional data model to integrate distributed biological data sources. In Proc. 8th Int. Conf. on Scientific and Statistical Database Management, 1996, pp. 176–185.

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  7. Paton N.W. and Gray P.M.D. Identification of database objects by key. In Proc. 2nd Int. Workshop on Object-Oriented Database Systems. LNCS 334. Springer, 1988, pp. 280–285.

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  8. Paton N.W. and Gray P.M.D. Optimising and executing daplex queries using prolog. Comput. J., 33(6):547–555, 1990.

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Authors and Affiliations

    Authors
    1. Peter M. D. Gray
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    Editors and Affiliations

    1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

      LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

    2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

      M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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    © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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    Gray, P.M.D. (2009). P/FDM. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1110

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