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Hierarchical Data Model

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

  • 28 Accesses

Synonyms

IMS data model

Definition

The hierarchical data model is based on a view of the application domain (i.e., the world) as a hierarchical arrangement of concepts where some concepts exist on their own while the others depend on the former. According to this conceptual model, data are organized into records that are recursively composed of other records. Though this paradigm is fairly common in data structures, the term hierarchical model most generally refers to the IMS model, a proprietary DBMS developed by IBM from the 1960s that is still widely used.

The IMS model organizes data in tree structures of records augmented with additional links that compensate for the weaknesses of this base model. Data processing itself is hierarchical, starting from the root of a record tree then parsing the dependent records in depth-first, left-to-right, traversal order.

Historical Background

In 1966, IBM started the development of ICS (Information Control System), a data management software...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Blackman K. IMS celebrates thirty years as an IBM product. IBM Syst J. 1998;37(4):596–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Elmasri R, Navathe S. Fundamentals of database systems. 3rd edn. Addison-Wesley; 2000. (The appendix on the hierarchical data model has been removed from later editions but is now available on the authors’ site).

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  3. Hainaut J-L. The transformational approach to database engineering. In: Lämmel R, Saraiva J, Visser J, editors. Generative and transformational techniques in software engineering. New York: Springer; 2006. p. 89–138.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Long R, Harrington M, Hain R, Nicholls G. IMS Primer – IBM Redbooks; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Meltz D, Long R, Harrington M, Hain R, Nichols G. An introduction to IMS. Armonk: IBM Press; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Tsichritzis D, Lochovsky F. Hierarchical data-base management: a survey. ACM Comput Surv (Spec Issue: Data-Base Manag Syst). 1976;8(1):105–24.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Jean-Luc Hainaut

Authors
  1. Jean-Luc Hainaut
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Luc Hainaut .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA

    David W. Embley

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Cite this entry

Hainaut, JL. (2018). Hierarchical Data Model. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_189

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