Iris is an object-oriented database management system being developed at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories [1], [3]. This videotape provides an overview of the Iris data model and a summary of our experiences in converting a computer-integrated manufacturing application to Iris. An abstract of the videotape follows.

The goals of the Iris database management system are to enhance database programmer productivity and to provide generalized database support for the integration of future applications. Iris is based on an object and function model. Iris objects are typed but unlike other object systems, they contain no state. Attribute values, relationships and behavior of objects are modeled by functions. The Iris architecture efficiently supports the evaluation of functional expressions. The goal of the architecture is to provide a database system that is powerful enough to support the definition of functions and procedures that implement the semantics of the data model. An overview of the data model is provided, the architecture is described in detail, and implementation experience and usage of the system are discussed.>

The connection between semantic database models and the relational model is formally investigated using the Iris Data Model, which has been implemented using relational database techniques. The results focus on properties of relational schemas that are translations of Iris schemas. Two new types of constraints, cross-product constraints and multiplicity constraints are introduced to characterize the relational translations of Iris schemas. The connection established between Iris and relational schemas also yields new, unexpected information about Iris schemas. In particular, a notion of equivalence of Iris schemas is defined using their relational translations, and a result is obtained on simplifying the type structure of Iris schemas.

A simple model for object sharing in distributed office information systems is described.The model provides a small set of operators for object definition, manipulation, and retrieval in a distributed environment, modeled as a logical network of workstations.Relationships among objects can be established across work station boundaries, objects are relocatable within the distributed environment, and mechanisms are provided for access control and the dynamic sharing of objects among individual work stations.An object naming convention supports location-transparent object references; that is, objects can be referenced by user-defined names rather than by addresses.The primitive operations introduced can be used as the basis for the specification and stepwise development of office information models and systems of increasing complexity.An experimental prototype implementation of the distributed object sharing model is described.