1、INCITS TR-22-1999Information Technology Object Information Management Object Model Technical ReportCopyright American National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-Copyright American National Sta
2、ndards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-ANSI NCITS TR-22-1999NCITS Technical ReportInformation Technology Object Information Management Object Model Technical ReportSecretariatInformation Technology In
3、dustry CouncilCopyright American National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-This Technical Report is one in a series produced by the National Committee forInformation Technology Standards (NCI
4、TS). The secretariat for NCITS is held bythe Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), 1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200,Washington, DC 20005.As a by-product of the standards development process and the resources ofknowledge devoted to it, NCITS from time to time produces Technical Reports.Such Te
5、chnical Reports are not standards, nor are they intended to be used assuch.NCITS Technical Reports are produced in some cases to disseminate thetechnical and logical concepts reflected in standards already published or underdevelopment. In other cases, they derive from studies in areas where it is f
6、oundpremature to develop a standard due to a still changing technology, orinappropriate to develop a rigorous standard due to the existence of a number ofviable options, the choice of which depends on the users particular requirements.These Technical Reports, thus, provide guidelines, the use of whi
7、ch can result ingreater consistency and coherence of information processing systems.When the draft Technical Report is completed, the Technical Committee approvalprocess is the same as for a draft standard. Processing by NCITS is also similar tothat for a draft standard.CAUTION: The developers of th
8、is Technical Report have requested that holdersof patents that may be required for the implementation of the Technical Report,disclose such patents to the publisher. However, neither the developers nor thepublisher have undertaken a patent search in order to identify which, if any, patentsmay apply
9、to this Technical Report.As of the date of publication of this Technical Report and following calls for theidentification of patents that may be required for the implementation of theTechnical Report, no such claims have been made. No further patent search isconducted by the developer or the publish
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11、right 1999 by Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)All rights reservedNo part of this publication may be reproduced in anyform, in an electronic retrieval system or otherwise,without prior written permission of the publisher.Printed in the United States of AmericaPATENTSTATEMENTCopyright Ame
12、rican National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-iANSI NCITS TR/22:199xTable of ContentsPageExecutive Summary .iiiPreface. v1. Introduction . 11.1 Goals of NCITS H7 and Progress Against Those
13、Goals. 11.2 Background . 21.3 Approach . 72. Object Model Features Matrix Overview . 93. Features Matrix Applications. 143.1 Object Query Language Harmonization and Analysis 143.2 OO COBOL Analysis and Input . 153.3 Other Related NCITS H7 Activities 153.4 Comments on Results 164. Recommendations and
14、 Future NCITS H7 Activities. 174.1 Future NCITS H7 Activities . 174.1.1 Object Model Harmonization 174.1.2 Common Vocabulary and Formal Semantics 184.1.3 Enterprise Modeling 194.1.4 International Activity 214.2 Creative Backlog . 215. References 23Glossary of Abbreviations. 25Appendix A: Object Mode
15、l Features Matrix A1Appendix B: Object Query Service Analysis B1Appendix C: Example Features Matrix Internet Usage C1Appendix D: Object Interoperability Scenarios. D1Copyright American National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking per
16、mitted without license from IHS-,-,-iiExecutive SummaryNCITS Technical Committee H7 (then known as X3H7) was established in April 1992because of the proliferation of object technology concepts across standards committeesboundaries. Many technologists believe object technology now has the potential t
17、oprovide a significant beginning for interoperability across domain specific standardsbecause they are sharing many common attributes through object technology. Yet,numerous implementation divergence become barriers to the potential benefits of acommon interoperability object model. Some of these di
18、fferences are arbitrary and couldbe easily remedied. Others are systemic to an application domain, but could be mappedto a common interoperability object model. H7s overall objective is to influenceharmonization in the usage of the object paradigm across standards regardless of whetherit ever create
19、s standards itself.H7 Work Plan and AccomplishmentsH7s original program of work included a requirement to “. develop a technical report tofurther refine the definition of object information object management . and identifyseveral sub-areas where potential consensus for standards appear to be achieva
20、ble andneeded. Recommendations . will be included in the technical report.“. This report isone of the results of that program of work. Additional benefits have been realized (someof which are discussed below) through H7s object technology standards harmonizationefforts that resulted from interaction
21、 with other standards groups involved inimplementing object standards. This report, including its Appendices, had 14contributing authors representing 12 different organizations.From the time of its creation, H7 determined that its primary analysis tool would be astudy and a document comparing existi
22、ng object models. The resulting documentbecame known as H7s Object Model Features Matrix and is included in the report asAppendix A. The Features Matrix is a 175 page study of 19 object models defined by 29parameters. One of the models represents generic object-oriented analysis/designmethodology, b
23、ut expands to differentiate 19 separate methods. Several hundred papercopies of the Features Matrix have been distributed to date, several hundred electroniccopies have been distributed through Internet FTP, and a hypertext version is accessiblethrough the World Wide Web. The Features Matrix is beco
24、ming widely respected andhas already been cited in a number of papers and publications.The Object Model Features Matrix document has already been put to good use severaltimes in H7 object technology harmonization efforts. The following are highlights of keyuses.H7 was an operative third party in pro
25、moting object model harmonization betweenH2s SQL3 and the Object Database Management Group specification (ODMG-93).H7 representatives developed a paper that compared the object models of OMGsCORBA IDL language, the ODMG-93 specification, and the H2 emerging SQL3standard. This work prompted continuin
26、g meetings between ODMG and H2 withgoals that benefit both.Copyright American National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-iiiIn January 1994, J4 requested H7 to comment on its draft Object-Orie
27、nted (OO)COBOL proposal. A H7 volunteer developed the Features Matrix entry for OOCOBOL from J4s proposal document, evaluated the OO COBOL object model, andmade change recommendations. Subsequently, a revised OO COBOL proposal wassubmitted containing most of H7s recommended changes.H7 responded to a
28、 request from T3 for object-model-related input on the RM-ODPPart 2 (X.902:1) document prior to a vote in SC21/WG7. H7 analyzed the documentand developed recommendations to T3 that included a comprehensive list identifying70 items of inconsistencies and problems. T3 considered this input valuable an
29、d ithas contributed to improvements in the RM-ODP Part 2 document.H7 developed a response to JTC1/SC21 on a Japan Data Model Facility proposal fora new conceptual schema object model. Based on its work, H7 recommendedconsidering the RM-ODP (WG7) and OSI Managed Objects and GeneralRelationship Model
30、(WG4) rather than developing a new one.Future H7 ActivitiesThere are many more meritorious issues than resources to attack them. Additionally,tasks undertaken must match individual members belief that the results of specific workwill have value for their sponsoring organization. H7 appears to have v
31、olunteer resourceswilling to perform meaningful work in the following areas.H7 will continue its object model harmonization activities, targeted at specific pairsor groups of object models. That may include adding more object models to theFeatures Matrix as people with the required expertise volunte
32、er input.To understand object models and make in-depth comparisons, the concepts of thesemodels must be precisely defined. Some work has been performed toward a commonvocabulary, but more is necessary. Additionally, H7 will cooperate with committeesinvestigating formal semantics of object-oriented c
33、oncepts (e.g., J21) in order toleverage from their work.Interest is increasing in applying object technology to enterprise modeling. T3proposed a new work item, to develop an Enterprise Viewpoint Component Standardfor the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP), to ISO/IECJTC 1/SC 2
34、1 WG 7, with H7 serving as the major development group for thisstandard, working in cooperation with the Object Management Groups BusinessObject Domain Task Force (BODTF). Joint meetings of H7 and BODTF havealready been held. In addition, H7 helped sponsor workshops on Enterprise Modelingat the ACM
35、OOPSLA 95 and 96 Conferences. H7 members are also independentlyinvolved in developing and conducting additional workshops in conjunction withmajor OO conferences to identify, compare, and contrast theoretical and applied OOenterprise modeling approaches.Copyright American National Standards Institut
36、e Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-ivH7 did not have a corresponding ISO project for its previous object modelharmonization activities, but proposes to become the TAG for the RM-ODPEnterprise Viewpoint Component
37、 Standard activity described above.Copyright American National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-vPrefaceThis is a technical report produced by the ANSI NCITS H7 Object InformationManagement T
38、echnical Committee. The H7 Technical Committee, operating under theprocedures of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), was established in April1992.The project proposal to the X3 Operational Management Committee (OMC) (nowNCITS) described a program of work for H7 as follows:Based upon th
39、e recommendations of the Object-Oriented Database TaskGroup (OODBTG), develop a technical report to further refine the objectinformation management reference model.Work actively with other organizations to acquire consensus andharmonize in potential areas for object standardization.The overall goal
40、of H7 is a coherent approach to information management standardsfostering consistent use of the object paradigm in various “business and technologydomains“ (programming languages, database, user interfaces, operating systems,distributed systems, object analysis and design, enterprise modeling and in
41、formationmodeling, .)This technical report represents the work of many individuals who attended quarterly H7meetings. The technical work represents the careful distillation of direct contributions bythe members of H7. The opinions and ideas expressed here are not necessarily endorsedby all members n
42、or by the members sponsoring organizations.William Kent, Hewlett Packard Laboratories, served as chair of H7 with GlennHollowell, Sematech, serving as vice-chair, from April 1992 until April 1994 whenWilliam Kent resigned. Glenn Hollowell served from April 1994 to January 1997.Joaquin Miller has ser
43、ved as chair since that time.Frank Manola, Object Services and Consulting, Inc., is the editor of this report. Thefollowing individuals have contributed written technical material or submitted entries tothe Object Model Features Matrix:Don Belisle IBMSteve Clark N.I.S.T.Richard Due Thomsen Due and A
44、ssociates, Ltd.Elizabeth Fong N.I.S.T.Glenn Hollowell Texas InstrumentsWilliam Kent Hewlett Packard LaboratoriesHaim Kilov IBM T. J. Watson Research CenterFrank Manola Object Services and Consulting, Inc.Joaquin Miller SHL SystemhouseGail Mitchell GTE LaboratoriesLaura Redmann BellcoreCopyright Amer
45、ican National Standards Institute Provided by IHS under license with ANSINot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-viEdward Stull Summa International Inc.Jeff Sutherland IDX Systems CorporationCraig Thompson Object Services and Consulting, Inc.The following m
46、embers of H7 have attended at least one H7 meeting (affiliations listedare not necessarily current):Claude Baudoin Schlumberger ATEStig Berild Swedish Technical Attache OfficeGrady Booch RationalRoger Burkhart Deere thecode associated with the objects handles the details of dealing with the heteroge
47、neousdata formats involved. OODBMSs illustrate interoperability in that they support sharedcollections of heterogeneous object types (albeit in the same object model) that provide ameans for different applications to interact and (possibly indirectly) communicate.In these types of systems, interoper
48、ability requires that it must be possible for one object1to invoke operations provided by other objects, even when they are written in otherlanguages or exist on distributed network nodes. This has led to the development offrameworks or architectures governing the creation of such systems, such as t
49、heapplication integration architectures mentioned above, the Reference Model for OpenDistributed Processing (RM-ODP) ODP2, and the ODMG-93 specifications for objectDBMSs Cat94. Moreover, a typical approach used in such architectures is to provide acommon object model to provide a shared set of precisely-defined abstractionsunderstood and supported by all components2. General ac
