2001/03/02 by Paul M. Aoki, Ian E. Smith, Aoki, Paul M. +3
Computer Science · #Advanced Database Systems and Queries #D.2.11 #Databases (cs.DB) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #H.2.3 #K.6.3 #Semantic Web and Ontologies #Web Data Mining and Analysis #cs.DB
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cs/0103004
arxiv created 2001/03/02 · openalex publication_date 2001/03/02 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Harland document management system implements a data model in which document (object) structure can be altered by mixin-style multiple inheritance at any time. This kind of structural fluidity has long been supported by knowledge-base management systems, but its use has primarily been in support of reasoning and inference. In this paper, we report our experiences building and supporting several non-trivial applications on top of this data model. Based on these experiences, we argue that structural fluidity is convenient for data-intensive applications other than knowledge-base management. Specifically, we suggest that this flexible data model is a natural fit for the decoupled programming methodology that arises naturally when using enterprise component frameworks.