Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Object-Relational Features -- Contents

The Nuts and Bolts of Oracle Objects

An Example of an Object-Oriented Model

Using Object Types and References

Null Objects and Attributes

Default Values for Objects and Collections

Constraints for Object Tables

Indexes for Object Tables and Nested Tables

Triggers for Object Tables

Rules for REF Columns and Attributes

Name Resolution

Method Calls without Arguments

Using Collections

Querying Collections

Collection Unnesting

DML on Collections

Privileges on Object Types and Their Methods

System Privileges

Schema Object Privileges

Using Types in New Types or Tables

Example

Privileges on Type Access and Object Access

Dependencies and Incomplete Types

Completing Incomplete Types

Type Dependencies of Tables

Import/Export/Load of Object Types

SQL

PL/SQL

Oracle Call Interface (OCI)

Associative Access in OCI Programs

Navigational Access in OCI Programs

Object Cache

Building an OCI Program that Manipulates Objects

Pro*C/C++

Associative Access in Pro*C/C++

Navigational Access in Pro*C/C++

Converting Between Oracle Types and C Types

Oracle Type Translator (OTT)

Oracle Objects For OLE (for Visual Basic, Excel, ActiveX, Active Server Pages)

Representing Objects in Visual Basic (OraObject)

Representing REFs in Visual Basic (OraRef)

Representing VARRAYs and Tables in Visual Basic (OraCollection)

Java: JDBC, Oracle SQLJ, and JPublisher

JDBC Access to Oracle Object Data

SQLJ Access to Oracle Object Data

Using JPublisher to Create Java Classes for JDBC and SQLJ Programs

Why to Use Object Views

Defining Object Views

Using Object Views in Applications

Nesting Objects in Object Views

Identifying Null Objects in Object Views

Using Nested Tables and Varrays in Object Views

Specifying Object Identifiers for Object Views

Creating References to View Objects

Modelling Inverse Relationships with Object Views

Updating Object Views

Updating Nested Table Columns in Views

Using INSTEAD-OF Triggers to Control Mutating and Validation

Applying the Object Model to Remote Tables

Defining Complex Relationships in Object Views

Tables and Types to Demonstrate Circular View References

Creating Object Views with Circular References

Representing Objects as Columns or Rows

Column Object Storage

Row Object Storage in Object Tables

Performance of Object Comparisons

Storage Considerations for Object Identifiers (OIDs)

Storage Size of REFs

Integrity Constraints for REF Columns

Performance and Storage Considerations for Scoped REFs

Indexing Scoped REFs

Speeding up Object Access using the WITH ROWID Option

Viewing Object Data in Relational Form with Unnesting Queries

Storage Considerations for Varrays

Performance of Varrays vs. Nested Tables

Nested Tables

Nested Table Storage

Nested Table Indexes

Nested Table Locators

Optimizing Set Membership Queries

DML Operations on Nested Tables

Nesting Collections within other Collections

Choosing a Language for Method Functions

Static Methods

Writing Reusable Code using Invoker Rights

Function-Based Indexes on the Return Values of Type Methods

New Object Format in Release 8.1

Replicating Object Tables and Columns

Consequences of the Oracle Inheritance Implementation

Simulating Inheritance

Constraints on Objects

Type Evolution

Performance Tuning

Parallel Queries with Oracle Objects

Storage of Objects

Leaf-Level Attributes

How Row Objects are Split Across Columns

Hidden Columns for Tables with Column Objects

REFs

Internal Layout of Nested Tables

Internal Layout of VARRAYs

Object Identifiers

OCI Tips and Techniques for Objects

Initializing an OCI Program in Object Mode

Creating a New Object

Updating an Object

Deleting an Object

Controlling Object Cache Size

Retrieving Objects into the Client Cache (Pinning)

How to Choose the Locking Technique

Flushing an Object from the Object Cache

Demonstration of OCI and Oracle Objects

Using the OCI Object Cache with View Objects

Partitioning Tables that Contain Oracle Objects

Parallel Query with Object Views

How Locators Improve the Performance of Nested Tables

General Questions about Oracle Objects

Are the object-relational features a separate option?

What are the design goals of Oracle8i Object-Relational & Extensibility technologies?

What are the key features in Oracle8i Object-Relational Technology?

What are the new Object-Relational features in Oracle8i?

Object Types

What is structured data?

Where are the user-defined types, user-defined functions, and abstract data types?

What is an object type?

Why are object types useful?

How is object data stored and managed in Oracle8i?

Is inheritance supported in Oracle8i?

Object Methods

What language can I use to write my object methods?

How do I decide between using PL/SQL and Java for my object methods?

When should I use external procedures?

What are definer and invoker rights?

Object References

What is an object reference?

When should I use object references? How are they different from foreign keys?

Can I construct object references based on primary keys?

What is a scoped REF and when should I use it?

Can I manipulate objects using object references in PL/SQL and Java?

Collections

What kinds of collections are supported by Oracle8i?

How do I decide between using varrays and nested tables for modeling collections?

Do Oracle8i Objects support collections within collections?

What is a collection locator?

What is collection unnesting?

Object Views

What are the differences between object views and object tables?

Are object views updateable?

Object Cache

Why do we need the object cache?

Does the object cache support object locking?

Large Objects (LOBs)

How can I manage large objects using Oracle8i?

User-Defined Operators

What is a user-defined operator?

Why are user-defined operators useful?

Introduction

A Purchase Order Example

Implementing the Application Under The Relational Model

Entities and Relationships

Creating Tables Under the Relational Model

Inserting Values Under the Relational Model

Querying Data Under The Relational Model

Updating Data Under The Relational Model

Deleting Data Under The Relational Model

Limitations of a Purely Relational Model

The Evolution of the Object-Relational Database System

Implementing the Application Under The Object-Relational Model

Defining Types

Method Definitions

Creating Object Tables

Object Datatypes as a Template for Object Tables

Object Identifiers and References

Object Tables with Embedded Objects

Manipulating Objects Through Java

Using oracle.sql.* Classes (Weak Typing)

Using Strong Typing (SQLData or CustomDatum)

Manipulating Objects with Oracle Objects for OLE

Selecting Data

Inserting Data

Updating Data

Calling a Method Function

Contents

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Preface

1 Introduction to Oracle Objects

2 Managing Oracle Objects

3 Object Support in Oracle Programmatic Environments

4 Applying an Object Model to Relational Data

5 Design Considerations for Oracle Objects

6 Advanced Topics for Oracle Objects

7 Frequently Asked Questions about Programming with Oracle Objects

8 A Sample Application using Object-Relational Features

Index