--> Abstract: StratObj: An Object Oriented Database Application For Assembling And Consulting Stratigraphic Information, by E. Fookes; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: StratObj: An Object Oriented Database Application For Assembling And Consulting Stratigraphic Information

FOOKES ERIC

Stratigraphic information is particularly varied and poorly suited for storage in traditional database applications (flat file and relational). Object-oriented technology is clearly the method of choice for dealing with such "unstructured" data. Indeed, each item of information is treated as an object - an entity with its own set of attributes (fields) and properties (behavior). Objects store their structure definition together with their data. As a result, an object-oriented database does not require a predefined structure and can store any number of objects, irrespective of their nature and content.

StratObj is such an object oriented database application and has been designed for assembling and consulting stratigraphic information. The originality of this software lies in the way the interface is designed and how the various data elements interact with each other. Both the database engine and the program interface are object oriented.

Data items (or objects) are added to the database by dragging them from a customizable object palette to an editor which visually organizes information in the form of a hierarchical tree. Depending on how it is defined, an object can be part of and/or include other objects. For example, a fossil object can be added to a bed object. These objects can also communicate with each other in order to initialize certain attributes or to enforce data integrity. For example, the fossil cannot be assigned an age value that does not fall in the age range of the bed object to which it belongs.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria