Metadatabase is a
database model
A database model is a type of data model that determines the logical structure of a database. It fundamentally determines in which manner data can be stored, organized and manipulated. The most popular example of a database model is the relational ...
for (1)
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
management, (2) global query of independent databases, and (3)
distributed data processing Distributed data processing (DDP) was the term that IBM used for the IBM 3790 (1975) and its successor, the IBM 8100 (1979). ''Datamation'' described the 3790 in March 1979 as "less than successful."
Distributed data processing was used by IBM to r ...
. The word ''metadatabase'' is an addition to the dictionary. Originally, metadata was only a common term referring simply to "data about data", such as tags,
keywords
Keyword may refer to:
Computing
* Keyword (Internet search), a word or phrase typically used by bloggers or online content creator to rank a web page on a particular topic
* Index term, a term used as a keyword to documents in an information syste ...
, and markup headers. However, in this technology, the concept of metadata is extended to also include such data and knowledge representation as
information model
An information model in software engineering is a representation of concepts and the relationships, constraints, rules, and operations to specify data semantics for a chosen domain of discourse. Typically it specifies relations between kinds of t ...
s (e.g., relations, entities-relationships, and objects), application logic (e.g.,
production rules), and analytic models (e.g.,
simulation
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...
,
optimization
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
, and mathematical
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...
s). In the case of analytic models, it is also referred to as a Modelbase.
These classes of metadata are integrated with some modeling
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
to give rise to a stable set of meta-relations (tables of metadata). Individual models are interpreted as metadata and entered into these tables. As such, models are inserted, retrieved, updated, and deleted in the same manner as ordinary data do in an ordinary (
relational)
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
. Users will also formulate global queries and requests for processing of local databases through the Metadatabase, using the globally integrated metadata. The Metadatabase structure can be implemented in any open technology for relational databases.
Significance
The Metadatabase technology is developed at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...
at
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
, by a group of faculty and students (see the references at the end of the article), starting in late 1980s. Its main contribution includes the extension of the concept of metadata and metadata management, and the original approach of designing a database for metadata applications. These conceptual results continue to motivate new research and new applications. At the level of particular design, its openness and
scalability
Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system.
In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that a company can increase sales given increased resources. For example, a ...
is tied to that of the particular ontology proposed: It requires reverse-representation of the application models in order to save them into the meta-relations. In theory, the ontology is neutral, and it has been proven in some industrial applications.
[Cho, J. and Hsu, C. "A Tool for Minimizing Update Errors for Workflow Applications: the CARD Model," Computers and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 49, 2005, pp 199-220.
] However, it needs more development to establish it for the field as an open technology. The requirement of reverse-representation is common to any global
information integration
Information integration (II) is the merging of information from heterogeneous sources with differing conceptual, contextual and typographical representations. It is used in data mining and consolidation of data from unstructured or semi-structured ...
technology. A way to facilitate it in the Metadatabase approach is to distribute a core portion of it at each local site, to allow for peer-to-peer translation on the fly.
References
External links
* http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/
Databases
Database management systems