A Rewriting Technique for the Analysis and the Optimization of Active Databases

We propose a new formal semantics of active databases based on a transaction rewriting technique in the context of the relational model. A user deened transaction, which is viewed here as a sequence of atomic database updates forming a semantic unit, is translated by means of active rules into induced one(s). Those transactions embody active rule semantics which can be either immediate or deferred. Rule semantics, connuence, equivalence and optimization are then formally investigated and characterized in a solid framework that naturally extends a known setting for relational database transactions.