Extending ODMG Metadata to Define External Schemas

Given that ODMG 3.0 specifications do not address the definition of external schemas, we are developing an external schema definition methodology for ODMG databases. In this paper, an extension of ODMG metadata is proposed to support the definition of external schemas. In particular, metadata for derived classes and derived interfaces are defined, as well as some modifications to define inheritance relationships depending on the schema. The extension to ODMG metadata proposed in this paper maintains the structure of the ODMG schema repository as an object-oriented schema, and can be used by most of the existing external schema definition methodologies. The proposed extension is illustrated using our methodology.