Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
Reference Hub2
Objectification of Relationships

Objectification of Relationships

Terry Halpin
Copyright: © 2006 |Pages: 18
ISBN13: 9781591409359|ISBN10: 1591409357|ISBN13 Softcover: 9781591409366|EISBN13: 9781591409373
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-935-9.ch007
Cite Chapter Cite Chapter

MLA

Halpin, Terry. "Objectification of Relationships." Advanced Topics in Database Research, Volume 5, edited by Keng Siau, IGI Global, 2006, pp. 106-123. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-935-9.ch007

APA

Halpin, T. (2006). Objectification of Relationships. In K. Siau (Ed.), Advanced Topics in Database Research, Volume 5 (pp. 106-123). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-935-9.ch007

Chicago

Halpin, Terry. "Objectification of Relationships." In Advanced Topics in Database Research, Volume 5, edited by Keng Siau, 106-123. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2006. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-935-9.ch007

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite

Abstract

Some popular information-modeling approaches allow instances of relationships or associations to be treated as entities in their own right. Object-role modeling (ORM) calls this process “objectification” or “nesting.” In the unified modeling language (UML), this modeling technique is called “reification,” and is mediated by means of association classes. While this modeling option is rarely supported by industrial versions of entity-relationship modeling (ER), it is allowed in several academic versions of ER. Objectification is related to the linguistic activity of nominalization, of which two flavors may be distinguished: situational and propositional. In practice, objectification needs to be used judiciously, as its misuse can lead to implementation anomalies, and those modeling approaches that permit objectification often provide incomplete or flawed support for it. This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of objectification, shedding new light on its fundamental nature, and providing practical guidelines on using objectification to model information systems. Because of its richer semantics, the main graphic notation used is that of ORM 2 (the latest generation of ORM); however, the main ideas are relevant to UML and ER as well.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.