Abstract: In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method and apparatus are provided for managing information retrieved from a structured database, such as a relational database, wherein the processor is used to construct a plurality of object instances, each of these object instances having its own unique object ID that provides a mapping between the object instance and at least one row in the structured database. The processor is used to construct a single cohesive data structure, called an object cache, that comprises all the object instances and that represents information retrieved from the structured database in a form suitable for use by one or more object-oriented applications.

Abstract: In an object-oriented application being executed in a digital computing system comprising a processor, a method and apparatus are provided for managing information retrieved from a structured database, such as a relational database, wherein the processor is used to construct a plurality of object instances, each of these object instances having its own unique object ID that provides a mapping between the object instance and at least one row in the structured database. The processor is used to construct a single cohesive data structure, called an object cache, that comprises all the object instances and that represents information retrieved from the structured database in a form suitable for use by one or more object-oriented applications.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for using an object model of an object-oriented application to automatically map information between an object-oriented application and a structured database, such as a relational database. This is done by taking into account all of the semantics (implications) of an object model, such as inheritance and relationships among object classes, and using these semantics to generate a minimal set of routines for each object class that manipulate the object and other objects to which it is related or from which it inherits. The generated routines, when executed, provide transparent access to relational data or other field-delimited data. Object classes and routines generated using the method encapsulate all the details of database access, such that developers (computer programmers) can write object-oriented applications using those object classes without any explicit reference to or knowledge of the underlying database or its structure.