Abstract: According to the present invention there is provided a method for establishing a data warehouse capable from a plurality of source databases including at least one relational database and at least one object-oriented database, comprising the steps of: integrating the schema of said plurality of source databases into a global schema, including resolving semantic conflicts between said source databases, and establishing a frame metadata model for describing data stored in said local databases, said frame metadata model including means for describing any constraints developed during schema integration and further including means for describing relationships between data stored in local object-oriented databases.

Abstract: A system for providing access to a relational database using object-oriented structural query language (“OSQL”) includes: a relational database management system (“RDBMS”) providing access to the relational database via structural query language (“SQL”); an open object database connectivity (“OODBC”) system connected to the RDBMS and configured to receive input from a user, the OODBC system having a frame model representation of the relational database; and an object frame model agent (“OFMA”). The OFMA is configured to receive an OSQL query from a user, convert the received OSQL query into an SQL query with reference to the frame model, and forward the SQL query to the RDBMS. The frame model has: static frameworks including a header class framework and an attribute class framework; and active frameworks including a method class framework and a constraint class framework.