Managing fuzziness on conventional object-oriented platforms

F. Berzal, N. Marín, O. Pons, M.A. Vila
2007 International Journal of Intelligent Systems  
During the last few years, many database researchers have aimed their efforts at extending the object-oriented model for dealing with different kinds of imperfect information. Some of these scholars have used the Fuzzy Set Theory to deal with imperfection because it has proved to be useful in problems where imprecision and uncertainty play important roles. This article describes an architecture that can be used to develop a fuzzy object-oriented system on top of an existing classical one. This
more » ... rticle also introduces a general framework as the basis for managing fuzziness in conventional object-oriented systems. Foodbi, a fuzzy object-oriented database interface, is presented as a prototype that allows the creation of fuzzy object-oriented schemata that can be translated into sets of standard Java classes. The concept of object is the core element of the object-oriented model. An object is the result of the encapsulation of the state~structure! and the conduct behavior! of a given real-world item. Structure and behavior of similar objects are represented and reused by means of the definition of classes. Classes are organized in inheritance hierarchies, where structural and behavioral definitions are inherited among classes. Inheritance allows the definition of superclasses and subclasses. Fuzzy Set Theory has been used in the context of object-oriented databases in order to improve their modeling capabilities, so that different kinds of data imperfections can be represented. Fuzzy object-oriented database models have appeared where fuzziness has been studied at different levels 5 : domains, instance relationships, inheritance relationships, structure, and behavior. 782 BERZAL ET AL.
doi:10.1002/int.20228 fatcat:ra5mp2mjzzf4jmqzil5ckuwjfm