Comparative analysis of model management and relational database management

There has recently been considerable interest in research and practice that rely substantially on ideas from both model management and database management to solve problems that cannot be adequately addressed by either field alone. Following this frontier, this paper examines the essential nature of model management and relational database management, and discusses the validity of parallels which appear to exist between them. The characteristics of applications, functions, representations, utilizations, and research are used as a basis for conducting comparisons. Through these comparisons, the strengths and weaknesses of each field are evaluated, and significant similarities and differences are identified. An application for making use of the parallels identified is also presented in the paper. Rather than restricting the ideas and techniques applied within each field, this paper encourages the cross-fertilization of both model management and relational database management, in the hope that this may spawn creative ideas for research.