Extending Data Processing Capabilities of Relational Database Management Systems

Relational Database Management Systems proven to be robust and efficient for storing and retrieving data. However, they have limitations. Sophisticated data processing (a rule-based processing with inferences) is possible but hard to implement. To overcome these problems, several methods have been developed. Data can be processed by a client application (a client-side processing) or by a RDBMS server (a server-side processing). These methods overcome the main limitations, but such solutions are not flexible, hard to modify or alter. This paper presents a novel approach, a case of server-side processing with the use of a declarative language. A program, written in Prolog, is decomposed into relations, and stored in the database. It can be easily managed, modified or altered. It has access to database relations, and it also has an ability to create relations on demand, so-called dynamic views or Jelly Views. Jelly Views serve as temporary relations holding data obtained as the result of the program. The communication interface between the client and the database is preserved, it is still SQL.