Fuzzy types: A new concept of type for managing vague structures
N. Mar�n, Olga Pons, M.A. Vila · International Journal of Intelligent Systems · 2000
The requirements of complex applications in the world of object-oriented databases have motivated the study of the addition of vagueness to the existing models, giving rise to different approaches. The presence of vagueness can be considered in the type associated to a class, parallel to and independently from a fuzzy view of the set of objects that belong to the class (extent of the class). This paper offers a new perspective for representing the type associated to a class, tackling the problem of vagueness in the database schema and defining the concept of fuzzy type. Two different components of these types are defined: the structural component and the behavior component. An adaptation of the mechanism of instantiation and inheritance is presented by considering adequate union operators. A new criterion for handling the redefinition capability of the object-oriented data model is explained. The description is accompanied by some illustrative examples. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.