Summary

In order to study the phenomenon of Database Management Systems (DBMSs) and their applicability in engineering, a CIAD Project Group (Association for Computer Applications in Engineering) was formed in The Netherlands comprising representatives from nine different companies and institutions. The main requirements laid down by the group were: (a) to formulate a set of demands which must be met by any engineering application of DBMSs; (b) to investigate whether or not the DBMSs selected provided adequate facilities to meet those demands; and (c) to provide a checklist covering all relevant aspects in selecting a proper DBMS. To investigate the applicability of DBMSs for engineering purposes, some prototype implementations were performed. These were based on a Codasyl-type DBMS and a relational-type DBMS. The applications involved included storage and manipulation of a finite element network. This detailed report of that study presents a comprehensive overview of existing Data Base Management Systems, gives the necessary selection criteria, and describes the practical experiences gained by the group in applying database systems.