Description

Object-relational database systems add object-oriented features to relational DBMS and allow the DBMS's functionality to be extended to new application domains. For the important domain of fulltext retrieval and document management, we analyze whether current object-relational DBMS are already able to compete with specialized information retrieval (IR) systems. After discussing the main requirements, we present a comparison of the ORDBMS Informix and several text data blades with the information retrieval system Fulcrum and a relational DBMS extended by IR functionality (Oracle ConText). A qualitative and quantitative evaluation is presented considering the degree of IR functionality, performance, and retrieval quality.