An external database for Prolog

Abstract

This work describes a disk-resident database for Prolog which uses mechanisms similar to the ones used by the clausal database for recording and retrieving terms. It is intended to be used by applications requiring a flexibility greater than that provided by an interface to traditional database system. There is almost no restriction on the terms stored in the database and the retrieval mechanisms produces terms in the order they were recorded. To enhance the performance of the system, the database organization provides an access mechanism using hash-codes on ”key” arguments of the recorded term. The database also provides basic support for multi-user access.