The Object Data Management Group (ODMG) was a standards consortium that developed specifications for storing and accessing persistent objects across object database systems and object-to-database mappings. It completed its standards work in 2001 and disbanded; ODMG 3.0 was its final release.
What did ODMG do?
ODMG aimed to make applications more portable across supported database products. Its work covered both object database management systems, which store objects directly, and mappings that translate program objects into representations in relational or other database systems.
The group initially used the name Object Database Management Group. As its charter expanded to include different mechanisms for storing objects using its specifications, it changed its name to Object Data Management Group. The broader name reflected the expanded scope.
What did the ODMG standard define?
The specification brought together several parts intended to give developers a common way to define and manipulate persistent objects:
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- Object model: a framework for representing objects and their relationships.
- Object Definition Language (ODL): a language for describing object database schemas.
- Object Query Language (OQL): a language for querying object data.
- Language bindings: specifications connecting the model to Java, C++, and Smalltalk.
The aim was shared conventions across supported storage products, not a single database implementation.
When was ODMG active, and is it still a standard?
Rick Cattell started the organization in 1991 to develop standard language bindings for object storage. A historical account reports that the first specification appeared in 1993 and ODMG 2.0 in 1997. The group completed its standards work in 2001 and disbanded. ODMG 3.0 was the final release, so ODMG is a historical specification rather than an active standards body.
The Java binding was later superseded by Java Data Objects (JDO). JDO is not simply another name for ODMG or a current version of the ODMG standard.
ODMG and OMG are different organizations
ODMG should not be confused with the Object Management Group (OMG). A later OMG Object Database Technology Working Group was intended to develop new object database specifications based on ODMG work. An archive’s editor note says that initiative did not produce the expected results and that no further activity was planned.
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Where can I find the final ODMG specification?
The final specification was published as The Object Data Management Standard: ODMG 3.0, edited by R. G. G. Cattell, Douglas K. Barry, Mark Berler, Jeff Eastman, David Jordan, Craig Russell, Olaf Schadow, Torsten Stanienda, and Fernando Velez. Morgan Kaufmann published it in 2000; its ISBN is 1-55860-647-5. It is a historical reference, not evidence of a currently maintained standard.
