Todays application scenarios need more and more access to information stored and distributed among multiple database management systems which have various underlying data models and which model even the same real world aspects differently with respect to structure and granularity. Therefore, a system is needed which addresses these problems, providing the means to integrate heterogeneous data sources from the design perspective and the data perspective. In this paper we present IRO-DB, an ESPRIT III project, which allows for the integration of heterogeneous object oriented DBMS and also relational DBMS. Using a common data model standard and providing for the necessary tools to realize the communication and access to the heterogeneous databases involved via interoperable/integrated schema definitions, IRO-DB is able to overcome todays deficiencies at a large degree.

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