Managing Constraints as Data

数据库是数据驱动的数字时代的基石。世界上的事件和观测产生大量数据，这些数据安全地存储在数据库中，并通过数据库查询进行有效分析。分析的结果进一步支持了广泛的软件系统，如工资和财务管理，控制系统和业务研究的决策。这些决策必须尊重安全性和正确性约束。约束的例子无处不在：工资截止日期，最大电力容量，服务器可用性等。虽然数据库技术擅长数据存储和分析，但目前它无法为约束的管理和验证提供相同水平的有效性。目前，为了填补这一空白，需要由程序员手动开发特定于应用的程序。但这样的努力代价高昂，而且极易出错。在工业和政府的不同部门中，经常观察到人为错误和错误软件导致的约束违反。这项拟议的研究计划旨在通过扩展数据库的作用，包括约束的管理来纠正这种情况。

Database has been a cornerstone in the data-driven digital age. Events and observations in the world generate large volumes of data which are safely stored in databases and efficiently analyzed by database queries. The results of the analysis further support decision making of a wide range of software systems, e.g. payroll and financial management, control systems, and operational research. These decisions must respect safety and correctness constraints. Examples of constraints are everywhere: payroll deadlines, maximal power capacity, server availability etc.. While the database technology excels at data storage and analytics, presently it fails to provide the same level of effectiveness for the management and verification of constraints. Currently, to fill this gap, application specific programs need to be manually developed by programmers. But such efforts are costly and highly error-prone. Constraint violations as the results of human errors and buggy software are frequently observed in different sectors of the industry and governments. This proposed research program is aimed to rectify the situation by extending the role of the database to include the management of constraints.