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International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications

DEXA 2001: Database and Expert Systems Applications pp 32–41Cite as

Definition and Application of Metaclasses

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2113))

Abstract

Metaclasses are classes whose instances are themselves classes. Metaclasses are generally used to define and query information relevant to the class level. The paper first analyzes the more general term meta and gives some examples of its use in various application domains. Then, it focuses on the description of metaclasses. To help better understand metaclasses, the paper suggests a set of criteria accounting for the variety of metaclass definitions existing in the literature. The paper finally presents the usage of metaclasses and discusses some questions raised about them.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IAG School of Management, University of Louvain, 1 Place des Doyens, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Mohamed Dahchour

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  1. Mohamed Dahchour
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Klagenfurt, IFI -IWAS Universitaetsstr. 65, 9020, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Heinrich C. Mayr

  2. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University, Technicka 2, 166 27, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Jiri Lazansky

  3. School of Computer and Information Science, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095

    Gerald Quirchmayr

  4. Department of Information Systems, Technical University of Munich, Orleanstr. 34, 81667, Munich, Germany

    Pavel Vogel

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dahchour, M. (2001). Definition and Application of Metaclasses. In: Mayr, H.C., Lazansky, J., Quirchmayr, G., Vogel, P. (eds) Database and Expert Systems Applications. DEXA 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2113. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44759-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44759-8_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42527-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44759-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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