In the FRAMBOISE project we explore the systematic realization of a comprehensive construction system that is used to provide sophisticated active database mechanisms that interact with specific DBMSs in heterogeneous, distributed environments.

The software built by means of FRAMBOISE represents database middleware that is able to process Event-Condition-Action rules, according to specific knowledge and rule execution models. These models are determined by the users of FRAMBOISE - addressed as ADBMS-implementors (ADBIs) - according to their needs. As the ECA rule paradigm underlies basically all these systems, they are named ECA Systems (ECASs).

The FRAMBOISE construction system is formed by a toolbox consisting of components (provided as an object-oriented framework ) that realize specific ADBMS tasks (e.g., event definition, event detection, rule execution, etc.) and adequate construction tools. Furthermore, FRAMBOISE incorporates facilities that enable the specification of an ECAS.