Schemas are compiled by the OBST schema compiler. The compilation results are instances of classes of the meta schema. From these instances in a next step interfaces to different programming languages can be generated. Objects are stored in so-called containers. The container an object belongs to is determined at the time of object creation and fixed throughout the object's lifetime.
Containers are the units of clustering, synchronization, and recovery.
Objects can be referenced by other objects across container boundaries. OBST provides a mechanism to incrementally load methods. This enables programs to deal with objects whose type is defined after the program itself has been developed. This is useful in systems that provide for inheritance and it supports schema evolution. Since end 1990 the first prototype of OBST is available and is shipped to interested universities and research institutions.