I am not an OrCAD DB expert, but I think that, prior to 16.4 or so, the OrCAD PCB Editor (both standard and Pro versions) was a separate product and not fully compatible with the Allegro flagship product version. They are now all capable of working with/opening each others' designs (though the PCB Editor Pro still doesn't have all the upper end Allegro features, it will still open the design file and let you do what it can). So, my thinking is that it is for backward compatibility reasons, and being able to import/convert older DB designs. But again, this is only my hypothesis.