An entity-based database user interface

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A user interface to a database designed for casual, interactive use is presented. The interface is entity-based: the data display to the user is based upon entities (e.g., persons, documents, organizations) that participate in relationships, rather than upon relations alone as in the relational data model. Examples from an implementation of the system are shown, for a prototype personal database (PDB), developed in connection with the ZOG system at Carnegie-Mellon University (Robertson et al[1977]). Some details of the interface and associated issues concerning data display, data models, views, and knowledge-based assistance are presented. Experience with the prototype system suggests that the entity-based presentation is appropriate for types of casual interactive use that existing database interfaces do not address, such as browsing. It is proposed that such an interface could be used to supplement a query language or other interface to allow users both kinds of views of the data.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: