Despite the volume of research carried out into the design of database systems and the design of user interfaces, there is little cross-fertilization between the two areas. The control of user interfaces to database systems is, therefore, significantly less advanced than other aspects of DBMS design. As database functionality is used in a wider range of areas, such as design applications, the suitability of the user interface is becoming increasingly important. It is, therefore, necessary to begin applying the knowledge developed by HCI researchers to the specialised domain of database systems. This volume contains revised papers from the International Workshop on Interfaces to Database Systems, held in Glasgow, 1-3 July 1992. The workshop aimed to develop an interaction between the design of database systems and user interfaces. It discussed both the production of interfaces tailored to particular applications, and also more general systems within which interfaces can be developed. Some of the papers concentrate on usability aspects, some discuss different interface metaphors, whilst others tackle the question of designing a general conceptual model. The latter topic is of particular importance, as it is only by achieving an abstract model of what the user understands to be in the database that the data can be associated with appropriate interface facilities. Among the contents of the volume are: integrated interfaces to publicly available databases; database query interface for medical information systems; an integrated approach to task oriented database retrieval interfaces; GRADI: a graphical database interface for a multimedia DBMS; cognitive view mechanism for multimedia information systems; a graphical schema representation for object oriented databases; a conceptual framework for error analysis in SQL interfaces; a browser for a version entity relationship database. Interfaces to Database Systems (IDS92) is unique in that it brings together a variety of approaches from the database and HCI research communities. It will provide essential reading for researchers of database systems and also industrial developers of DBMS.

Inhalt

Introduction: The Interaction Between DBMS and User Interface Research.- Interfaces to OODBS I.- An Interactive System for Object-Oriented Database Design.- Object-Oriented Database Systems: A Framework for User Interface Development.- Multi Modal Interfaces.- The Problems of Integrating Interfaces to Publicly Available Databases.- An Integrated Approach to Task-Oriented Database Retrieval Interfaces.- Design and Implementation of a Graphical SQL with Generic Capabilities.- Visualisation, Multimedia and Versions.- GRADI: A Graphical Database Interface for a Multimedia DBMS.- Beyond Icons: Towards New Metaphors for Visual Query Languages for Spatial Information Systems.- A Browser for a Versioned Entity-Relationship Database.- Techniques of Interface Generation.- A Visual Database Management Interface Based on GOOD.- Automatic Derivation of Graphical Human-Machine Interfaces for Databases.- A Graphical Interface to a Complex-Object Database Management System.- Applications.- Database Query Interface for Medical Information Systems.- Using a Persistent System to Construct a Customised Interface to an Ecological Database.- Cognitive View Mechanism for Content-Based Multimedia Information Retrieval.- Interfaces to OODBS II.- An Extensible Interface to an Extensible Object-Oriented Database System.- A Graphical Schema Representation for Object-Oriented Databases.- Supporting a Variety of Data Models.- Data Model and Query Algebra for a Model-Based, Multi-Modal User Interface.- Reconfigurable User Interfaces for Databases.- An Extensible Graphical Programming Environment for Semantic Modelling.- Modelling the User.- A Framework for Intelligent Visual Interface Design for Database Systems.- MEDUSA - A Multimodal Database User Interface and Framework Supporting User Learning and User Interface Evaluation.- A Conceptual Framework for Error Analysis in SQL Interfaces.- HCI Issues.- The Experiences of New Users of a Natural Language Interface to a Relational Database in a Controlled Setting.- HCI and Database Work: Reciprocal Relevance and Challenges.- Author Index.