A prescriptive database interface methodology for end-users

摘要

This paper describes an approach to constructing database interfaces for end-users; this approach is based on a semantic database model and an associated prescriptive methodology for the specification of database manipulations. By utilizing a meaning-based description of a database, it is possible to provide a simple, structured user interface that guides a user through the process of specifying a database manipulation (transaction). This prescriptive approach to database user interfaces can also be used to provide browsing facilities for database systems, and to provide the ability to persue both a database's contents and its structural organization (schema).A set of basic design principles for database end-user interfaces is described, and the limitations of current approaches to database interfaces are reviewed. A specific methodology for the specification of database transactions is described, in the context of a particular semantic database model. A prototype end-user interface tool, called a transaction specification aid, is discussed; this transaction specification aid uses a database description (schema) defined with a semantic database model to guide a user through the process of understanding the contents of a database and specifying a database transaction.