Lessons from a "living in a database" graphical query interface

Abstract

The Living In a Database system (LID) is a user-friendly interface to an entity-relationship database Its underlying ideas are similar to Cattell's PDB [Cattell 80], but its presentation is significantly different LID uses a bit-mapped graphics terminal with mouse pointer to create an attractive interaction environment. Experience from the implementation suggests that dynamic graphic displays --- those which have graphic symbols that change as the data they present change --- are an important feature in user interfaces but are difficult to implement with current technology The implementation also uncovers an important inadequacy in the PDB/LID idea the inability to operate on sets of data instances in the same way as individual data instances An extension to LID is suggested to alleviate the problem.