NFQL: the natural forms query language

Embley, David W.

doi:10.1145/63500.64125

Cited by 43 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…QBE (Query-By-Example) [17] and NFQL (Natural Forms Query Language) [6] are languages for non-programmers to query and update a relational database. Skeleton tables of a database or customized forms are presented to users, who can fill in the blanks with "examples" to specify query constraints.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining keyword search and forms for ad hoc querying of databases

Chu

Baid

Chai

et al. 2009

Proceedings of the 2009 ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data

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A common criticism of database systems is that they are hard to query for users uncomfortable with a formal query language. To address this problem, form-based interfaces and keyword search have been proposed; while both have benefits, both also have limitations. In this paper, we investigate combining the two with the hopes of creating an approach that provides the best of both. Specifically, we propose to take as input a target database and then generate and index a set of query forms offline. At query time, a user with a question to be answered issues standard keyword search queries; but instead of returning tuples, the system returns forms relevant to the question. The user may then build a structured query with one of these forms and submit it back to the system for evaluation. In this paper, we address challenges that arise in form generation, keyword search over forms, and ranking and displaying these forms. We explore techniques to tackle these challenges, and present experimental results suggesting that the approach of combining keyword search and form-based interfaces is promising.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining keyword search and forms for ad hoc querying of databases

Chu

Baid

Chai

et al. 2009

Proceedings of the 2009 ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data

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“…If link participates in a relationship as an aggregation, it is treated in the same way as currentStep (lines [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. For example, the Presentation relationship forms an aggregation and connects with Users through the Volunteer relationship ( Figure 14).…”

Section: Schema Navigation Menumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forms-based approaches [10,16,24] for query interface design have been proposed to provide users with visual tools to frame queries and to perform tasks such as database design and view definition. However, like Query-By-Example based methods, they require the users to deal with joins across multiple normalized tables, and they are not truly WYSIWYG, which reduces their usability for our target audience.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

WYSIWYG development of data driven web applications

et al. 2008

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An emerging trend in Social Networking sites and Web portals is the opening up of their APIs to external application developers. For example, the Facebook Platform, Google Gadgets and Yahoo! Widgets allow developers to design their own applications, which can then can be integrated with the platform and shared with other users. However, current APIs are targeted towards developers with programming expertise and database knowledge; they are not accessible to a large class of users who do not have a programming/database background, but would nevertheless like to create new applications. To address this need, we have developed the AppForge system, which provides a WYSIWYG application development platform. Users can graphically specify the components of webpages inside a Web browser, and the corresponding database schema and application logic will be automatically generated on the fly by the system. The WYSIWYG interface gives instantaneous feedback on what users have created and allows them to run, test and continuously refine their applications. AppForge has been used to create prototype versions of a variety of applications such as an event planning system, a recruiting system, an item trading system and an online course management system. We have also conducted a small and preliminary user study to identify and fix some of the usability aspects of AppForge.

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“…Early work on formbased querying mechanisms include [18,21] which provided users visual tools to frame their queries as well as to perform other operations such as database design [19] and view definition. The GRIDS system [28] generated forms that allowed users to pose queries in a semi-IR, semi-declarative fashion.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressive query specification through form customization

Jayapandian

Jagadish

2008

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Extending Database Technology Advances in Database Technology - EDBT '08

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A form-based query interface is usually the preferred means to provide an unsophisticated user access to a database. Not only is such an interface easy to use, requiring no technical training, but it also requires little or no knowledge of how the data is structured in the database. However, a typical form is static and can express only a very limited set of queries. Without room for change, query specification is limited by the expertise and vision of the interface developer at the time the form was created. If an available form cannot express a desired query, the user is stuck.In this paper, we propose a mechanism to let a user modify an existing form to express the desired query. These modifications are themselves specified through filling forms to create an expression in an underlying form manipulation expression language we define. The technical sophistication required to modify forms is not much greater than form filling.We have developed a form editor that implements this form manipulation language. We have also developed a query generator that modifies the form's original query based on a user's changes. We show, by means of a controlled user study, that this tool provides an effective means for specifying complex queries.

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NFQL: the natural forms query language

Cited by 43 publications

References 29 publications

Combining keyword search and forms for ad hoc querying of databases

Combining keyword search and forms for ad hoc querying of databases

WYSIWYG development of data driven web applications

Expressive query specification through form customization

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