Design of Visual Object-Oriented Database Query Language and Implementation of the Query Processor

시각적 객체지향 데이터베이스 질의어의 설계 및 질의처리기의 구현

VOQL* query language, recently proposed, is a visual language for object-oriented databases. It is based on Ven Diagram and graph, so that the underlying schema structure can be naturally implied in query expressions. In VOQL*, structural relationship among the objects used in a query expression is represented graphically and thus it has formal semantics that can be inductively defined, as well as it can be used with ease. In this paper, we proposed revised VOQL* and introduced its query processor, InQs(Intelligent Querying System). While retaining the merit of VOQL* that it allows the structural relationship among the objects to be represented visually, the revised VOQL* has another merit that users can formulate a query interactively using various forms supplied by InQs. As a query processor that translates queries in revised VOQL into those in ODMG OQL, InQs provides an environment in which users express queries in revised VOQL* and then the system automatically translates them into those in ODMG OQL. Translation algorithm of InQs is much simpler and intuitive than other algorithms used in QUIVER and other systems, since it reflects the formal semantics of VOQL*, which is defined inductively.