XGI: A Graphical Interface for XQuery Creation and XML Schema Visualization

Li, Xiang (2006) XGI: A Graphical Interface for XQuery Creation and XML Schema Visualization. Masters thesis, University of Washington.

Preview	Text XiangThesis.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview
	Slideshow XiangDefense.ppt Download (2MB)

Abstract

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is used in many contexts of modern information technology to facilitate sharing of information between heterogeneous data sources and inter-platform applications. The prevalence of XML implementation in data storage and exchange necessitates a method to adequately query XML data. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is proposing XQuery as the standard querying language for semistructured XML data. XQuery is designed for experienced database programmers, since its syntax and capabilities are analogous to the SQL relational query language. Therefore, the inherent complexity of formulating XQuery statements makes it an intimidating task for anyone, except an expert in the XQuery language, to construct queries.
The development of XQuery Graphical Interface (XGI), a visual interface for creating XQuery in a graphical format, is motivated by the need to simplify the query formation for unskilled users and speed up the query construction for expert users. The implementation of XGI is mainly inspired by three existing systems: Query and Reporting Semistructured Data (QURSED), XQuery By Example (XQBE), and XBrain. A review of these systems and many other systems has helped us understand the benefits and drawbacks of various system design approaches, and has assisted us in identifying a set of features for XGI that will successfully reduce the complexity of creating queries in the XQuery language. XGI provides a web interface for users to explore their own XML source data schema, search for specific schema elements, and visually create queries in the XQuery language for the targeted XML data source.
A validation of the XGI system has verified its ability to efficiently and accurately create queries for various XML data sources. From the validation, we have recognized some strengths and weaknesses of the XGI system compared to other systems. We also recommend several areas in which XGI can be improved.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	XGI XBrain XQuery
Subjects:	All Projects > XBrain
Depositing User:	Jim Brinkley
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2007
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2017 23:49
URI:	http://sigpubs.si.washington.edu/id/eprint/198

Actions (login required)

View Item