INTELLIGENT DATABASE ACCESS THROUGH A CONCEPT ORIENTED FRONT-END

INFORMATION IS A VALUABLE RESOURCE OF ORGANIZATIONS. AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF ACCURATE AND TIMELY INFORMATION IS VITAL TO ANALYSIS, PLANNING, AND DECISION-MAKING. CURRENTLY INFORMATION IS NOT BEING ADEQUATELY MANAGED AS A RESOURCE. SPECIALIZED SKILLS ARE OFTEN NEEDEDTO PROPERLY ACCESS INFORMATION IN DATA BASES. THE USER INTERFACES OF CURRENT DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS REQUIRE THEIR USERS TO KNOW TOO MANY DETAILS OF HOW AND WHERE INFORMATION IS STORED. SST HAS DEVELOPED A FRONT-END TO A DATA BASE THAT ALLOWS USERS TO CREATE AND MANIPULATE EXPRESSIONS INVOLVING CONCEPTS. THE SYSTEM HELPS USERS INCREMENTALLY DEVELOP AND REFINE THE CONCEPT EXPRESSION THAT CORRESPONDS TO THEIR ORIGINAL, ILL SPECIFIED QUESTION. IT THEN CAN AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATE THE CONCEPT EXPRESSION SO THAT THE CORRESPONDING INFORMATION IN THE DATA BASE CAN BE RETRIEVED. EXTENDING THE CONCEPT EXPRESSION LANGUAGE AND USER INTERFACE MECHANISMS OF THE FRONT-END WOULD ALLOW MANY MORE INFORMATION USERS TO EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY ACCESS DATA. THIS WOULD INCREASE THEIR PRODUCTIVITY AND THE QUALITY OF THE ANALYSES, PLANS, AND DECISIONS THEY MAKE.