Deliverable D12 Visualisation of domain knowledge: methods and techniques

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Deliverable D12Visualisation of domain
knowledge methods and techniques

• Kazimierz Subieta
• Institute of Computer Science PAS

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Content of the Report

• This report discusses issues related to
  multi-paradigm knowledge representation and
  data/query visualisation.
• Basic requirements for the graphical user
  interface are presented. They are based on the
  following visual graphical query metaphors
• Storing intermediate and final results of queries
  in baskets,
• Extensional navigation in an explicitly presented
  graph of objects,
• Intentional navigation in an implicitly presented
  graph of objects representing the UML-like
  database schema.
• Other features are supposed to solve the problems
  of user awareness, recording query results, graph
  layouts and manipulation.

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Canonical Data Model

• Necessary to intergrate many data/knowledge
  representation paradigms assumed for the ICONS
  prototype
• classical object-oriented model
• relational model
• object-relational model
• XML and RDF models
• Office Objects Portal model
• Datalog model
• semantic networks
• .... a lot of other models ...
• Integration of the models requires a common
  denominator, i.e. a model which is able to map
  features of other models.

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Candidates for a Canonical Model

• XML model
• Java model (object-oriented)
• CORBA data model (object-oriented)
• ODMG data model (object-oriented)
• SQL99 data model (relational object-oriented)
• Object-oriented model with dynamic object roles
  (static and dynamic inheritance, no anomalies
  with multiple-inheritance, aspect-orientedness,
  many other advantages)
• Office Objects Portal Model a tradeoff between
  expressiveness and implementation difficultytime

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Basic Architecture of the GUI Module
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The GUI Module

• It is a generic software used by a developer of a
  Web application to make interactions of end users
  with the data/knowledge base. To this end, the
  developer should use the following interfaces
• Customization it means parameterization of the
  entire GUI, according to the developers wishes.
• Graphical API the interface makes it possible to
  activate/deactivate particular graphical widgets
  (buttons, menus, pictures, input/output text
  fields, tables etc) on the Web end users screen.
  
• API to a database it is used by developers to
  write scripts associated with events for
  particular widgets.
• GUI DB a database storing customization
  information and a current state of interaction
  with a particular user (e.g. history of
  operations, current results of search, views,
  etc).

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Extensional and Intentional Navigation

• Extensional navigation manual browsing in a
  graph of objects using object names and named
  edges of this graph.
• Another example of this kind of searching is
  navigation in a network of concepts, navigation
  in HTML pages etc.
• Intentional navigation Manual browsing and
  searching in a graph presenting a conceptual
  model of stored data.
• In contrast to the previous case, where the
  navigation concerns explicitly visualized
  objects, in this case only some description of
  objects is visualized, e.g. a UML schema.
• The user navigates in this schema the effect of
  the navigation is retrieval of objects.

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Problems with Navigation in a Graph

• The size of the end users screen usually it is
  impossible to present a large and complex graph,
  hence it must be presented partly,.
• User awareness the user can very quickly lose
  orientation while navigating in a complex graph.
• Ergonomics the effort necessary to retrieve the
  required information should be minimal from the
  end user viewpoint.
• Graph layout should be optimal from the user
  viewpoint.
• Combining manual and predicate-based automatic
  navigation.
• Elliptic queries for some kinds of navigation it
  would be useful for the user to omit some details
  of navigation.

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Baskets

• Persistent storing references to objects being
  temporary and final querying results
• corresponds to the virtual shops metaphor
• recorded in a user personalised area
• allow predicate-based and manual selections of
  objects
• allow to start next navigation from the result
  already stored in a basket

My today search
D
D
B
C
B
A
A
A
A
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Summary

• The idea of the proposal is a uniform access to
  Web resources, heterogeneous/legacy databases,
  etc. through a canonical data model.
• A graphical user interface is to be used by Web
  application developers as a tool for
  visualization and manipulation of data retrieval.
  
• The interface is based on the following ideas
• intentional and extensional navigation in a graph
  of objects,
• persistent baskets for storing intermediate and
  final query results,
• supporting user awareness,
• ergonomics of the end-user interface.
• These issues require a trade-off between the
  power of an interface and its end-user
  friendliness.