A prototype Spatial Data Management System

Abstract

Spatial Data Management is a technique for organizing and retrieving information by positioning it in a spatial framework. Data is accessed in a Spatial Data Management System (SDMS) via pictorial representations which are arranged in space and viewed through a computer graphics system. These pictures can be created by an interactive graphical editor, allowing an SDMS to serve as a personal repository of diagrams, text, and photographs. Pictograms can also be generated from data in a symbolic database management system, allowing SDMS to be used as an interface to large, shared databases. A prototype SDMS has been constructed which employs a set of color, raster scan displays driven by a large minicomputer. The user can create and examine data surfaces which are larger than the display screen, traversing a surface and zooming in and out to control the level of detail displayed. The prototype system provides a uniform mechanism for accessing a wide variety of data types in a manner which does not require the use of a formal command or query language.