Visual representation methods for relational and non relational database structure and operations - a common interface based on conceptual graphs

Abstract

Data coming from various sources present significant differences at the schema level, especially in case of relational and non-relational data sources. A common interface for representing database structure and operations in a conceptual manner, that can be used for both relational and non-relational databases could help users who are very accustomed to working with relational databases to overcome the challenges that appear in their interaction with non-relational databases. This paper presents a new approach based on conceptual graphs for representing relational database structure and queries, taking into account the visual representation methods for database structure and queries based on conceptual graphs available in the literature. This new approach focuses on maximizing the compatibility with the already available representation methods for non-relational databases. Representation methods based on conceptual graphs for insert, update and delete operations are also proposed in this paper. These representation methods could be easily implemented in database benchmarking frameworks or database client applications that offer a functionality somehow similar to Visual Query Systems, but with complete support for DML operations. This approach would also be useful for users who are not specialized in computer science, as it offers the possibility to interact with both relational and non-relational databases in a simple, visual manner.