CRIUS: User-Friendly Database Design

Non-technical users are increasingly adding structures to their data. This gives rise to the need for database design. However, traditional database design is deliberate and heavy-weight, requiring technical expertise that everyday users may not possess. For this reason, we propose that users of personal data management applications should be able to create and refine data structures in an ad-hoc way over time, thereby “organically” growing their schemas. For this purpose, we develop a spreadsheet-like direct manipulation interface. We show how integrity constraints can still provide value, even in this scenario of frequent schema and data modifications. We also develop a back-end database implementation to support this interface, with a design that permits schema changes at a low cost. We have folded these ideas into a system, called CRIUS, which supports a nested data model and a graphical user interface. From the user’s perspective, the chief advantages of CRIUS are its sup...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: PVLDB
• Authors: Li Qian, Kristen LeFevre, H. V. Jagadish
• Keywords: CRIUS, Database Design, PVLDB 2010, User Data