Automatic Updates of Interactive Information Visualization User Interfaces through Database Triggers
Martin Leissler, Matthias Hemmje, Erich J. Neuhold · 2000
In client-server based interactive information visualization, user interfaces data sets of many types are made accessible by a server. On the server side, these data sets can, e.g., be stored in a file system. As soon as a user requests the data set, it will be transmitted from the server to the requesting client. A different approach is to dynamically construct a data set at request time on the server side for visualization on the client side. Another approach for database driven information visualization is to request actual data out of a running information visualization application on the client side. Both visualization methods have in common that changes in the underlying data cannot be automatically reflected in changes of the client’s information visualization state and context. A solution for this problem is the use of database triggers which today are often implemented in existing database management systems (DBMS). Database triggers are a mechanism used to define a set of operations which are to be executed by the DBMS as soon as a given part of the data in the database changes. Using triggers to update an information visualization client has the advantage of eliminating unnecessary database requests. Moreover, the delay in updating the information visualization on the client side is only dependent on the time it takes to send a message from the server to the client. This paper describes a conceptual model for such a trigger mechanism and evaluates some upcoming problems. Furthermore, the paper describes a prototypical proof-of-concept implementation based on commonly used technologies and systems.