A visual tool for managing relational databases

Although the relational approach to databases has been revolutionary in terms of the conceptual simplicity it affords when designing database Schemas and their attendant applications, the task of implementing and managing a relational database is still very much a burden for the database administrator. In particular: 1) communication with the database system is usually restricted to primitive, teletype interfaces, 2) abstractions used by the DBA (e.g. default joins, default constraints, column domains, etc.) are not inherently supported by existing database systems, and 3) there are no safeguards against inadvertent catastrophic data dictionary modification. The Metaphor DBA Tool addresses these issues by providing a visual interface to the database data dictionary. It is, in essence, a specialized editor for the abstractions familiar to the DBA. Categories (i.e. collections of tables). Tables and Columns have specific screen depictions; relationships between objects are established by lines drawn between them. The DBA can create, modify, and display the structure of the database by manipulating these graphical objects.