Dynamic self-configuring methods for graphical presentation of ODBMs objects

The authors describe a preliminary implementation of the self-configuring methods for automatic representation of time-altered ITASCA entities (SMARTIE) system. SMARTIE defines a set of visual display methods for the ITASCA distributed object database management system. These dynamic methods provide a framework that assists the user in visually browsing instance objects in the ITASCA data space. The methods also support graphic in-place editing of existing instances as well as creation of new instances. The querying and presentation of instances requires no programming by the user or the designer, and support for new classes is provided simply by inheriting the methods. To coexist with ITASCA´s dynamic schema modification, the SMARTIE methods automatically reconfigure themselves to reflect the current schema definition