VISCO: bringing visual spatial querying to reality

Abstract

The paper reports on the evolution of the spatial (sketch based) query language VISCO and its implementation. The first design of VISCO's query language was presented at VL '97. The language is based on a strong naive physics metaphor for query objects (e.g. marbles, nails, rubber bands). We review the prominent aspects of the revised version of VISCO's query language. The main focus of the paper is on VISCO's implementation using city maps of Hamburg as example domain. Its innovative user interface consists of three interconnected components: a graphical (syntax directed) query editor and visual language compiler, a browser for inspecting the query results, and a map viewer for browsing the spatial database. We also briefly report on the process of compiling, optimizing, and executing VISCO's queries.