A Formalism for Visual Query Interface Design

transformation models are able to be extended unlimitedly in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Fig. 6: Recursive Models: (a)recursive visualizations; (b)recursive queries; (c)iterative model. Figure 7 not only shows the result of visualizing a visualization, but also gives a visualization for the mapping itself. Figure 8 presents querying on queries by specifying query terms on the query space, which allows reducing the complexity of query formulation and help users understand complex queries. A formalism is a tool to assist thinking. The formalism for information exploration provides: • A systematic integration of querying and visualization. • A foundation for analyzing information exploration environments. • A controlled set of required capabilities against which an implementation can be organized. • Concepts for designing new interfaces for querying and visualizing. • Opportunities for extending existing visual query interfaces. Query results are visualized to reveal the relationship between data items and query fragments. All entities in the query/visualization environment are tables: • Data, including queries and visualizations, and • mappings, including visualizing and querying. The formalism defines applying tables to tables: • querying a query, • visualizing a visualization, • querying a visualization, and so on.