Flexible Security and Search Capability for a Relational Database with Externally Linked Multimedia Data Files

Recently, a prototype relational database system has been developed that has the capability of storing and querying analog and video information for interaction with data analysis applications [8]. The system provides for numerous querying categories via indexed meta-data using pre-filled, drop-own combo boxes. A shortcoming of the design is the growing number of categories that could in time become unmanageable. One purpose of this study was to explore a more flexible design that would reduce the number of categories for storing and querying the database. In this design, the user enters a compound, logical query statement with the desired keywords in addition to using the existing combo boxes. This proved to be a more efficient and flexible strategy for accommodating expanding search categories. Another purpose of this study was to add security features in accessing database information to restrict sharing of information about subject populations. This has become an important requirement in accessing subject information in research studies. To this end we have developed an easily reusable security hierarchy in which individual users and groups of users can be granted rights to objects of the system e.g., database tables or user interface tabs. The permissions granted to a user are dynamically updated by group permissions as the user joins or leaves these groups. The initial implementation of security features has proven to be efficiently handled by the interface. Thus, a prototype for a flexible and secure database querying capability has been implemented that can be scaled to meet the expanding needs of researchers.