On graph based interaction for semantic query languages

In the last years, several proposals have been presented concerning graphical query languages working on diagrammatic representations of semantic data models. Such proposals are mainly based on two different user interaction modalities, i.e., to allow the user to specify either a path or a view on the database schema. In this paper we analyze these two strategies, showing that they are characterised by complementary advantages and disadvantages; then we present a new graphical query language combining the advantages of both the approaches.