Early experience with W3QS-a WWW information gathering system

The World-Wide Web (WWW) is a fast growing global information resource. It contains an enormous amount of heterogeneous information and provides access to a variety of services. Searching for information and services in the WWW is a widely recognized problem. We have designed a high level SQL-like language called W3QL, to support effective and flexible WWW query processing. W3QL addresses both the structure and the content of WWW nodes. W3QL allows the use of indices, navigation through forms and view updating specification. We have implemented a system called W3QS which executes W3QL queries. The system and its query language set a framework for the development of database-like tools for the WWW. The current architecture of W3QS provides a server which enables users to pose queries as well as integrate their own data analysis tools.