Presents a new approach to user interface customization in geographic information systems (GIS). This approach is based on the integration of three main components: a GIS user interface architecture; an active database mechanism; and a generic interface builder. The GIS interface architecture provides the default interface behavior, while the active system allows customization of interfaces according to the specific context. The generic interface builder relies on a library of interface objects to dynamically construct generic and customized interfaces. The main advantage of this approach is that it decreases the costs associated with developing customized GIS interfaces.

We present a new interface for Object-Oriented Database Management Systems (OODBMSs). The GOODIES 1 system combines and expands the functions of many existing interface systems, introducing some new concepts for improved browsing in an OODBMS. The implementation of GOODIES proposes a new approach to database interfaces development: instead of being strongly dependent of the underlying DBMS, GOODIES is based on the main features of the object-oriented data model. The system design is based on an internal model and on an external model. The internal model defines the relationships that bind the interface to the DBMS. The external model determines the possible interaction between the user and the interface system. This paper describes the concepts of the design of GOODIES. Keywords: object-oriented databases, graphical interfaces, direct manipulation paradigm, browsers, query tools. 1 Introduction Offering database users a suitable interface is an old research issue, and much work ha...