What is this product?

ADINA is a research system that facilitates seamless access to distinct and unrelated data sources. ADINA lets users and application programmers focus on their tasks - not on the intricacies of the data.

Users and applications request desired data through personalized dynamic (ad hoc) views of the underlying data environment. Users request only the data they want. ADINA determines how to access and navigate the schemas of data sources and how to aggregate the results.

ADINA integrates distinct and heterogeneous information sources, such as relational databases, XML documents, object-oriented databases, image and signal databases, and frame-based knowledge bases. Data sources register with ADINA by describing their schemas and terminology. They are not required to either conform to metadata standards or provide software wrappers.

Unique features:

• Provides personalized and real-time configurable views of the integrated data environment
• Frees requestors from the need to understand schemas, ontologies, and multiple access languages.
• Supports ad hoc request capabilities to view information in novel ways
• Provides high-level request access that specifies only data to be retrieved and search constraints in terms familiar to the requestor
• Access languages are closer to natural languages
• Integrates heterogeneous data sources (e.g., relational databases, object-oriented databases, XML documents, frame-based knowledge bases) while preserving their autonomy.
• Data sources just describe themselves to ADINA
  • Metadata standards not needed
  • Software wrappers not needed
• Provides loose coupling between users and the data
  • Breaks traditional stovepipes
  • When data sources change the application still works!
• Scalability-data sources can be easily integrated and modified.