Slide 3 : Data-centric
The next slide illustrates the data centric approach. Instead of files and applications we have objects that persist in an Object Oriented Database (OODB), and the objects can be viewed and edited as the user browses the data in a data-centric virtual world.
The presentation shows a 3D software component displaying a ball bouncing around inside a box under the influence of gravity. The user can manipulate the object with the mouse (changing the camera pose). The underlying object persists in the CEDA database (the LSS) very efficiently as a small binary blob (a byte stream).
Unlike applications, data-centric objects compose naturally. The 3D component is not embellished with menus and toolbars, making it suitable for part of something bigger, such as this presentation slide. As in the real world, one can only see nouns. Verbs (or actions) are not normally visible. In CEDA we often use right click menus to perform actions on objects.
It is worth noting that the World Wide Web is data-centric. Users can browse the Internet without needing to know which application to run as they come across data in web pages. Not only is this very convenient, but it also allows computer illiterate users to successfully use a computer. The data-centric approach leads naturally into the idea of run time assembly.