Toward a theory of active index

: This paper introduces a theoretical framework for the active index. The active index facilitates the accessing and automatic manipulation of visual objects. With an active index, we can effectively and efficiently handle smart images that respond to accessing, probing, and other actions. Another important application is information retrieval in hyperspace. The active index can also be used to realize Petri nets, generalized Petri nets such as G-nets, B-trees, etc., but the dynamic nature of the active index is its most important characteristic. Implementation considerations and research issues are discussed. KEYWORDS: Active index, feature-based index, smart images, visual information systems, information retrieval in hyperspace. 1. INTRODUCTION In visual computing, an important issue is how to index visual objects, so that the visual objects can be accessed quickly and certain actions can be performed automatically. In conventional database systems, keyword-based indexing technique..