Meaningful Click to Query

Marc often reminds me how much he liked my way of browsing the New Relic graph database. In this a query makes a diagram where node clicks lead to another node specific query. matrix

I realized today that I am using the same approach browsing our codebase for idioms of interest. The graph database is now collected Abstract Syntax Trees for javascript files, the query language is Deno running on my laptop, and the diagramming tool is lists of Lisp-like expressions where combinations of nearby elements make results where hover and clicks lead to a new query.

I'll call this the "query ⇒ render ⇒ click ⇒ query" pattern.

This is interesting where the queries are with respect to a large collection and the clicks understand the meaning of items rendered within that collection. Wiki's internal link is a step closer to this ideal than general web browsing. But New Relic's El Dorado and my recent work with Static Aspects are more direct applications of the pattern.

notes

"query ⇒ render" must represent distinct things in the collection. Graph nodes and parse terminals qualify.

"click ⇒ query" must associate with a query that moves through regions of the collection more centered around the item clicked.

The process is made more powerful if adding new queries is straightforward and drawn from experience.