Astrolabe: Visual Graph Database Queries with Tabular Output

Graph databases are an established solution for large, highly connected datasets. One challenge associated with deploying graph databases in industrial settings is usability. Typically, developers interact with graph databases through queries in languages such as Cypher or GraphQL. Many end-users, analysts, and administrators are not familiar with these specialized languages. Additionally, these queries return hierarchical data in formats such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) or XML (Extensible Markup Language). Additional scripts and interfaces are needed to convert hierarchical data into more easily digested tables. To overcome these challenges, each graph database use-case typically involves significant custom software to explore, view, and export data.

We introduce Astrolabe, a generalized interface that addresses the challenges of querying graph databases. In Astrolabe, queries are constructed visually, so users do not need to learn new graph query languages. Results are returned as tables, which can be easily digested by end users or down-stream applications. Astrolabe was designed to function with arbitrary graph databases, so schema definition is not required. Astrolabe revolutionizes graph exploration and querying by allowing graph databases to be viewed as tables, without the need for custom software adapters.