5.0 Conclusion 
This paper has described a new spatial browser and 
has presented its functionalities. The MetaView/ 
GIS directory service provides a flexible GUI for 
querying Geographical Information Databases by 
users and for updates by database vendors. Unlike 
other directory services, a user of MetaView/GIS 
can query the databases within a constraint region 
by manipulation of the visual map display. 
Planned enhancement to the current implementa- 
tion include: 
1. extension of MetaView/GIS database to include 
free text data and to include function for han- 
dling document retrieval. 
2. use of third party software to expand the capa- 
bility of the server. This will see MetaView/GIS 
tolerating other database other than what is cur- 
rently supported under relational DBMS. 
3. use of third party software to convert our 
present help facility to hypertext based. 
4. porting of various routines to non-GUI, to 
enable other systems without X terminals to 
access MetaView/GIS databases. 
5. the implementation of a client to run under Win- 
dowNT and Windows. 
Acknowledgment 
Our sincere thanks goes to Ekow Otoo and the 
team members of both the DeltaX and MetaView/ 
GIS projects. We will also like to thank the GIS 
Division of Natural Resources Canada for their 
support for these projects. 
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