Speaker
James William Monk
(Department of Physics and Astronomy - University College London)
Description
The Durham HepData database has for many years provided an up-to-date archive of
published numerical data from HEP experiments worldwide. In anticipation of the
abundance of new data expected from the LHC, the database is undergoing a complete
metamorphosis to add new features and improve the scope for use of the database by
external applications. The core of the HepData restructuring is the use of a
relational database server in place of the legacy hierarchical system, and the use of
a Java object model to abstract the database operations into object relationships.
Additionally, an XML dialect, HepML, has been developed to describe data records:
this provides a rich description of HEP datasets for use by the database migration
system and by experiments wishing to submit their own data records. Standard Java
persistency systems are used both for the object-relational and object-XML mappings.A
new user front end is being developed, using Java Web application technology. This
will provide easy user access to HepData's records and flexible output formats,
including data comparisons. Furthermore, methods are in development to allow
experimental collaborations to input and maintain their own data in a secure way.The
re-development of HepData is part of the CEDAR project, which also involves the
JetWeb and Rivet event generator tuning systems. HepData's role as a reference source
for generator tunings is pivotal to the success of JetWeb and Rivet. In this paper we
describe the current status of the development of the new HepData database.
Primary author
Dr
Mike Whalley
(IPPP, University of Durham)
Co-author
Dr
Andy Buckley
(IPPP, University of Durham)
