Kleisli/CPL

Introduction

The Kleisli Query System is a system designed for the broad-scale integration problems that have the following characteristics:

Require access of data sources that are
- highly heterogeneous
- geographically scattered
- highly complex
- constantly evolving
- high in volume
Require solutions that involve multiple carefully sequenced steps
Require information to be passed smoothly between the steps
Require some computations

There are several key ideas that makes Kleisli a successful system:

Rich nested collection data model
Simple self-describing data exchange format
High-level functional Collection Programming language CPL
Powerful extensible query optimizer
Efficient query execution engine

The system is currently deployed mainly in the bioinformatics area. It is the first system that cracked many of the so-called ``impossible queries'' in the Human Genome Project in 1993.

In spite of Kleisli's sophistication, the source codes size of its core is remarkably small at 28k lines. I attribute this mainly to the fact that Kleisli is implemented on top of a functional programming system---Standard ML of New Jersey.

--- Limsoon Wong

Information

Developer: Limsoon Wong

Contact:

    Limsoon Wong
    Kent Ridge Digital Labs
    21 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
    Singapore 119613

  Email: limsoon@krdl.org.sg

Number of sites: 10+
Number of users: Unknown
In use: Since 1993
Language: Standard ML and CPL
Availability: Kleisli is now marketed under the name DiscoveryHub by geneticXchange, www.geneticxchange.com. (It was formerly marketed under the name KRIS by Kris Technology.)