3. A method for displaying information about a relational database comprising the steps of: identifying each relation of a plurality of relations in the relational database; determining for each relation a respective number of a user selected data terms contained therein; determining for each relation a key structural characteristic which can be used to access that relation; sorting each relation of the plurality of relations according to key structural characteristics of the respective relation; visually displaying in an over view the plurality of relations categorized according to the key structural characteristic thereof; visually displaying in the over view for each relation of the plurality of relations a respective bar that is representative of the number of the user selected data item therein; coloring in the over view each display of each relation that has the same key structural characteristic with a common color that is different from the coloring of the relations of the other key structural characteristics; visually displaying in the over view a cursor that is operator controllable over the display area; and changing the coloring of a visual display of a relation with which the cursor is actively contacting to indicate a selection thereof for a display of further information in another view.
12. The method as set forth in claim 3, further comprising the steps of: displaying a path view showing the selected relation in an active window; selecting a second selected relation; showing the second relation in the path view active window; locating the selected relations opposite one another; and displaying a shortest access paths between the selected relations.