A rule based query improver

The function of query improvement is to speed up query evaluation. The query improver frees the user from inputing efficient queries. The Rule-Based Query Improver is a component of TAU--a Database System Laboratory. It is a program written in C which improves the query given to it according to a set of rules. The program interacts with the database machine component of TAU, that is, the relative efficiencies or costs of the algorithms used by the database machine are available to the Improver. The rules used by the Improver can easily be changed to make it adapt to different environments, and can be experimented with for database research. This is unlike current query optimizers, which are hard coded, and hence static.