Abstract Large image databases are commonly employed in applications like criminal records, customs, plant root databases, and voters' registration databases. Efficient and convenient mechanisms for database organization and retrieval are essential. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of an integrated image database system. This system offers support for both alphanumeric query, based on alphanumeric data attached to the image file, and content-based query utilizing image examples.
Alphanumeric query is implemented by a collection of parsing and query modules.