The web application H14-Navigator provides metadata and the results of the H14 European ring test on ecotoxicity of waste from an entirely Topic Maps-based backend. It uses ontology for physical, chemical and biological properties, and knowledge models contained in the H14 topic map to generate interface structures, knowledge-oriented access to and navigation paths through a highly networked information space. The frontend generates tables as if it were based on an application-specific relational data model. Content can also be rendered in the so-called topic view, reducing the amount of information displayed, and focusing on relationships and relevant knowledge models for anchoring the focused topic in the framework of the ecotoxicological domain. Where appropriate, the topic view is complemented by Tables providing more detailed information. An intelligent search algorithm completes frontend functionalities. The H14-Navigator is an example of a new kind of frontend, radically doing away with application-specific relational data models, as well as with the distinction between data-oriented and knowledge-oriented storage layers. It uses only one model, which is the Topic Maps data model standardized in ISO/IEC 13250-2 (2006), thus providing evidence of the hitherto underestimated power of this graph-based model. With the availability of the standardized XML syntax ISO/IEC 13250-3 (2007), and the possibility of defining a globally accessible identity for each subject represented by a topic, Topic Maps-based semantic application systems are here to stay.

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