A query string expressed in terms of an object model is received. The query includes a first instruction identifying a type of objects and a second instruction identifying selected objects of the identified type to be retrieved. The query may also include one or more statements identifying additional associated types to be retrieved. The query is translated into a database specific language, and a database is queried with the translated query. Query results are received from the database and are translated into an object model. The object model may be displayed on a display device.