Abstract: A feedback channel connects an interactive display module to other independent program modules of a data network to provide a visual programming interface on a computer screen that facilitates user interaction with data displayed on the screen. A logbook record structure contains state information relating to the data, i.e., descriptive information about the data, as well as transformations that have been applied to it. The logbook record is accessed and manipulated in a manner that decentralizes the state information, thereby enabling that information to "flow" with the data through the dataflow network.The program modules record, apply and reverse the transformations by performing operations on the logbook record.