  DIAL will enable users to analyze very large, event-based datasets using an
application that is natural to the data format. Both the dataset and the
processing may be distributed over a farm, a site (collection of farms) or a
grid (collection of sites). Here we describe the goals of the project, the
current design and implementation, and plans for future development. DIAL is
being developed within PPDG to understand the requirements that interactive
analysis places on the grid and within ATLAS to enable distributed interactive
analysis of event data.
