Method For Supporting Ontology-Related Semantic Queries in DBMSs with XML Support

• US 20080215542A1
• Filed: 03/02/2007
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wang, Min, Lim, Lipyeow, Wang, Haixun
• Granted Patent: US 7,730,098 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2433 Query languages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/367 Ontology

Abstract

A method for supporting semantic matching queries in a database management system (DBMS) by extracting and storing the transitive/subsumption relationships from a given ontology data in a DBMS with native XML support. These transitive relationships are transformed into a set of XML documents that are natural mappings of the hierarchical structure of the transitive relationships. A table function construct expresses semantic matching queries in a declarative manner. The semantic matching queried are automatically rewritten or translated into standard SQL/XML search operators such as XQuery, XPath and XMLExists, and executed by the SQL/XML DBMS on the given instance data and the extracted transitive relationships data.

Claims

1. A method for supporting semantic matching queries in a Structured Query Language/eXtensible Markup Language (SQL/XML) database management system (DBMS) with native XML support, having a given relational database, comprising:

storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS; and

searching the combined given relational database and the ontology relational database using SQL/XML search operators supported by the DBMS.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing an ontology table function for expressing combined queries of the given relational database and the ontology relational database;

receiving semantic queries expressed according to the ontology table function; and

translating the received semantic queries into a search query having SQL/XML search operators supported by the DBMS.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transitive relationships of ontology data are stored as XML documents that are mappings of hierarchical ontology data.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the translating forms the search query of SQL SELECT and WHERE operators and of at least one XML search operator.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the XML search operator is at least one from the group consisting of (XPath, XQuery and XMLExists).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the searching uses a search query of SQL SELECT and WHERE operators and at least one XML search operator.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS, includes

iteratively identifying each relationship instance in the ontology that is a transitional relationship and,

if the transitional relationship is a new relationship, not identified by a previous iteration, then creating a new entry in an ontology table identifying the relationship, else

add the relationship instance to an XML tree for that relationship.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS, includes

iteratively identifying each relationship instance in the ontology that is a transitional relationship and,

if the transitional relationship is a new relationship, not identified by a previous iteration, then creating a new entry in an ontology table identifying the relationship, else

add the relationship instance to an XML tree for that relationship.

9. A system for supporting semantic matching queries in a Structured Query Language/eXtensible Markup Language (SQL/XML) database management system (DBMS) with native XML support, having a given relational database, comprising:

a machine-readable storage medium;

machine-readable program code, stored on the machine-readable storage medium, the machine-readable program code having;

instructions for storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS; and

instruction for searching the combined given relational database and the ontology relational database using SQL/XML search operators supported by the DBMS.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable program code further includes:

instructions for providing an ontology table function for expressing combined queries of the given relational database and the ontology relational database;

instructions for receiving semantic queries expressed according to the ontology table function; and

instructions for translating the received semantic queries into a search query having SQL/XML search operators supported by the DBMS.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for the transitive relationships of ontology data to be stored instructs the relationships to be stored as XML documents that are mappings of hierarchical ontology data.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for the translating instructs the translating to form the search query of SQL SELECT and WHERE operators and of at least one XML search operator.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for the translating instructs the translating to form the XML search operator to be at least one from the group consisting of (XPath, XQuery and XMLExists).

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for the translating instructs the translating to form the search query of SQL SELECT and WHERE operators and of at least one XML search operator.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS, include:

instructions for iteratively identifying each relationship instance in the ontology that is a transitional relationship and,

if the transitional relationship is a new relationship, not identified by a previous iteration, then creating a new entry in an ontology table identifying the relationship, else

add the relationship instance to an XML tree for that relationship.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the machine-readable program code instructions for storing transitive relationships of a given ontology as an ontology relational database in the DBMS, include:

instructions for iteratively identifying each relationship instance in the ontology that is a transitional relationship and,

if the transitional relationship is a new relationship, not identified by a previous iteration, then creating a new entry in an ontology table identifying the relationship, else

add the relationship instance to an XML tree for that relationship.