TECHNIQUES FOR AUTOMATED GENERATION OF QUERIES FOR QUERYING ONTOLOGIES

• US 20100185643A1
• Filed: 01/20/2009
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ghosh, Bhaskar Jyoti, Rao, Aditya Ramamurthy, Prakash, Pravin, Rajesh, Narni, Rangarajan, Keshava, Srinivasan, Nagaraj, Krishnamurthy, Sudharsan
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/759
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/242 Query formulation

Abstract

Techniques for simplifying querying of ontologies. In one embodiment, one or more queries for querying an ontology are automatically generated in a language suitable for querying the ontology. A user may enter a query in a simple language such as a natural language query. In response, one or more queries capable of querying the ontology are automatically generated in a second language. The automatically generated queries may, for example, be in SPARQL or PL/SQL. The one or more automatically generated queries may then be used to query one or more ontologies.

Claims

1. A method of generating a query for querying an ontology, the method comprising:

receiving a first query in a first language, wherein the first query complies with a predefined grammar and comprises one or more terms from a vocabulary used in the ontology; and

generating, based upon the first query, one or more queries in a second language, wherein the second language is different from the first language and the ontology is capable of being queried using the one or more queries in the second language.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first query is a natural language query.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the second language is a Resource Description Framework (RDF) compliant query language for querying an ontology.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the second language is SPARQL.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second language is PL/SQL.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

executing the one or more queries in the second language against the ontology; and

outputting results obtained from executing the one or more queries in the second language against the ontology.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the first query comprises:

guiding formulation of the first query by providing one or more suggestions, wherein the one or more suggestions are based upon the predefined grammar and the vocabulary comprising terms used in the ontology, the predefined grammar based upon a set of one or more rules.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the first query comprises:

receiving an initial query; and

determining if the initial query complies with the predefined grammar and comprises one or more terms from the vocabulary.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the one or more queries in the second language comprises:

parsing the first query to identify a set of terms in the first query;

associating a tag with each term in the set of terms;

generating one or more representations based upon the set of terms and tags associated with the terms in the set of terms; and

generating the one or more queries in the second language based upon the one or more representations.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the one or more representations are in XML format.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein generating the one or more queries in the second language based upon the one or more representations comprises:

using mapping information to map at least one term in the set of terms to a term used in the ontology, the mapping information providing a mapping between terms and their corresponding terms used in the ontology.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more queries in the second language comprise a main query corresponding to the first query and a set of one or more secondary queries configured to gather information in addition to information requested by the first query.

13. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to generate a query for querying an ontology, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to receive a first query in a first language, wherein the first query complies with a predefined grammar and comprises one or more terms from a vocabulary used in the ontology; and

instructions that cause the processor to generate, based upon the first query, one or more queries in a second language, wherein the second language is different from the first language and the ontology is capable of being queried using the one or more queries in the second language.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the second language is a Resource Description Framework (RDF) compliant query language for querying an ontology.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the second language is SQL or SPARQL.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to execute the one or more queries in the second language against the ontology; and

instructions that cause the processor to output results obtained from executing the one or more queries in the second language against the ontology.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to receive the first query comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to guide formulation of the first query by providing one or more suggestions, wherein the one or more suggestions are based upon the predefined grammar and the vocabulary comprising terms used in the ontology, the predefined grammar based upon a set of one or more rules.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to generate the one or more queries in the second language comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to parse the first query to identify a set of terms in the first query;

instructions that cause the processor to associate a tag with each term in the set of terms;

instructions that cause the processor to generate one or more representations based upon the set of terms and tags associated with the terms in the set of terms; and

instructions that cause the processor to generate the one or more queries in the second language based upon the one or more representations.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to processor to generate the one or more queries in the second language based upon the one or more representations comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to use mapping information to map at least one term in the set of terms to a term used in the ontology, the mapping information providing a mapping between terms and their corresponding terms used in the ontology.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the one or more queries in the second language comprise a main query corresponding to the first query and a set of one or more secondary queries configured to gather information in addition to information requested by the first query.

21. A system for generating a query for querying an ontology, the system comprising:

a memory configured to store the ontology;

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to;

receiving a first query in a first language, wherein the first query complies with a predefined grammar and comprises one or more terms from a vocabulary used in the ontology; and

generate, based upon the first query, one or more queries in a second language, wherein the second language is different from the first language and the ontology is capable of being queried using the one or more queries in the second language.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the second language is a Resource Description Framework (RDF) compliant query language for querying an ontology.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the processor is configured to:

guide formulation of the first query by providing one or more suggestions, wherein the one or more suggestions are based upon the predefined grammar and the vocabulary comprising terms used in the ontology, the predefined grammar based upon a set of one or more rules.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein the processor is configured to:

parse the first query to identify a set of terms in the first query;

associate a tag with each term in the set of terms;

generate one or more representations based upon the set of terms and tags associated with the terms in the set of terms; and

generate the one or more queries in the second language based upon the one or more representations.