INFERRING TYPE CLASSIFICATIONS FROM NATURAL LANGUAGE TEXT

• US 20160026621A1
• Filed: 09/05/2014
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: MISRA, Janardan, Sharma, Ruchika
• Granted Patent: US 9,880,997 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/247 Thesauruses; Synonyms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis

Abstract

A device may obtain text to be processed to infer type classifications associated with terms in the text. The type classifications may indicate types of values that the terms are intended to represent. The device may infer type classifications corresponding to terms in the text by performing a type classification technique. The type classification technique may include a name-based analysis, a context-based analysis a synonym-based analysis, or a valued-based analysis. These analyses may compare information, associated with the terms in the text, to type indicators that indicate the type classifications. The device may provide information that identifies a type relationship between a particular type classification and a particular term based on inferring the one or more type classifications.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

one or more processors to;

obtain text to be processed to infer type classifications associated with terms in the text,

the type classifications indicating types of values that the terms may represent;

perform one or more type classification techniques to infer one or more type classifications corresponding to one or more terms included in the text,

the one or more type classification techniques including at least one of;

a name-based analysis that compares the one or more terms to one or more sets of name-based type indicators corresponding to the one or more type classifications,

a context-based analysis that compares one or more modifiers, that modify the one or more terms in the text, to one or more sets of context-based type indicators corresponding to the one or more type classifications,

a synonym-based analysis that compares one or more synonyms, of the one or more terms, to the one or more sets of name-based type indicators corresponding to the one or more type classifications, or

a value-based analysis that compares one or more values, associated with the one or more terms in the text, to one or more sets of value-based type indicators corresponding to the one or more type classifications;

classify the one or more terms using the one or more type classifications based on performing the one or more type classification techniques; and

provide information that indicates a type relationship between a particular term, of the one or more terms, and a particular type classification of the one or more type classifications.

2. The device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

identify a particular type classification technique, of the one or more type classification techniques, used to determine the type relationship between the particular term and the particular type classification;

determine a confidence score for the type relationship based on the particular type classification technique; and

provide information that identifies the confidence score for the type relationship between the particular term and the particular type classification.

3. The device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

generate, based on the particular type classification, test data for testing particular types of values that the particular term may represent; and

provide information that identifies the test data.

4. The device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

generate a type classification equation that indicates a relationship between the particular term and another term of the one or more terms;

classify the other term using the particular type classification based on generating the type classification equation; and

provide information that indicates a relationship between the other term and the particular type classification based on classifying the other term using the particular type classification.

5. The device of claim 1, where the one or more processors are further to:

associate tags with terms in the text,

the tags indicating whether a term is to be classified using the one or more type classifications;

identify the one or more terms to be classified based on associating the tags with the terms; and

where the one or more processors, when classifying the one or more terms, are further to;

classify the one or more terms based on identifying the one or more terms to be classified.

6. The device of claim 1, where the one or more type classifications include:

a plurality of primitive type classifications used to classify terms that do not represent other terms in the text; and

a composite type classification used to classify terms that represent at least one other term in the text.

7. The device of claim 1, where the one or more processors, when performing the one or more type classification techniques, are further to:

perform two or more type classification techniques to infer the one or more type classifications corresponding to the one or more terms included in the text,

the two or more type classification techniques including at least two of;

the name-based analysis,

the context-based analysis,

the synonym-based analysis, or

the value-based analysis.

8. A computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

obtain text to be processed to infer type classifications associated with terms in the text,

the type classifications indicating types of values that the terms are intended to represent;

infer one or more type classifications corresponding to one or more terms in the text by performing one or more type classification techniques,

the one or more type classification techniques including at least one of;

a name-based analysis that compares the one or more terms to name-based type indicators that indicate the one or more type classifications,

a context-based analysis that compares one or more modifiers, that modify the one or more terms in the text, to context-based type indicators that indicate the one or more type classifications,

a synonym-based analysis that compares one or more synonyms, of the one or more terms, to the name-based type indicators that indicate the one or more type classifications, or

a value-based analysis that compares one or more values, associated with the one or more terms in the text, to value-based type indicators that indicate the one or more type classifications; and

provide information that identifies a type relationship between a particular type classification, of the one or more type classifications, and a particular term, of the one or more terms in the text, based on inferring the one or more type classifications.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

identify a type classification technique, of the one or more type classification techniques, used to determine the type relationship between the particular type classification and the particular term;

determine a confidence score for the type relationship based on the identified type classification technique,

the confidence score being determined differently based on whether the name-based analysis, the context-based analysis, the synonym-based analysis, or the value-based analysis was used to determine the type relationship; and

provide information that identifies the confidence score for the type relationship between the particular type classification and the particular term.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

determine, based on the particular type classification, test data for testing particular types of values that the particular term is intended to represent; and

provide information that identifies the test data,

the information that identifies the test data being used to test a system designed based on the text.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

generate, based on the particular type classification, positive test data for testing particular types of values that the particular term is intended to represent;

generate, based on the particular type classification, negative test data for testing particular types of values that the particular term is not intended to represent; and

provide information that identifies the positive test data and the negative test data.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to infer the one or more type classifications, further cause the one or more processors to:

infer that the particular term corresponds to a composite type classification,

the composite type classification indicating that the particular term represents one or more constituent terms included in the text; and

where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to;

provide information that indicates a relationship between the particular term and the one or more constituent terms.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the name-based type indicators, the context-based type indicators, and the value-based type indicators include different sets of type indicators.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

generate a plurality of type classification equations that indicate relationships between terms included in the text,

at least one type classification equation, of the plurality of type classification equations, indicating a relationship associated with the particular term;

analyze the plurality of type classification equations;

determine another type relationship between the particular type classification or another type classification, of the one or more type classifications, and another term, of the one or more terms in the text, based on analyzing the plurality of type classification equations; and

provide information that indicates the other type relationship.

15. A method, comprising:

obtaining, by a device, text to be processed to infer one or more type classifications associated with one or more terms in the text,

the one or more type classifications indicating types of values that the one or more terms are capable of representing;

inferring, by the device, a type relationship between a particular term, of the one or more terms, and a particular type classification, of the one or more type classifications, by performing one or more type classification techniques,

the one or more type classification techniques including at least one of;

a name-based analysis that compares the particular term to a set of name-based type indicators associated with the particular type classification,

a context-based analysis that compares a modifier, that modifies the particular term in the text, to a set of context-based type indicators associated with the particular type classification,

a synonym-based analysis that compares a synonym, of the particular term, to the set of name-based type indicators associated with the particular type classification, or

a value-based analysis that compares a value, that appears within a threshold proximity of the particular term in the text, to a set of value-based type indicators or a set of value-based type patterns associated with the particular type classification; and

providing, by the device, information that identifies the type relationship, between the particular term and the particular type classification, based on inferring the type relationship and further based on performing the one or more type classification techniques.

16. The method of claim 15, where inferring the type relationship by performing the one or more type classification techniques further comprises:

performing the name-based analysis;

determining, based on performing the name-based analysis, that the particular term includes a first word that matches a second word included in the set of name-based type indicators; and

inferring the type relationship based on determining that the particular term includes the first word that matches the second word.

17. The method of claim 15, where inferring the type relationship by performing the one or more type classification techniques further comprises:

performing the context-based analysis;

determining, based on performing the context-based analysis, that the modifier includes a first word that matches a second word included in the set of context-based type indicators; and

inferring the type relationship based on determining that the modifier includes the first word that matches the second word.

18. The method of claim 15, where inferring the type relationship by performing the one or more type classification techniques further comprises:

performing the synonym-based analysis;

determining, based on performing the synonym-based analysis, that the synonym includes a first word that matches a second word included in the set of name-based type indicators; and

inferring the type relationship based on determining that the synonym includes the first word that matches the second word.

19. The method of claim 15, where inferring the type relationship by performing the one or more type classification techniques further comprises:

performing the value-based analysis;

determining, based on performing the value-based analysis, that the value matches another value included in the set of value-based type indicators or that the value matches a value-based type pattern included in the set of value-based type patterns; and

inferring the type relationship based on determining that the value matches the other value or that the value matches the value-based type pattern.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

identifying a type classification technique, of the one or more type classification techniques, used to determine the type relationship; and

providing information that identifies the type classification technique used to determine the type relationship.