Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Querying Relational Databases without Explicit Joins

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Conceptual Modeling for New Information Systems Technologies (ER 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2465))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Despite its benefits and wide-spread acceptance, SQL [5] is not a perfect query language. Although graphical tools for query construction mask some of the complexity, complex database schema challenge even experienced database users during query formulation because a user is responsible for mapping the semantics of their query to the structure of the database. In this work, we propose a semantic query language for graphically querying relational database systems that allows a user to query the database by semantics instead of structure. Database semantics are described using a global dictionary and semantic specifications that are combined to form an integrated, context view. Users query the semantic view by concept name, and the query processor translates semantic queries to SQL. This translation involves automatically determining attribute and relation mappings and join conditions.

This research is sponsored by NSERC Research Grant (RGP-0105566) and TRLabs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. J. Bell and L. Rowe. Human Factors Evaluation of a Textual, Graphical, and Natural Language Query Interfaces. Technical Report ERL-90-12, University of California, Berkeley, February, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  2. T. Catarci and G. Santucci. Query by Diagram: A Graphical Environment for Querying Databases. SIGMOD Record, 23(2):515–515, June 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  3. S. Cha and G. Wiederhold. Kaleidoscope Data Model for An English-like Query Language. In 17th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases, pages 351–361. Morgan Kaufmann, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. Cohen. Integration of Heterogeneous Databases Without Common Domains Using Queries Based on Textual Similarity. SIGMOD Record, 27(2):201–212, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. C. Date. The SQL standard. Addison Wesley, Reading, US, third edition, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. Lawrence and K. Barker. Unity-A Database Integration Tool. Technical Report 2000-664-16, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Calgary, July 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. Lee and D. Baik. SemQL: A Semantic Query Language for Multidatabase Systems. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Information Knowledge Management (CIKM’99), pages 259–266, Kansas City, MO, November 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  8. G. Miller, R. Beckwith, C. Fellbaum, D. Gross, and K. Miller. Five Papers on WordNet. Technical Report CSL Report 43, Princeton University, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  9. W. Ogden and S. Brooks. Query Languages for the Casual User: Exploring the ground between Formal and Natural Languages. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Computer Human Interaction of the ACM, pages 161–165, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  10. J. Sowa. Top-level ontological categories. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 43(5):669–685, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M. Stonebraker, J. Chen, N. Nathan, C. Parson, A. Su, and J. Wu. Tioga: A Database-Oriented Visualization Tool. In Proceedings of the Visualization’ 93 Conference, pages 86–93. IEEE Computer Society Press, October 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  12. G. Vossen and J. Yacabucci. An extension of the database language SQL to capture more relational concepts. SIGMOD Record, 17(4):70–78, December 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  13. W3C. Extensible Markup Langauge (XML) 1.0. Technical Report http://www.w3.org/XML/, February 1998.

  14. M. Zloof. Query-by-Example: a data base language. IBM Systems Journal, 16(4):324–343, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Ramon Lawrence

  2. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Ken Barker

Authors
  1. Ramon Lawrence
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ken Barker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate school of environment and information sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, yokohama, 240-8501, Japan

    Hiroshi Arisawa

  2. Department of Social Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Yahiko Kambayashi

  3. SICE Computer Networking, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA

    Vijay Kumar

  4. University of Klagenfurt, Universitätsstraße 65-67, 9020, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Heinrich C. Mayr

  5. VP Industry Services DAMA International, PO Box 5786, Bellevue, WA, 98006-5786, USA

    Ingrid Hunt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Lawrence, R., Barker, K. (2002). Querying Relational Databases without Explicit Joins. In: Arisawa, H., Kambayashi, Y., Kumar, V., Mayr, H.C., Hunt, I. (eds) Conceptual Modeling for New Information Systems Technologies. ER 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2465. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46140-X_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-46140-X_22

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-44122-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46140-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation