Schema-Free XQuery

The widespread adoption of XML holds out the promise that document structure can be exploited to specify precise database queries. However, the user may have only a limited knowledge of the XML structure, and hence may be unable to produce a correct XQuery, especially in the context of a heterogeneous information collection. The default is to use keyword-based search and we are all too familiar with how difficult it is to obtain precise answers by these means. We seek to address these problems by introducing the notion of Meaningful Lowest Common Ancestor Structure (MLCAS) for finding related nodes within an XML document. By automatically computing MLCAS and expanding ambiguous tag names, we add new functionality to XQuery and enable users to take full advantage of XQuery in querying XML data precisely and efficiently without requiring (perfect) knowledge of the document structure. Such a Schema-Free XQuery is potentially of value not just to casual users with partial knowledge of sc...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: VLDB
• Authors: Yunyao Li, Cong Yu, H. V. Jagadish
• Keywords: Correct Xquery, Database, Document Structure, Precise Database Queries, VLDB 2004