On mapping natural language constructs into relational algebra through E-R representation

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Abstract

Research on accessing databases in natural language usually employs an intermediate form for the mapping process from natural language to database languages. However, much effort is needed to bridge the gap between the existing intermediate forms and the database languages. In this paper, we present a methodology to map natural language constructs into relational algebra through E-R representation. This methodology employs a logical form to represent the natural language queries. The logical form has the merits that it can be mapped from natural language constructs by referring to the Entity-Relationship conceptual schema and can be efficiently transformed into relational algebra for query execution. The whole process provides a clear and natural framework for processing natural language queries to retrieve data from database systems.

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    This research was partially supported by the Republic of China National Science Council under Contract No. NSC 81-0408-E-007-12.

    ∗∗

    Frank S.C. Tseng was born on June 30, 1964 in ChangHua, Taiwan, Republic of China. He received the B. S. and M. S. degrees both in Computer Engineering from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, in 1986 and 1988, respectively.

    He is currently working towards the Ph.D degree in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Chiao Tung University. His current research interests include integration and interoperability of federated databases, uncertain data manipulation, artificial intelligence, computer algorithms, and graph theory. Mr. Tseng is a member of IEEE Computer Society.

    Arbee L.P. Chen received the B. S. degree in Computer Science from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, Republic of China, in 1977, and the Ph. D. degree, in Computer Engineering from the Universtiy of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1984.

    He joined National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, in August 1990, and is now a Professor in the Department of Computer Science. He was a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Communications Research, New Jersey, from 1987 to 1990, an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York, and a Research Scientist at Unisys, Santa Monica, California, from 1985 to 1986. He is currently also an Advisor to Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan. His research interests include distributed databases, heterogeneous databases, active databases, spatial databases, and distributed computing systems.

    Dr. Chen is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society, and was a member of the ANSI/X3/SPARC/Database Systems Study Group.

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