Top-down query processing in indefinite stratified databases

doi:10.1016/S0169-023X(97)00026-8

Data & Knowledge Engineering

Volume 26, Issue 1, May 1998, Pages 1-36

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-023X(97)00026-8 Get rights and content

Abstract

A top-down query processing method for indefinite stratified databases is presented. Our method is applicable to first-order (function free) databases in which negative atoms are allowed within the rule bodies, and databases are interpreted using the perfect model semantics. Our method is correct and complete, and employs a construction involving cyclic and deduction trees. Mild constraints are placed on the database in order to guarantee the termination of such constructions.

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On cyclic covers and perfect models
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Cyclic covers represent the complex relationships between predicates lying within, and outside of, a perfect model of an indefinite stratified deductive database, and are shown to facilitate the solution to a variety of problems under the perfect model semantics.
Cyclic covers are shown to characterise view updates, and this yields a top–down method for solving the view insertion problem via the computation of partially cyclic covers and a simple closure operation.
Weakly cyclic covers and cyclic trees are shown to yield methods of partially evaluating (i.e., pre-processing) the intensional database to facilitate query compilation, the identification of redundant rules, the removal of recursion and the removal of positive or negative intensional sub-goals. Such pre-processing is immune to future changes in the extensional database.
The notion of a conjunctive answer to a database query is introduced. Such answers do not suffer from the problems of redundancy as seen with (the more commonly studied) “disjunctive” answers. In addition, conjunctive answers yield more information about their query than do their disjunctive counterparts, and in particular the set of disjunctive answers can be computed from the set of conjunctive answers, whereas the converse does not hold. Cyclic covers are shown to characterise conjunctive answers, thus yielding a top–down method of computing such answers. The problem of computing conjunctive answers is shown to be a special case of the view update problem.
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PaperTop-down query processing in indefinite stratified databases

Abstract

J. Logic Programming

J. Logic Programming

J. Logic Programming

Data and Knowledge Engineering

J. Symbolic Computation

J. Logic Programming

J. Logic Programming

Data and Knowledge Engineering

Data and Knowledge Engineering

J. Logic Programming

J. Logic Programming

Automated Theorem Proving

A disjunctive semantics based upon unfolding and bottom-up evaluation

A general approach to bottom-up computation of disjunctive semantics

Characterisations of the disjunctive well-founded semantics: Confluent calculi and iterated GCWA

Computing perfect and stable models using ordered model trees

Computational Intelligence

The stable model semantics for logic programming

Answering queries in indefinite databases and the null value problem

Advances in Computing Research

Improvements of a tautology testing algorithm

Factorisation and circuit in the connection method

J. Association for Computing Machinery

Top-down deduction in indefinite deductive databases

Deduction trees and the view update problem in indefinite deductive databases

J. Automated Reasoning

Paper
Top-down query processing in indefinite stratified databases