Search for the blind: A schema independent query method using concept hierarchy and keywords

Abstract

Some database schema is very complex and it changes more frequently than the past. On the other hands, in such application database as scientific database and decision-support database, the importance of ad-hoc queries is expected to increase. Therefore the ability of a system to support ad-hoc queries without knowing the database schema information is needed, In this paper, we will describe a method to create candidate structured queries with concept hierarchy using user-input keywords. We will create structured queries in the following step; first, we extract the schema items related to keywords, and second, we compose possible paths between schema items, thus formulate candidate SQL queries. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.