An abbreviated concept-based query language and its exploratory evaluation

Abstract

Research on the use of conceptual information in database queries has primarily focused on semantic query optimization. Studies on the important aspects of conceptual query formulation are currently not as extensive. Only a relatively small number of works exist in this area. The existing concept-based query languages are similar in the sense that they require the user to specify the entire query path in formulating a query. In this study, we present the Conceptual Query Language (CQL), which does not require entire query paths to be specified but only their terminal points. CQL is an abbreviated concept-based query language that allows for the conceptual abstraction of database queries and exploits the rich semantics of semantic data models to ease and facilitate query formulation. CQL was developed with the aim of providing typical end-users like secretaries and administrators an easy-to-use database query interface for querying and report generation. A CQL prototype has been implemented and currently runs as a front-end to an underlying relational DBMS. A statistical experiment conducted to probe end-users' reaction to using CQL vis-à-vis SQL as a database query language indicates that end-users perform better with CQL and have a better perception of it than of SQL. This paper discusses the design of CQL, the strategies for CQL query processing, and the comparative study between CQL and SQL.