Abstract
Abstract In this paper, we describe an approach to database preference queries based on the notion of outranking, suited to the situation where preferences on different attributes are not commensurable. This model constitutes an alternative to the use of Pareto order whose main drawback is to leave many tuples incomparable in general. Even though outranking does not define an order in the mathematical sense of the term, we describe a technique which yields a complete pre-order, based on a global aggregation of the outranking degrees computed for each pair of tuples, which reflects the global “quality” of a tuple w.r.t. the others.
Highlights
The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in expressing preferences inside database queries
Our goal is not to show that this approach is “better” than those based on Pareto order, but that it constitutes a different way to deal with preferences inside database queries, that some users may find more suitable and intuitive
We have proposed an alternative to the use of Pareto order for the modeling of preference queries in the case where preferences on different attributes are not commensurable
Summary
The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in expressing preferences inside database queries. Fuzzy set-based approaches[3,13,14] use fuzzy set membership functions that describe the preference profiles of the user on each attribute domain involved in the query This is especially convenient and suitable when dealing with numerical domains, where a continuum of values is to be interfaced for each domain with satisfaction degrees in the unit interval scale. It must be emphasized that fuzzy set-based approaches rely on a commensurability hypothesis between the satisfaction degrees pertaining to the different attributes taking part to a query. Our goal is not to show that this approach is “better” than those based on Pareto order, but that it constitutes a different way to deal with preferences inside database queries, that some users may find more suitable and intuitive (at least in some given contexts). The proofs of all the theorems are in the appendix at the end of the paper
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call