SQL-like Syntax Research Articles

Suggesting assess queries for interactive analysis of multidimensional data

Assessment is the process of comparing the actual to the expected behavior of a business phenomenon and judging the outcome of the comparison. The assess querying operator has been recently proposed to support assessment based on the results of a query on a data cube. This operator requires (i) the specification of an OLAP query to determine a target cube; (ii) the specification of a reference cube of comparison (benchmark), which represents the expected performance; (iii) the specification of how to perform the comparison, and (iv) a labeling function that classifies the result of this comparison. Despite the adoption of a SQL-like syntax that hides the complexity of the assessment process, writing a complete assess statement is not easy. In this paper we focus on making the user experience more comfortable by letting the system suggest suitable completions for partially-specified statements. To this end we propose two interaction modes: progressive refinement and auto-completion, both starting from an assess statement partially declared by the user. These two modes are evaluated both in terms of scalability and user experience, with the support of two experiments made with real users.

Design and Implementation of HSQL: A SQL-like language for Data Analysis in Distributed Systems

In today’s modern world, we’re experiencing a substantial increase in the use of data in various fields, and this has necessitated the use of distributed systems to consume and process Big Data. Machine learning tends to benefit from the usage of Big Data, and the models generated from such techniques tend to be more effective. However, there is a steep learning curve to getting used to handling Big Data, as traditional data management tools fail to perform well. Distributed systems have become popular, where the task of data processing is split amongst various nodes in clusters. SQL, is a popular database management language popular to data scientists. It is often given second class support, where SQL can be embedded into a primary language of use (e.g. SQL in Scala for Spark), which allows for using SQL but one still needs to know the primary language of the platform (Scala, as per the example, or ECL in HPCC Systems). It may also be present as a supported language. In either case, using useful tooling such as Visualizing data and creating and using machine learning models become difficult, as the user needs to fall back to the primary language of the system. In the proposed work, a new SQL-like language, HSQL, an open source distributed systems solution, was developed for allowing new users to get used to its distributed architecture and the ECL language, with which it primarily operates with (which was chosen as a target). Additionally, a program that could translate HSQL-based programs to ECL for use was made. HSQL was made to be completely inter-compatible with ECL programs, and it was able to provide a compact and easy to comprehend SQL-like syntax for performing general data analysis, creation of Machine learning models and visualizations while allowing a modular structure to such programs.

I3QL

An incremental computation updates its result based on a change to its input, which is often an order of magnitude faster than a recomputation from scratch. In particular, incrementalization can make expensive computations feasible for settings that require short feedback cycles, such as interactive systems, IDEs, or (soft) real-time systems. This paper presents i3QL, a general-purpose programming language for specifying incremental computations. i3QL provides a declarative SQL-like syntax and is based on incremental versions of operators from relational algebra, enriched with support for general recursion. We integrated i3QL into Scala as a library, which enables programmers to use regular Scala code for non-incremental subcomputations of an i3QL query and to easily integrate incremental computations into larger software projects. To improve performance, i3QL optimizes user-defined queries by applying algebraic laws and partial evaluation. We describe the design and implementation of i3QL and its optimizations, demonstrate its applicability, and evaluate its performance.

Filter-Based Information Selection Mechanism in Publish/Subscribe Middleware

Publish/Subscribe middleware is getting more and more attentions for its feature of loose coupling.In some scenarios,Subscribersof a topic need not all the information belonging to that topic, but only those of interest. To fulfill this requirement,some kind of information selection mechanism is needed. In this paper, a filter-based information selection mechanism is proposed, which is compliant with OMG DDS specification. Then it is implemented in a publish/subscribe middleware prototype system.With the mechanism, a publish/subscribe middleware can use the compiler generated by Flex&Bison to compile the filtering rules of the users ,which are conform to SQL-like syntax,and generate the filtering syntax trees.At the subscriber side, when receiving a sample, the middleware substitute the values of the sample into the corresponding positions in the filtering syntax tree. By traversing the tree, the middleware makes the filtering decision. Experiment results reveal that the proposed mechanism is effective.

VISUALIZING ANIMATION DATABASES

We consider a repository of animation models and motions that can be reused to generate new animation sequences. For instance, a user can retrieve an animation of a dog kicking its leg (in air) and manipulate the result to generate a new animation where the dog is kicking a ball. In this particular example, inverse kinematics technique can be used to retarget the kicking motion of a dog to a ball. This approach of reusing models and motions to generate new animation sequences can be facilitated by operations such as querying of animation databases for required models and motions, and manipulation of the query results to meet new constraints. However, manipulation operations such as motion retargeting are quite complex in nature. Hence, there is a need for visualizing the queries on animation databases as well as the manipulation operations on the query results. In this paper, we propose a visually interactive method for reusing motions and models, by adjusting the query results from animation databases for new situations while at the same time, keeping the desired properties of the original models and motions. Here, a user first queries for animation objects, i.e., geometric models and motions. Then, the user interactively makes new animations by visually manipulating the query results. Depending on the orders in which the GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) are invoked and the parameters are changed, the system automatically generates a sequence of operations, a list of SQL-like syntax commands, and applies it to the query results of motions and models. With the help of visualization tools, the user can view the changes before accepting them.

A SPATIAL/TEMPORAL QUERY LANGUAGE FOR MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES IN A HETEROGENEOUS INFORMATION SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

To support the retrieval, fusion and discovery of multimedia information, a spatial/temporal query language for multiple data sources is needed. In this paper we describe a spatial/temporal query language, the ∑QL, which is based upon the σ-operator sequence and in practice expressible in an SQL-like syntax. The general σ-operator and temporal σ-operator are explained, and applications of the σ-query language to vertical/horizontal reasoning and hypermapped virtual world are discussed.

Application of OODB and SGML techniques in text database

An electronic dictionary system (EDS) is developed with object-oriented database techniques based on ObjectStore. The EDS is composed of two parts: the Database Building Program (DBP), and the Database Querying Program (DQP). DBP reads in a dictionary encoded in SGML tags, and builds a database composed of a collection of trees which holds dictionary entries, and several lists which contain items of various lexical categories. With text exchangeability introduced by the SGML, DBP is able to accommodate dictionaries of different languages with different structures, after easy modification of a configuration file. The tree model, the Category Lists, and an optimization procedure enables DQP to quickly accomplish complicated queries, including context requirements, via simple SQL-like syntax and straightforward search methods. Results show that compared with relational database, DQP enjoys much higher speed and flexibility. With EDS this paper demonstrates how to apply OODBMS's to systems that handle text information with strong yet varied intrinsic hierarchies.

SQL ∗: A recursive SQL

SQL, Structured Query Language, supported by most relational database systems since its introduction by IBM in the mid 1970s, has been widely accepted and has enjoyed much popularity because of its declarativeness and the simplicity of its English-like syntax and semantics. SQL satisfied classical database applications which merely involved basic database storage and retrieval operations. However, with the emergence of modern database applications such as CAD and SE databases, we have discovered shortcomings of SQL. A severe problem is the inability of SQL to handle recursion. A relation being defined can not be referenced in conjunction with its own definition. Consequently, a whole class of application problems which require the use of recursion can not be solved with the power of SQL alone. This paper has proposed an enhancement to SQL. The enhanced version is called Recursive SQL, or simply SQL ∗. The paper begins with the examination of the recursion facilities of Datalog, a logic-based language, and then introduces a similar scheme to extend the syntax and semantics of SQL to provide recursive capabilities. The resultant language, SQL ∗, has been implemented using a bottom-up incremental query evaluation strategy. SQL ∗ makes it possible to express recursive queries as natural as they would be expressed in Datalog or in some other logic-based language. Moreover, SQL ∗ still uses the original SQL-like syntax. Using SQL ∗, modern database and knowledge-base applications now become feasible.

Functional sql (fsql), an sql upward-compatible database programming language

Functional sql (fsql) is an sql upward-compatible database programming language implemented as a syntactic extension of fad, a strongly typed functional programming language that supports a persistent database, complex objects with sharing, and general-purpose programming (e.g., iteration). Because it is based on fad, fsql can offer these capabilities with an sql-like syntax while providing standard sql as a subset. This paper introduces fsql, and describes the fsql-to- fad correspondence.

A relational language with deductions, functions and recursions

We propose here a .relational algebra capable of deducing tuples from a premise expressed in an extended relational form: it also supports user-defined and recursive functions in the form of parameterised views, and provides a facility for easier specification of queries. The paper shows the power of the language in dealing with problems such as ancestors, part explosions and connected tours. This language, called DEAL, is an enhanced version of the PRECI Algebraic Language (PAL) but presented here in a SQL-like syntax.