JPH032973A - Retrieving process method for data base - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a data retrieving method having high operability to the data of a complicated structure by acquiring a path of a class equivalent to the relation of the type given from the class relative information and deciding an operating subject instance accordant with the path with the given relative instance defined as a starting point. CONSTITUTION:A data base control system 50 produces the relative substance information set between a relative matrix and an instance from the class relative information showing the presence or absence of the relation obtained between classes for each type of relation. Based on the relative substance information, the relative substance is traced with a given relative instance defined as a starting point. Thus an operating subject instance is decided. Thus it is possible to obtain a data retrieving method having high operability to the data of a complicated structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a database search processing method based on the relationship between data in a database management system.

[Prior Art] In recent years, the field of application of database processing technology has changed from the conventional business field to CIM (Computer I
ILcgra+, cd NIanul'ae+, ur
ing), OA (O['ricc A uLom-
ation) and other new fields.

like this? When applied to the FI field, a database management system must manage more complex real-world data faithfully to its structure, and provide users with an easy-to-use interface.

FIG. 4(a) shows an example of the data structure of letters handled in an office. Note that the arrows in the figure indicate the points between the data.
This indicates that there is a component hierarchy relationship. Moreover, FIG. 4(b) shows an example of the substance of a letter with the structure shown in FIG.

The data structure of the letter as described above is based on the conventional C0DASYL
In this type of database system, information is managed according to a model as shown in FIG. In other words, the part hierarchy relationship between the data is the letter and the main text.

This is achieved by defining current f-relationships between each piece of data, such as the main text and paragraphs.

In this method, data retrieval is basically performed in the following order: first select the parent-child relationship, then select the parent data, and then retrieve the child data.Therefore, if you want to retrieve the bar graph of a certain letter. In this case, it is necessary to perform the above operation for the two parent-child relationships of the letter and the body and the body and the paragraph, or to define the parent-child relationship between the letter and the paragraph in advance.
Regarding this, the description in "Fundamentals of Database Systems" by Uemura, pp. 49-78 (published by Ohmsha, +979) is helpful.

Furthermore, in the conventional relational database system, the data structure of the letter can be represented by a model as shown in FIG.
(See page 5). In this case, the data that is the constituent elements of the letter and the component hierarchy relationships between the data are expressed at the same level.1For example, which letter a bar graph belongs to is expressed as follows:
Although indicated by the value of the Letter # field in the Ballagraph table, there is no distinction in the system between the Letter # field, which represents this association, and the Paragraph Content field, which represents the entity of the Ballagraph.

In addition, in FIGS. 5 and 6, a part of the substance of the letter in FIG. 4(b) is omitted.

Problem 1 to be solved by the invention In the C0DASYL database system described in 1111, consideration is not given to the types of relationships between data, and various relationships between data in the real world are handled uniformly. For example, there is evidence that the component hierarchy relationship between a letter and a paragraph, which is naturally established from the component hierarchy relationship between a letter and a body text, and the component hierarchy relationship between a body text and a paragraph graph, cannot be treated in the same way as the above two relationships. Also,
In the relational database system, since the system does not recognize the relationship between data, there is a problem in that, for example, all operations using the letter # field are borne by the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional technology, to manage relationships between data by type in a database management system, and to manage relationships between data by type. If given,
The object of the present invention is to provide a database search processing method that recognizes even indirect relationships between data in a given type of relationship and enables easy-to-use data searches for data with a complex structure.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object of the present invention is to provide an online system having a terminal user or user program, a database, and a database management system for executing the database operation request from the terminal user or user program. , When an entity targeted by a database is called an instance, and a collection of instances with the same attributes is called a class, the attributes of the instance include a relation identifier that identifies the relation between the instances, a relation type identifier, and a relation type identifier. Class related information indicating the presence or absence of a relationship between each class for each type of relationship from the relationship definition information consisting of the class identification name to which the related target instance belongs;
When registering an instance in a database, the actual information of the relationship between the instances based on the relationship definition information is retained, and as a condition of a database operation request from the terminal user or user program, the operation target instance is registered. When given by a condition consisting of a belonging class, a related instance directly or indirectly related to the operation target instance, and the type of the relationship, from the class related information, 01j
Obtain the class path along the given type of relationship that can be established between the operation target instance and the class to which it belongs, and from the njj related entity information, use the given related instance as the starting point. As +! which fits the path of 1iij. ]ren') to trace the body, ll'l l\ll
! This is achieved by a database search processing method characterized by determining an instance to be manipulated.

[Operation j] In the database search processing method according to the present invention, the user who uses the database management system defines in the database management system the attributes of the instance that is the target of the database operation, to njj who makes a database operation request. I'll keep it.

Further, in the database management system according to the present invention, relation definition information between instances is also defined as an attribute of the instance. The relationship definition information between instances includes a relationship identifier that identifies the relationship between instances, a relationship type identifier, and a class identifier to which the related target instance belongs.

Upon acquiring the related definition information, the database management system registers it in the database, and extracts class related information representing the presence or absence of a relationship between each class for each type of relationship from the related definition information, An association matrix is generated for each type of association from the class related information, and this is registered in the database. Furthermore, when registering instances in the database, the database management system also extracts relationships between instances and registers them in the database as related entity information. This association between instances, as well as the values of the pond attributes, is provided by the user.

An example of a database operation request passed from a user to the database management system is shown in FIG. 11(a).
Shown below. This operation request consists of an operation content specification section and an operation target specification section. Upon receiving the operation request, the database management system analyzes the operation target specification section, searches the database for the operation χ.r image instance requested by the operation object specification section, and sends the operation content specification section. The requested operation is performed on the operation target instance.

FIG. 11(b) shows an example of the description of the operation target designation section when the user uses the relationship between instances defined for the database management system. This operation target specification section is generated by tX from the belonging class specification section of the operation target instance, the association type specification section, and the related instance specification section based on the association.

When the database management system receives the operation target specification section shown in FIG. 11(b), it first checks the class to which the instance given in the related instance specification section belongs, sets the class as the start class, and Set the class given in the belonging class specification section of the target instance as the termination class. Next, using the association matrix for the type of association given in the association type designation section, all paths from the start class to the termination class are determined along the association. Next, for each path determined here, from the related entity information, the related entities are sequentially traced starting from the instance given in the related instance designation section, and finally an instance of the termination class is selected. This instance is an operation target instance that satisfies the operation target specification section using the above-mentioned association.

As a result of the above processing, if the operation target data is given as a condition of a relationship (given in the relationship type specification part) with known data (given in the related instance specification part), and if the relationship is indirect, This also means that the operation target data can be specified from the class given in the operation target instance belonging class specification section.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system that is an embodiment of the present invention. A user requests processing from the database management system 50 via the terminal 10 and the terminal interface 20 or the user program 30. The database management system 50 is.

Perform database operations according to user requests.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the minimum equipment configuration required when implementing the present invention. In this embodiment, the database management system 50 and the user program 3 are one of the components.
0 and the terminal interface 20 run on the computer 60. The secondary storage device 70 stores data and files used by the database 40 and each program.

Terminal! 0 is used when the user uses the database management system 50 or starts the user program 30 via the terminal interface 20.

The database management system 50 includes a relation definition unit 51. which acquires relation definition information and extracts class related information. An operation request processing unit 52 that receives and processes database operation requests. An operation target processing unit 53 that retrieves the operation target specified along with the database operation request from the database 40. An operation result processing unit 54 that reflects the operation results in the database 40. It is composed of a request control unit 55 that distributes processing in response to requests from users.

Terminal interface 20 or user program 30
The format of the operation request passed from the database management system 50 to the database management system 50 is shown in FIG. 11(a) shown earlier. The above (operation request) consists of an <operation content specification>, a duck, an operation target specification, etc. (a1 work target specification\ may be implicitly specified depending on the contents of the operation content specification). When the operation request processing section 52 receives the above-mentioned operation request, it first passes the operation object specification I to the operation object processing section 53.

The operation target processing unit 53 analyzes the passed <operation target specification>, searches the database 40 for the operation target instance requested by the operation target specification, and sends the operation target instance to the computer 60.
Load it into the main memory above and process the operation request l! Pass it to D52. The operation request processing unit 52 performs the operation requested in the operation content specification on the operation target instance, and when the operation request processing unit 52 receives an operation request indicating the end of the database operation, the operation result is The processing unit 54 is notified of this fact. Upon receiving the notification, the operation result processing unit 54 stores the operation result in the main memory in the database 4.
Reflect to 0.

Generally, a user who uses the database management system 50 defines the attributes of an instance to be stored in the database in advance in the database management system 50 for mi that makes a database operation request. In this embodiment, relation definition information between instances is also defined as an attribute of the instance.

FIG. 7 shows an example of relation definition information between instances. The ellipses in the figure represent classes.

The label inside the oval indicates the class identification name. An arrow from ellipse to ellipse indicates a relationship held by an instance of the class at the start point of the arrow, and indicates that the instance of the class at the end point of the arrow is the object of the relationship. Different line types of arrows indicate different types of relationships. The labels beside the arrows are the association identifiers for each association.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a definition sentence of relation definition information between instances for class X in FIG. 1
Each row ((1) to (4)) of the relation term in the nsLance part corresponds to an arrow starting from class X in FIG. 7, and defines an individual relation.

Each relationship has a relationship identifier, a relationship type identifier, and a relationship identifier, respectively.
Defined by the belonging class identification name of the related target instance. The same applies to other classes, so they are omitted here.

The types of relationships described above, along with the associated functionality, are provided by the database management system 50. Users use different associations depending on their functions. In this example,
There is a relationship between instances with a related identifier "has-parts" which defines a parts hierarchy relationship, and a related identifier "reCeren" which defines a general reference relationship between instances.
ce” is provided.

Note that the database management system 50 may provide any other relationships that are meaningful to the user in addition to these relationships. Furthermore, a plurality of these relationships (the types of relationships may be the same or different) can be defined between any class including itself.

When the association definition section 51 receives the definition statement of the association definition information as shown in FIG. 8, it analyzes this together with the definition statement of the pond attribute definition information, converts it into an internal format handled by the database management system 50, and converts it into an internal format handled by the database management system 50. 40 as related definition information, and from the registered related definition information, class related information indicating the presence or absence of a relationship existing between each class is extracted for each type of relationship, and further, from the class related information. A related matrix is generated and registered in the database 40.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an association matrix generated from the association definition information shown in FIG. 7. Here, FIG. 9(a) is an association matrix for the association type "has-parts", and FIG. 9(b) is an association matrix for the association type "re"erence". The association matrix is generated using the following steps.

■Make 1+lj for each related type.

・■If a relationship is defined from the class corresponding to the 1st row to the class corresponding to the 5th column, the element in the 1st row and J column of the matrix is set as “B′, and if it is not defined, it is set as ’0′°. do.

■Classes that are not defined as related objects do not have corresponding columns in the matrix.

■Classes with no relationships defined do not have corresponding rows in the matrix.

In addition, in the above procedure, the class to which the instance that holds the relationship belongs (the class on the starting point side of the arrow in Figure 7) is placed in the row of the matrix, and the class to which the instance that is the object of the relationship belongs (the class on the end point side of the arrow in Figure 7) is placed in the row of the matrix. Although the classes) are made to correspond to the columns of the matrix, the reverse correspondence may be used depending on the interpretation of the operation target processing unit 53 that refers to the related matrix.

The operation result processing unit 54 stores the instance in the database 4.
0, the relationships between instances are extracted and registered in the database 40 as related entity information. Note that the relationships between instances, like the values of other attributes defined for instances, are set by the user when generating instances. Figure 1θ shows the specific content of related entity information. It is a diagram. In FIG. 1O, the related entity information is composed of an instance table that manages instances and their belonging classes, and an instance related table that manages the relationships held by instances for each related identifier. Each row of the instance relationship table represents the entity of the relationship between the -set of instances.

In this embodiment, redundant data is held in the instance table and the instance related table in order to increase the scanning efficiency of related entity information. The contents of these tables may be held in a normalized format. In that case, resources can be saved.

FIG. 11(b) shows a format for specifying an operation target using association. <Specification of operation target> is \
(Specification of the class to which the operation target instance belongs); (Specification of the type of association and specification of the IM + related instance according to the association).

FIG. 1 shows the processing procedure of the operation object processing section 53 when the operation object designation 2 shown in FIG. 11(b) is received. This will be explained below.

First, from the instance table of the related entity information, the class determined in <Determine the class to which the instance given in the related instance specification button belongs is set as the start class. In addition, the class given in (designation of operation target instance belonging class) is set as the termination class (steps +21 and 122).

Next, using the association matrix for the type of association given in <Specification of association type>, all paths from the start class to the termination class are determined along the association. For example, in Figure 7, if the start class is class Y and the termination class is class X, path 1: class Y →
Class C → Class X, Path 2: Class Y → Class D →
The next step is to determine class X (step 123).

Next, for each path determined in step 123, from the instance association table of the related entity information, the related entities are sequentially traced starting from the instance given in the related instance specification; and finally an instance of the terminator class is selected. This instance is an operation target instance that satisfies (operation target specification) (step 124).

Next, in this embodiment, the database management system 50
We will explain a specific example of ・(operation target specification)・ using the relationships provided by . Here, we use the type of association “has-” mentioned above.
I will only describe “parts”, but the type of relationship “r” will be described only.
efference or other related matters.
The basic processing is as shown in FIG.

(a) and (b) of FIG. 12 show the relationship type “has-p”.
A description example of 'operation target specification) using arts is shown.

The relationship type specification and the 'related instance specification can be found in \condition specification l and -1 condition specification 2.・Condition specification l・and・'Condition specification 2,
1includes” and “1included-by”
” is a keyword recognized by the database 50,
Specify "has-parts" as the type of association.

The specifications of the operation object designation port and (operation object designation 2) shown in FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b) will be explained below.

FIG. 12(a) specifies a known instance.

This is a description example of a method for specifying an instance that includes the instance as a component as an operation target. As the known instance, it is possible to specify a single instance or a plurality of instances. In this case, condition specification 1> is determined as follows for all instances of the class given by <operation target instance belonging class specification>.

Instances that satisfy the given operation target specification are all instances for which the following determination is true.

(In the case of ``single related instance designation'', let S be the specified instance, 1includesS'' is true if S is included as a part. Otherwise, it is false.

■In the case of specifying multiple related instances, if the set of specified instances is S, then 1[1eludes
all S” is true if it includes all the elements of S as parts. It is false if it does not include at least one element.

■' If multiple related instances are specified, then if the set of specified instances is S, then “1n-cludes
some S'' is true if it includes at least one element of S as a part.

False if it does not contain all elements of S.

FIG. 12(b) shows a description example of a method of specifying a known instance and specifying an instance included as a component in the instance as an operation target.

As a known instance.

Single or multiple instances can be specified.

In this case, the following judgment is made for all instances of the class specified in (Condition specification 2) (Specification of the class to which the operation target instance belongs).

Instances that satisfy the operation target specification 2' are all instances for which the following determination is true.

■・When specifying a single related instance, if the specified instance is S, then 1included-byS''
is true if it is contained in S. Otherwise, it is false.

■・In the case of specifying multiple related instances, if the set of specified instances is S, then "1n-cluded
Jy all S'' is true if it is contained in all elements of S. False if it is not contained in at least one element.

■In the case of specifying the number of related instances\, if the set of specified instances is S, then “1n-cludedJ
y some S'' is true if contained in at least one element of S. False if not contained in all elements of S.

FIG. 12(C) shows the related definition information shown in FIG.
ljj t2=end, which shows a specific example of l operation target designation 1 shown in FIG. 12(a). Here, "ro
m” is.

The keyword "resistant 1ero" that leads to the operation target instance belonging class specification is the keyword that leads to the (condition specification 1). In this example, the operation target instance belonging class is class
-par shis”, 'obj-1 as related instance
” is given.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 12(C), how the processing of each step in FIG. 1 is realized will be explained in detail.

Step 121: From the instance table of related entity information (see Figure 10), the instance identification name is “ob”.
The class Y to which the instance "jj" belongs is obtained.

Step 122 The class Y obtained in step +21 is set as the start class and the class to which the operation target instance belongs, and the obtained class X is set as the termination class.

Step 123: Since the type of the given relationship is "has-parts" as described above, as shown in FIG. 9 (11)
Using the association matrix of Notify that there is no instance that satisfies the above and terminate the process.

If a corresponding column of the start class exists, it is checked for each extracted class whether it is a termination class or not. If it is not a terminator class,
Furthermore, for that class, the class corresponding to the row in which the element of the corresponding column is "1" is extracted.

In this way, the elements of the corresponding columns are checked in order, and if there is no row in which the element of the corresponding column is "1", it is determined that the path is not the desired path, and the path is checked.

If there is a row in which the element of the corresponding column is "l", that path is the desired path.

There are two paths actually obtained according to the above process: path 1: class Y → class C → class X path 2: class Y → class 1) → class X.

Step 124: In this step, the following processing is performed for each path obtained in step 123. The general form of the path from starting class Y to ending class X is Y-CI-Ic2-*-Cn-hX(CI,
C2,=,Cn represents the class identification name of α).

From the instance association table of the related entity information, a set of instances of class CI that is related to the given related instance “obj-I” S I (S l
: Take out s II, s 12s-1 and further add this instance s If, s 12. A set 82 of instances of class c2 that is related to ... (S
2: s21. s22. ...).

In this way, the final instance s of class Cn is
n l, s n2. A set of instances of terminator class X that is related to
l: xll, x12. -1 is determined.

Similarly, for other paths, the set (X 21 (X 3 )
−・(X ml tt.Finally, between the instances that satisfy the given 7 operation target specifications l〉, (X',
)n fX 2 )n...n(X m).

The instance that is actually obtained by the above process and satisfies the condition shown in FIG. 12(C) is obj-2.

According to the above embodiment, in a database management system, if the data to be manipulated is specified on the condition that it has a relationship with known data, the data to be manipulated can be identified even if the relationship is indirect. In a database targeting structured data, the user's burden for specifying data to be manipulated can be significantly reduced, and an easy-to-use user interface can be provided.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiment is shown as an example, and it goes without saying that the present invention should not be limited thereto.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a terminal user or a user program, a data path, 1);
In an online system having a database management system that executes IYj database operation requests from a terminal user or a user program, the database management system collects class related information indicating the presence or absence of a relationship between each class for each type of relationship. Create an association matrix and association entity information between instances, and based on this,
Since we traced the related entities starting from the given related instance and determined the instance to be operated on,
In a database management system, when a type of relationship is given, it also recognizes indirect relationships between data in the given type of relationship, and provides easy-to-use data searches for data with 41 structures. This has the remarkable effect of making it possible to realize a database search processing method based on the above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the operation target processing unit in a database management system that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall structure of the system that is an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. Figures 4 to 6 are diagrams explaining the conventional technology, Figure 7 is a diagram showing relation definition information between instances in the database, and Figure 8 is a diagram showing the above-mentioned relation. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a definition sentence of definition information. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an association matrix generated from the definition sentence of related definition information shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 1θ is a diagram showing an example of related entity information. The figure shows an example of the format of a database operation request to the database management system, and FIG. 12 shows an example of a method for specifying an operation target in the database operation request. 1 terminal, 20: terminal interface, 3 user program, 4 database, 50: database management system, 5I: related definition section, 52: operation request processing section, 53
: operation target processing unit, 54: operation result processing unit, 55: 9 request control unit, 60: computer, 70: secondary storage device. Diagram

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an online system having a terminal user or user program, a database, and a database management system that executes the database operation request from the terminal user or user program, an entity targeted by the database is instantiated. , when a collection of instances with the same attributes is called a class, from the association identifier that identifies the relationship between the instances as an attribute of the instance, the association type identifier, and the class identifier to which the related target instance belongs. For each type of relationship, class related information indicating the presence or absence of a relationship between each class, and entity information of the relationship between instances based on the related definition information when registering an instance in a database. As a condition for a database operation request from the terminal user or the user program, the operation target instance has the following information: the class to which the operation target instance belongs, the related instances directly or indirectly related to the operation target instance, and their associated instances. When given by a condition consisting of a type of relationship, from the class related information, obtain a class path along the given type of relationship that can be established between the operation target instance and the class to which it belongs; A database search processing method characterized in that, from the related entity information, the given related instance is used as a starting point, and related entities matching the path are traced to determine the operation target instance. 2. The database management system associates the class related information with the rows and columns of the matrix on a one-to-one basis for each type of relationship, and creates a class M that corresponds to row i and column j of the matrix, respectively. and class N, if a relationship targeting an instance of class N is defined for an instance of class M, G_i_j is set to "1", and if the relationship is not defined, G_i_j is set to "0". 2. The database search processing method according to claim 1, wherein is stored as an association matrix G having elements in row i and column j. 3. If an instance of a certain class is not defined as a related target instance, the association matrix G does not have a corresponding column in the matrix for the class, and no association is defined for the instance of the certain class. 3. The database search processing method according to claim 2, wherein the class is configured so that it does not have a corresponding row in the matrix.