research-article

Expressive Languages for Path Queries over Graph-Structured Data

Authors:

Pablo Barceló,

Anthony W. Lin,

Peter T. WoodAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), Volume 37, Issue 4

Article No.: 31, Pages 1 - 46

https://doi.org/10.1145/2389241.2389250

Published: 01 December 2012 Publication History

Abstract

For many problems arising in the setting of graph querying (such as finding semantic associations in RDF graphs, exact and approximate pattern matching, sequence alignment, etc.), the power of standard languages such as the widely studied conjunctive regular path queries (CRPQs) is insufficient in at least two ways. First, they cannot output paths and second, more crucially, they cannot express relationships among paths.

We thus propose a class of extended CRPQs, called ECRPQs, which add regular relations on tuples of paths, and allow path variables in the heads of queries. We provide several examples of their usefulness in querying graph structured data, and study their properties. We analyze query evaluation and representation of tuples of paths in the output by means of automata. We present a detailed analysis of data and combined complexity of queries, and consider restrictions that lower the complexity of ECRPQs to that of relational conjunctive queries. We study the containment problem, and look at further extensions with first-order features, and with nonregular relations that add arithmetic constraints on the lengths of paths and numbers of occurrences of labels.

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Cited By

Hellings J(2025)Explaining results of path queries on graphs: Single-path results for context-free path queriesInformation Systems10.1016/j.is.2024.102475128(102475)Online publication date: Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2024.102475
Wang XWang YLin XYu JGao HCheng XYu D(2024)Efficient Betweenness Centrality Computation over Large Heterogeneous Information NetworksProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3681954.368200617:11(3360-3372)Online publication date: 30-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.14778/3681954.3682006
Hague MJeż ALin A(2024)Parikh’s Theorem Made SymbolicProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36329078:POPL(1945-1977)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
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Index Terms

Expressive Languages for Path Queries over Graph-Structured Data
1. Information systems
  1. Data management systems
    1. Database design and models
2. Theory of computation
  1. Formal languages and automata theory

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Database Systems

ACM Transactions on Database Systems Volume 37, Issue 4

December 2012

345 pages

ISSN:0362-5915

EISSN:1557-4644

DOI:10.1145/2389241

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Copyright © 2012 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 01 December 2012

Accepted: 01 August 2011

Revised: 01 June 2011

Received: 01 February 2011

Published in TODS Volume 37, Issue 4

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Cited By

Hellings J(2025)Explaining results of path queries on graphs: Single-path results for context-free path queriesInformation Systems10.1016/j.is.2024.102475128(102475)Online publication date: Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2024.102475
Wang XWang YLin XYu JGao HCheng XYu D(2024)Efficient Betweenness Centrality Computation over Large Heterogeneous Information NetworksProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3681954.368200617:11(3360-3372)Online publication date: 30-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.14778/3681954.3682006
Hague MJeż ALin A(2024)Parikh’s Theorem Made SymbolicProceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages10.1145/36329078:POPL(1945-1977)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632907
García RAngles R(2024)Path Querying in Graph Databases: A Systematic Mapping StudyIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2024.337197612(33154-33172)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3371976
Pino EOrejas FMylonakis NPasarella E(2024)A logical approach to graph databasesJournal of Logical and Algebraic Methods in Programming10.1016/j.jlamp.2024.100997141(100997)Online publication date: Oct-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlamp.2024.100997
Guo QZhang CZhang SLu J(2024)Multi-model query languages: taming the variety of big dataDistributed and Parallel Databases10.1007/s10619-023-07433-142:1(31-71)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
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Wang HWang XMa MYou Y(2024)RPQBench: A Benchmark for Regular Path Queries on Graph DataWeb Information Systems Engineering – WISE 202410.1007/978-981-96-0567-5_25(351-367)Online publication date: 3-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-0567-5_25
Martens WNiewerth MPopp TRojas CVansummeren SVrgoč D(2023)Representing Paths in Graph Database Pattern MatchingProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3587136.358715116:7(1790-1803)Online publication date: 8-May-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.14778/3587136.3587151
Figueira DRomero MGeerts FNgo HSintos S(2023)Conjunctive Regular Path Queries under Injective SemanticsProceedings of the 42nd ACM SIGMOD-SIGACT-SIGAI Symposium on Principles of Database Systems10.1145/3584372.3588664(231-240)Online publication date: 18-Jun-2023
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Abriola SCifuentes SMartinez MPardal NPin E(2023)An epistemic approach to model uncertainty in data-graphsInternational Journal of Approximate Reasoning10.1016/j.ijar.2023.108948160:COnline publication date: 1-Sep-2023
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