A domain independent natural language interface to databases capable of processing complex queries

Rodolfo A.Pazos Rangel, O. Joaquín Pérez, B. Juan Javier González, Alexander Gelbukh, Grigori Sidorov, J. Rodríguez M. Myriam

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a method for creating natural language interfaces to databases (NLIDB) that allow for translating natural language queries into SQL. The method is domain independent, i.e., it avoids the tedious process of configuring the NLIDB for a given domain. We automatically generate the domain dictionary for query translation using semantic metadata of the database. Our semantic representation of a query is a graph including information from database metadata. The query is translated taking into account the parts of speech of its words (obtained with some linguistic processing). Specifically, unlike most existing NLIDBs, we take seriously auxiliary words (prepositions and conjunctions) as set theory operators, which allows for processing more complex queries. Experimental results (conducted on two Spanish databases from different domains) show that treatment of auxiliary words improves correctness of translation by 12.1%. With the developed NLIDB 82of queries were correctly translated (and thus answered). Reconfiguring the NLIDB from one domain to the other took only ten minutes.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMICAI 2005
Subtitle of host publicationAdvances in Artificial Intelligence - 4th Mexican International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Proceedings
Pages833-842
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005
Event4th Mexican International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, MICAI 2005 - Monterrey, Mexico
Duration: 14 Nov 200518 Nov 2005

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume3789 LNAI
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference4th Mexican International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, MICAI 2005
Country/TerritoryMexico
CityMonterrey
Period14/11/0518/11/05

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A domain independent natural language interface to databases capable of processing complex queries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this