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Definition
A content-and-structure query is a formulation of an information need in XML retrieval or, more generally, in semi-structured text retrieval that includes explicit information about the structure of the desired result.
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Content-and-structure query is a term from semi-structured text retrieval, used predominantly for XML retrieval. The term refers to a specific way of querying a structured document collection. In addition to describing the (topical) content of the desired result, content-and-structure queries include explicit hints about the structure of the desired result or the structure of the context it appears in. Content-and-structure queries are useful for users who have knowledge about the collection structure and want to express the precise structure of the information they are after. For example, they can express the granularity of the desired results, e.g., return sections about architecture, or they can express the structural context of the information they are looking for, e.g., return sections about architecture within documents about Berlin. It is up to the retrieval system to decide how to use the structural hints in locating the most relevant information. In INEX, the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval [1], content-and-structure queries are known as CAS queries or CO+S queries (Content-Only queries with structural hints) and expressed in the NEXI language [2]. More information on query languages, including content-only and content-and-structured queries in the field of XML search can be found in [1].
Cross-References
Recommended Reading
Amer-Yahia S, Lalmas M. XML search: languages, INEX and scoring. ACM SIGMOD Rec. 2006;35(4):16–23.
Trotman A, Sigurbjörnsson B. Narrowed extended xpath i (NEXI). In: Fuhr N, Lalmas M, Malik S, Szlavik Z, editors. Advances in XML Information Retrieval: Third International Workshop of the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval, INEX 2004, Dagstuhl Castle, 6–8 Dec 2004. Revised Selected Papers, Vol. 3493. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York: Springer; 2005. GmbH. http://www.springeronline.com/3-540-26166-4.
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Westerveld, T. (2017). Content-and-Structure Query. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_79-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_79-2
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