Intention structure and extended responses in a portable natural language interface

This paper describes discourse processing inKing Kong, a portable natural language interface.King Kong enables users to pose questions and issue commands to a back end system. The notion of a discourse is central toKing Kong, and underlies much of the intelligent assistance thatkong provides to its users.kong's approach to modeling discourse is based on the work of Grosz and Sidner (1986). We extend Grosz and Sidner's framework in several ways, principally to allow multiple independent discourse contexts to remain active at the same time. This paper also describesKing Kong's method of intention recognition, which is similar to that described in Kautz and Allen (1986) and Carberry (1988). We demonstrate that a relatively simple intention recognition component can be exploited by many other discourserelated mechanisms, for example to disambiguate input and resolve anaphora. In particular, this paper describes in detail the mechanism inKing Kong that uses information from the discourse model to form a range of cooperative extended responses to queries in an effort to aid the user in accomplishing her goals.Judith Schaffer Sider received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Linguistics and Cognitive Science from Brandeis University. Since 1987 she has been a member of the technical staff at the MITRE Corporation, where she works on King Kong, the natural language interface under development there. The joint research with John D. Burger described in this volume reflects some of her work in the areas of cooperative responding and plan recognition.John D. Burger is a Project Leader at the MITRE Corporation and an instructor at Boston University. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Carnegie Melon University. His research interests lie in the fields of natural language processing and intelligent multimedia interfaces. The joint work with Judith Schaffer Sider described in this volume reflects his interest in making use of discourse models in practical intelligent interfaces.     

基于数据库查询的自然语言接口研究

语音识别技术是近年来信息领域重要的科技发展技术之一.作为一门交叉学科,语音识别正逐步成为信息技术中人机接口的关键技术.探讨了为数据库查询提供自然语言接口的可能性,介绍了图书资料查询系统中语音识别的基本框架,并详细描述了采用微软Speech SDK技术实现图书资料查询的详细过程.给出了查询流程,基于状态转换图的词法分析和语法分析方法,将疑问句转换成SQL查询语句的方法,以及由查询结果生成答句的方法.     

A portable language for system development

The design and implementation of a system development language which is economical to implement is described. Both macro processing and compiling techniques are used to translate it. The advantages and disadvantages of using such a language are discussed together with the main problems met in its implementation.     

Towards portable natural language interfaces based on case-based reasoning

Natural Language Interfaces allow non-technical people to access information stored in Knowledge Bases keeping them unaware of the particular structure of the model or the underlying formal query language. Early research in the field was devoted to improve the performance of a particular system for a given Knowledge Base. Since adapting the system to new domains usually entailed considerable effort, investigating how to bring Portability to NLI became a new challenge. In this article, we investigate how Case-Based Reasoning could serve to assist the expert in porting the system so as to improve its retrieval performance. Our method HITS is based on a novel grammar learning algorithm combined with language acquisition techniques that exploit structural analogies. The learner (system) is able to engage the teacher (expert) with clarification dialogues to validate conjectures (hypotheses and deductions) about the language. Our method presents the following advantages: (i) the customization is naturally defined in the case-based cycle, (ii) the types of questions the system can deal with are not delimited in advance, and (iii) the system ‘reasons’ about precedent cases to deal with unseen questions.     

Default logic as a query language

Research in nonmonotonic reasoning has focused largely on the idea of representing knowledge about the world via rules that are generally true but can be defeated. Even if relational databases are nowadays the main tool for storing very large sets of data, the approach of using nonmonotonic AI formalisms as relational database query languages has been investigated to a much smaller extent. In this work, we propose a novel application of Reiter's default logic by introducing a default query language (DQL) for finite relational databases, which is based on default rules. The main result of this paper is that DQL is as expressive as SO_∃∀ the existential-universal fragment of second-order logic. This result is not only of theoretical importance: We exhibit queries-which are useful in practice-that can be expressed with DQL and cannot with other query languages based on nonmonotonic logics such as DATALOG with negation under the stable model semantics. In particular, we show that DQL is well-suited for diagnostic reasoning     

RQL: a recursive query language

Different classes of recursive queries in the relational databases are identified. It is shown that existing proposals to extend the relational query languages are either not powerful enough to express queries in many of these classes or use nonfirst normal form constructs. RQL, a recursive database query language that can be used to express recursive queries on all the classes identified, is presented. RQL is based on the relational algebra. In addition to functions that correspond to the standard and extended relational algebra operators, RQL supports functions required to express general recursive queries. The elements of RQL and the ways in which they are used to formulate complicated, but useful, recursive queries are described. The effects of the extensions embodied in RQL on the termination of recursive query evaluation are discussed     

G-Log: a graph-based query language

We introduce G-Log, a declarative query language based on graphs, which combines the expressive power of logic, the modeling power of complex objects with identity and the representation power of graphs. G-Log is a nondeterministic complete query language, and thus allows the expression of a large variety of queries. We compare G-Log to well-known deductive database languages, and find that it is the only nondeterministic and computationally complete language that does not suffer from the copy-elimination problem. G-Log may be used in a totally declarative way, as well as in a “more procedural” way. Thus, it provides an intuitive, flexible graph-based formalism for nonexpert database users     

The query language Vizla

We define the query language Vizla, in which answers to queries are built up by pointing to representations of sets and functions in a conceptual model of the data base of an application, and to iconic identifiers of computational operators or control constructs. At its present stage of development the primary use of Vizla is in the validation of conceptual models of information systems, but it is to be developed into a user interface to SF, a prototyping language for information and control systems. Moreover, it can be regarded as a visual programming language in its own right. As such it is based on abstract data types     

A query language for retrieving information from a soil data bank

The paper presents specifications and implementation details of a query language designed for retrieving information from a soil data bank. The commands of the language are based on operations of relational algebra, and can be employed without previous programming experience. The language is part of the ARSIS (A Relational Soil Information System) system that is being developed in Greece.     

Semantic interpretation of a database query language

In this paper, we will discuss a system that semantically interprets a formal database accessing language and generates natural language from this interpretation. In the past, the major way of communication between a user and a database was by means of a formal language. One such language is the SQL query language. Even though constructed as a user friendly language, SQL exemplifies the same difficulties for users as do other formal languages, namely a fairly rigid syntax, the necessity of variable binding, the lack of pronouns, and in the case of erroneous queries error messages that do not provide much insight. To alleviate some of the formal language problems, yet utilize the power of the formal language, we set out to build a natural language ‘umbrella’ for the SQL user. Our goal was not to build a natural language query system, but rather to use semantic knowledge and natural language for paraphrasing the formal language (SQL) and producing error messages as a feedback mechanism. In this way we build a genuine help facility, which would not only aid the user in dealing with SQL, but also trap erroneous queries.     

Natural language query processing in a temporal database

This paper addresses some of the issues that arise in representing temporal information in the database context. It deals not only with the explicit representation of temporal information but with mechanisms for reasoning with it as well. It addresses the issue of processing natural language queries with explicit temporal references. The three issues of knowledge representation, natural language processing and query processing are addressed using the axiomatic framework based on equational logic.     

Spatial SQL: a query and presentation language

Recently, attention has been focused on spatial databases, which combine conventional and spatially related data, such as geographic information systems, CAD/CAM, or VLSI. A language has been developed to query such spatial databases. It recognizes the significantly different requirements of spatial data handling and overcomes the inherent problems of the application of conventional database query languages. The spatial query language has been designed as a minimal extension to the interrogative part of SQL and distinguishes from previously designed SQL extensions by: the preservation of SQL concepts; the high-level treatment of spatial objects; and the incorporation of spatial operations and relationships. It consists of two components, a query language to describe what information to retrieve and a presentation language to specify how to display query results. Users can ask standard SQL queries to retrieve nonspatial data based on nonspatial constraints, use Spatial SQL commands to inquire about situations involving spatial data, and give instructions in the Graphical Presentation Language, GPL to manipulate or examine the graphical presentation     

Generalized Query-By-Rule: a heterogeneous database query language

This paper describes the design and implementation of a high-level query language called Generalized Query-By-Rule (GQBR) which supports retrieval, insertion, deletion and update operations. This language, based on the formalism of database logic, enables the users to access each database in a distributed heterogeneous environment, without having to learn all the different data manipulation languages. The compiler has been implemented on a DEC 1090 system in Pascal.     

TQuery: a context-sensitive temporal query language.

Users of electronic medical databases request pertinent information by recasting their clinical questions into a formal database query language. Because the query language is the user's only access to the data, the query language must be powerful enough to enable users to express their data requirements. However, a competing need is for the query language to be restrictive enough so that queries can have unambiguous semantics and the query processor can generate correct answers. We describe a query language, called TQuery , that was designed specifically to formulate database queries that are dependent on temporal and contextual relationships. TQuery specifications express contextual constraints without the need to explicitly reference calendar dates. TQuery is the database query language used to retrieve patient data from an object-oriented electronic patient medical-record system called the temporal network (TNET). TNET and TQuery were developed to support the real-time temporal reasoning and representation needs of a LISP workstation-based medical expert system.     

The design of a portable programming language

Summary We consider the design of a strongly-typed language with userdefined types in which it is arranged that, given that a type is available, it is immaterial to the user whether it is a user-defined type or one of the primitive types with representations selected by the implementer. This scheme provides unprecedented freedom in choosing the primitive types; by making these machine-dependent we can ensure production of programs that are easily and efficiently portable between computers of different architectures. A general discussion of the implementer's responsibilities in choosing primitive types appropriate to his machine is illustrated by considering implementation choices for translation of the language into BCPL. Finally we discuss the contribution of the language to the solution of the portability problem.     

A computer system capable of understanding a natural language

Cybernetics and Systems Analysis -     

QMDS: a file system metadata management service supporting a graph data model-based query language

File system metadata management has become a bottleneck for many data-intensive applications that rely on high-performance file systems. Part of the bottleneck is due to the limitations of an almost 50-year-old interface standard with metadata abstractions that were designed at a time when high-end file systems managed less than 100 MB. Today's high-performance file systems store 7–9 orders of magnitude more data, resulting in a number of data items for which these metadata abstractions are inadequate, such as directory hierarchies unable to handle complex relationships among data. Users of file systems have attempted to work around these inadequacies by moving application-specific metadata management to relational databases to make metadata searchable. Splitting file system metadata management into two separate systems introduces inefficiencies and systems management problems. To address this problem, we propose QMDS: a file system metadata management service that integrates all file system metadata and uses a graph data model with attributes on nodes and edges. Our service uses a query language interface for file identification and attribute retrieval. We present our metadata management service design and architecture and study its performance using a text analysis benchmark application. Results from our QMDS prototype show the effectiveness of this approach. Compared to the use of a file system and relational database, the QMDS prototype shows superior performance for both ingest and query workloads.     

A query language for XML

An important application of XML is the interchange of electronic data (EDI) between multiple data sources on the Web. As XML data proliferates on the Web, applications will need to integrate and aggregate data from multiple source and clean and transform data to facilitate exchange. Data extraction, conversion, transformation, and integration are all well-understood database problems, and their solutions rely on a query language. We present a query language for XML, called XML-QL, which we argue is suitable for performing the above tasks. XML-QL is a declarative, `relational complete' query language and is simple enough that it can be optimized. XML-QL can extract data from existing XML documents and construct new XML documents.     

A Prolog-based natural language front-end system

A Prolog-based natural language front-end system is described with the following major issues of discussion: Domain independence of the syntax analyser was achieved by the ‘generate-and-test’ notion and the domain independent semantic representation; Determiners were treated as higher order predicates; A technique called ‘syntactic feature’ was employed to write a readable parser in Prolog.     

A portable storage management system for the icon programming language

Icon is a new programming language designed primarily for non-numerical applications. Its roots are in SNOBOL4 and SL5; as in those languages, execution-time flexibility is an important attribute of Icon, although some aspects of programs are bound at compile time to improve efficiency. Icon, which is implemented in Ratfor, is also intended to be portable and suitable for 16-bit computers. The storage management system in Icon is designed to meet the goals of portability, flexibility and efficiency. This is accomplished by subdividing the storage management system into a set of type-specific storage management subsystems. This paper describes the implementation of these subsystems, their interaction, and their performance.