Constraint-based sequential pattern mining: the pattern-growth methods

Constraints are essential for many sequential pattern mining applications. However, there is no systematic study on constraint-based sequential pattern mining. In this paper, we investigate this issue and point out that the framework developed for constrained frequent-pattern mining does not fit our mission well. An extended framework is developed based on a sequential pattern growth methodology. Our study shows that constraints can be effectively and efficiently pushed deep into the sequential pattern mining under this new framework. Moreover, this framework can be extended to constraint-based structured pattern mining as well. This research is supported in part by NSERC Grant 312194-05, NSF Grants IIS-0308001, IIS-0513678, BDI-0515813 and National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grants No. 60303008 and 69933010. All opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.