Querying Data and an Associated Ontology in a Database Management System

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer program for querying data and an associated ontology in a database. An ontology is associated with data in database. Responsive to receiving a query from a requestor, relational data in the database is identified using the query to form identified relational data. Ontological knowledge in the ontology is identified using the identified relational data and the ontology. A result is returned to the requestor.

1 . A computer implemented method for querying relational data and semi-structured ontology data in a database, the computer implemented method comprising:
 associating ontological data in an ontology with relational data in a database;   creating a virtual view comprising actual columns and virtual columns, wherein values in the actual columns comprise the associated relational data from the database and values in the virtual columns comprise the associated ontological data from the ontology, wherein the associated ontological data in the virtual columns is not materialized and only inferred when a query is made that requires that values be derived;   receiving a query from a requestor requiring an inference of virtual view data in the virtual columns; and   returning a result of the query, wherein the result comprises relational data and materialized values derived in real time from the virtual view data in the virtual columns.   
   
   
       2 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein associating ontological data in the ontology with the relational data in the database comprises:
 extracting class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties from the ontology; and   encoding the class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties to form encoded class hierarchies, encoded implication rules, and encoded transitive properties.   
   
   
       3 . The computer implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the result is determined using at least one of the encoded class hierarchies, the encoded implication rules, or the encoded transitive properties. 
   
   
       4 . The computer implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the database stores the relational data using relational tables and stores the encoded class hierarchies, encoded implication rules, and encoded transitive properties using extended markup language. 
   
   
       5 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 specifying a relationship between a subset of the relational data and a subset of the ontological data,   wherein the virtual view displays the subset of the relational data and the subset of the ontological data as a relational table.   
   
   
       6 . The computer implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the result is determined using the relationship between the subset of the relational data and the subset of the ontological data. 
   
   
       7 . A database management system for querying relational data and semi-structured ontology data in a database, the database management system comprising:
 a bus;   a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device contains computer usable code and the data;   a communications unit connected to the bus; and   a processing unit connected to the bus for executing the computer usable code, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable code to associate ontological data in an ontology is with relational data in a database; create a virtual view comprising actual columns and virtual columns, wherein values in the actual columns comprise the associated relational data from the database and values in the virtual columns comprise the associated ontological data from the ontology, wherein the associated ontological data in the virtual columns is not materialized and only inferred when a query is made that requires that values be derived; receiving a query from a requestor requiring an inference of virtual view data in the virtual columns; and return a result of the query, wherein the result comprises relational data and materialized values derived in real time from the virtual view data in the virtual columns.   
   
   
       8 . The database management system of  claim 7 , wherein associating ontological data in the ontology with the relational data in the database comprises:
 extracting class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties from the ontology; and   encoding the class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties to form encoded class hierarchies, encoded implication rules, and encoded transitive properties.   
   
   
       9 . The database management system of  claim 8 , wherein the result is determined using at least one of the encoded class hierarchies, the encoded implication rules, or the encoded transitive properties. 
   
   
       10 . The database management system of  claim 7 , wherein the requestor specifies a relationship between a subset of the relational data and a subset of the ontological data, wherein the virtual view displays the subset of the data and the subset of the ontology as a relational table. 
   
   
       11 . The database management system of  claim 10 , wherein the result is determined using the relationship between the subset of the relational data and the subset of the ontological data. 
   
   
       12 . (canceled) 
   
   
       13 . The database management system of  claim 8 , wherein the relational data is stored in the database using relational tables, and the encoded class hierarchies, the encoded implication rules, and the encoded transitive properties are stored in the database using extended markup language. 
   
   
       14 . A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for querying relational data and semi-structured ontology data in a database, the computer program product comprising:
 computer usable code for associating ontological data in an ontology with relational data in a database;   computer usable code for creating a virtual view comprising actual columns and virtual columns, wherein values in the actual columns comprise the associated relational data from the database and values in the virtual columns comprise the associated ontological data from the ontology, wherein the associated ontological data in the virtual columns is not materialized and only inferred when a query is made that requires that values be derived;   computer usable code for receiving a query from a requestor requiring an inference of virtual view data in the virtual columns; and   computer usable code for returning a result of the query, wherein the result comprises relational data and materialized values derived in real time from the virtual view data in the virtual columns.   
   
   
       15 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein the computer usable code for associating ontological data in the ontology with the relational data in the database comprises:
 computer usable code for extracting class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties from the ontology; and   computer usable code for encoding the class hierarchies, implication rules, and transitive properties to form encoded class hierarchies, encoded implication rules, and encoded transitive properties.   
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the result is determined using at least one of the encoded class hierarchies, the encoded implication rules, or the encoded transitive properties. 
   
   
       17 . The computer program product of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 computer usable code for specifying a relationship between a subset of the relational data and a subset of the ontological data,   wherein the virtual view displays the subset of the relational data and the subset of the ontological data as a relational table.   
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the result is determined using the relationship between the subset of the relational data and the subset of the ontological data. 
   
   
       19 . (canceled) 
   
   
       20 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the relational data is stored using relational tables, and the encoded class hierarchies, the encoded implication rules, and the encoded transitive properties are stored in the database using extended markup language. 
   
   
       21 . The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a query from a requestor not requiring an inference of virtual view data in the virtual columns;   returning a result of the query, wherein the result comprises relational data.   
   
   
       22 . The database management system of  claim 7 , wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable code to receive a query from a requestor not requiring an inference of virtual view data in the virtual columns; and return a result of the query, wherein the result comprises relational data.