Josephine M. Cheng

XML and DB2

The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a key technology that facilitates both information exchange and e-business transactions. Starting with DB2 UDB Net.Data VI, an application can generate XML documents from SQL queries against DB2 or any ODBC compliant databases. Today DB2 UDB XML Extender not only serves as a repository for both XML documents and their Document Type Definitions (DTDs), but also provides data management functionalities such as data integrity, security, recoverability and manageability. The user has the option to store the entire document as an XML user-defined column or to decompose the document into multiple tables and columns. Fast search via indices is provided for both XML elements and attributes. Section search can be done against the content of the document. Query syntax adheres to W3C standards such as Extensive Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) and XML Path Language (XPath) specifications. The user can retrieve the entire document or extract XML elements and attributes dynamically in an SQL query. In addition, XML Extender provides a stored procedure to generate XML documents from existing data. Together with Net.Data, one can browse the content of the XML documents via the Internet.

An efficient hybrid join algorithm: a DB2 prototype

A new join method, called hybrid join, is proposed which uses the join-index filtering and the skip sequential prefetch mechanism for efficient data access. With this method, the outer table is sorted on the join column. Then, the outer is joined with the index on the join column of the inner. The inner tuple is represented by its surrogate, equivalent of its physical disk address, which is carried in the index. The partial join result is sorted on the surrogate and then the inner table is accessed sequentially to complete the join result. Local predicate filtering can also be applied before the access of the inner relation through the index AND/ORing. Efficient methods for skip sequential access and prefetching of logically discontiguous leaf pages of B/sup +/-tree indexes are also presented.<<ETX>>

Extending relational database technology for new applications

Relational database systems have been very successful in meeting the needs of todays commercial applications. However, emerging applications in disciplines such as engineering design are now generating new requirements for database functionality and performance. This paper describes a set of extensions to relational database technology, designed to meet the requirements of the new generation of applications. These extensions include a rich and extensible type subsystem that is tightly integrated into the Structured Query Language (SQL), a rules subsystem to enforce global database semantics, and a variety of performance enhancements. Many of the extensions described here have been prototyped at the IBM Database Technology Institute and in research projects at the IBM Almaden Research Center in order to demonstrate their feasibility and to validate their design. Furthermore, many of these extensions are now under consideration as part of the evolving American National Standards Institute/International Organization for Standardization (ANSI/ISO) standard for the SQL database language.

Index design for structured documents based on abstraction

HTML has so far been the standard format for delivering information on the World Wide Web. However, automated information processing of these documents for data exchange and interoperability has been difficult. XML, a subset of SGML, has been proposed to be the next standard format, that allows user-defined tags for better describing nested document structures and associated semantics. Operations on structured documents, such as searching in nested document structures, require new functions that are not currently available on most systems today. We describe a general framework for manipulating structured documents based on document abstractions. An abstraction is an approximation of an actual document, while possessing useful properties for analyses of interest. The framework provides a wide design space for the tradeoff between cost and capability. This general framework can be applied to index design, document searching and categorization. We present this framework by focusing on the indexing and searching of structured documents in the XML domain, and prove their soundness. We also address the issue of rich data types in XML documents.

General chairs and keynote speakers

These tutorials/keynote speeches: Z-numbers, a new direction in the analysis of uncertain and complex systems; human space computing and cyber-physical systems; digital ecosystems, the resources for future humanity and society; massive data analytics for smart planet; social media for sustained digital ecosystems; new era of civilization, technology understand human and human; SAP co-innovation, envision the future, crossroots innovation; prediction markets, virtual currencies and social scores applied and technology innovation for networked life.

Smarter planet: empower people with information insights

We are all now connected economically, technically and socially. Our planet is becoming smarter. Infusing intelligence into the way the world literally works the systems and processes that enable physical goods to be developed, manufactured, bought and sold services to be delivered everything from people and money to oil, water and electrons to move and billions of people to work and live. All these become possible via information integration scattering in many different data sources: from the sensors, on the web, in our personal devices, in documents and in databases, or hidden within application programs. Information is exploding with large amount of data generated every second. It creates many challenges in securely storing, managing, integrating, cleansing, analyzing and governing the massive generated information besides the privacy issue. This can be a difficult or time consuming endeavor. This talk describes some information-intensive tasks, choosing examples from such areas as healthcare, science, the business world and our personal lives. I will discuss the barriers to getting information together, delivering it to the people that need it, in a form they can understand, analyzing the diverse spectrum of information, giving insights to the decision makers. I will review key research on information integration and information interaction, indicate how the combination may enable real progress, and illustrate where research challenges remain.