Intelligent Query Processing Using a Meta-Database KaDB

Query language has been widely used as a convenient tool to obtain information from a database. However, users demand more intelligent query processing systems that can understand the intent of an imprecise query and provide additional useful information as well as exact answers. This paper introduces a meta-database and presents a query processing mechanism that supports a variety of intelligent queries in a consistent and integrated way. The meta-database extracts data abstraction knowledge from an underlying database on the basis of a multilevel knowledge representation framework KAH. In cooperation with the underlying database, the meta-database supports four types of intelligent queries that provide approximately or conceptually equal answers as well as exact ones.