Sample-based decision support for specifying XML constraints

Abstract

Constraints can express important semantic information about the target XML repository. This information is utilised to model, store and process documents appropriately and more efficiently. In practice, it is challenging to single out the conditions that best capture the semantics of the application domain. Consequently, the task of identifying all relevant constraints is both crucial and difficult. We show how sample documents assist participants of the design process in making informed choices about the specification of Boolean constraints on XML documents. Indeed, the decision whether such a constraint should be specified explicitly is reduced to the problem whether there is any document in our XML sample collection that is relevant for the underlying application domain. Furthermore, we establish how off-the-shelf tools for solving problems in propositional logic can be used to generate the collection of our sample documents semi-automatically.