Abstract

PAZOS R., Rodolfo A.; MARTINEZ F., José A.; GONZALEZ B., J. Javier.  and  VERASTEGUI O., Andrés A.. Algorithm for Processing Queries that Involve Boolean Columns for a Natural Language Interface to Databases. Comp. y Sist. [online]. 2020, vol.24, n.1, pp.61-74.  Epub Sep 27, 2021. ISSN 2007-9737.  https://doi.org/10.13053/cys-24-1-3313.

In the last decades, the use of natural language interfaces to databases (NLIDBs) has increased exponentially; unfortunately, the complexity of natural language has limited their effectiveness. The presence of Boolean columns in databases increases the difficulty for translating natural language queries to SQL. A Boolean column is a column that can only store two possible values: true/false, yes/no, 1/0. The problem for processing queries that involve Boolean columns, is that the search value for these columns (true/false, yes/no, 1/0) is not explicit in the queries. This problem makes NLIDBs generate erroneous translations as shown in experimental tests. A survey of the literature on NLIDBs has shown that this problem has not been identified, much less addressed. In this article, a new algorithm for processing queries that involve Boolean columns is presented. The algorithm uses syntactic and semantic information that facilitates detecting Boolean columns and their implicit values in a query. The experimental tests show that it is highly effective for translating this type of queries.

Keywords : Natural language interfaces to databases; natural language processing; databases; SQL.

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