Resolution-based Query Answering for Semantic Access to Relational Databases: A Research Note

We address the problem of semantic querying of relational databases (RDB) modulo knowledge bases using very expressive knowledge representation formalisms, such as full first-order logic or its various fragments. We propose to use a first-order logic (FOL) reasoner for computing generic answers to deductive queries, with the subsequent instantiation of these generic answers using a conventional relational DBMS. In this research note, we outline the main idea of this technique – using abstractions of databases and constrained clauses for deriving generic answers. The proposed method can be directly used to enhance the conventional RDB technology. Moreover, we propose it as a potential basis for an efficient Web-scale semantic search technology.