A partition index for XML and semi-structured data

XML and other semi-structured data can be represented by a graph model. The paths in a data graph are used as a basic constructor of a query. Especially, by using patterns on paths, a user can formulate more expressive queries. Patterns in a path enlarge the search space of a data graph and current research for indexing semi-structured data focuses on reducing the search space. However, the existing indexes cannot reduce the search space when a data graph has some references. In this paper, we introduce a partitioning technique for all paths in a data graph and an index graph which can effectively find appropriate path partitions for a path query with patterns. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.