Title
Approximate XML structure validation based on document-grammar tree similarity.
Abstract
Comparing XML documents with XML grammars, also known as XML document and grammar validation, is useful in various applications such as: XML document classification, document transformation, grammar evolution, XML retrieval, and the selective dissemination of information. While exact (Boolean) XML validation has been extensively investigated in the literature, the more general problem of approximate (similarity-based) XML validation, i.e., document–grammar similarity evaluation, has not yet received strong attention. In this paper, we propose an original method for measuring the structural similarity between an XML document and an XML grammar (DTD or XSD), considering their most common operators that designate constraints on the existence, repeatability and alternativeness of XML elements/attributes (e.g., ?, ∗, MinOccurs, MaxOccurs, etc.). Our approach exploits the concept of tree edit distance, introducing a novel edit distance recurrence and dedicated algorithms to effectively compare XML documents and grammar structures, modeled as ordered labeled trees. Our method also inherently performs exact validation by imposing a maximum similarity threshold (minimum edit distance) on the returned results. We implemented a prototype and conducted several experiments on large sets of real and synthetic XML documents and grammars. Results underline our approach’s effectiveness in classifying similar documents with respect to predefined grammars, accurately detecting document and/or grammar modifications, and performing document and grammar relevance ranking. Time and space analysis were also conducted.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1016/j.ins.2014.09.044
Information Sciences
Keywords
Field
DocType
XML,Semi-structured data,XML grammar,Structural similarity,Tree edit distance,Document classification
XML Encryption,Streaming XML,Information retrieval,Well-formed document,XML validation,Computer science,Document Structure Description,XML schema,Simple API for XML,XML Schema Editor
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
295
C
0020-0255
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
6
0.42
56
Authors
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Joe Tekli120420.30
Richard Chbeir269182.42
Agma J. M. Traina31024153.61
Caetano Traina Jr.41052137.26
Renato Fileto515120.64