Graphical user interface for defining atomic query for querying knowledge graph databases

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11016965-B2
Application number	US-201916253906-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 22, 2019
Priority date	Jan 22, 2019
Publication date	May 25, 2021
Grant date	May 25, 2021

Abstract

Querying a knowledge graph database in which entity data characterizes entities represented by nodes, interconnected by edges, of a knowledge graph, and each edge represents one of a set of relationships between entities which is applicable to the entities represented by nodes interconnected by that edge. A graphical user interface for display by a user computer enables definition, in response to user input, of an atomic query which is associated with a floating graphical query object in the interface. The atomic query defines an input set of said nodes for the query, a relationship and an output set of nodes for the query. Graphical connector and graphical logical-operator objects in the interface are manipulatable by a user in relation to a plurality of the query objects to define a complex query by constructing a graphical representation of a desired logical combination of the query objects.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for querying a knowledge graph database in which entity data characterizes entities represented by nodes, interconnected by edges, of a knowledge graph and each edge represents one of a set of relationships between entities which is applicable to the entities represented by nodes interconnected by that edge, the method comprising:
providing a graphical user interface for display by a user computer, the interface enabling definition, in response to user input, of an atomic query which is associated with a floating graphical query object and a floating graphical result object in the interface, the atomic query defining an input set of said nodes for the query, a said relationship and an output set of said nodes for the query, the floating graphical result object for specifying a property of the output set of said nodes for the query, wherein responsive to the floating graphical result object being dragged into a canvas of the graphical user interface, an options panel is automatically presented concurrently, the options panel for specifying additional data to be included in resulting data for the atomic query;
providing in said interface graphical connector and graphical logical-operator objects which are manipulatable by a user in relation to a plurality of said query objects to define a complex query by constructing a graphical representation of a desired logical combination of the query objects;
for each atomic query defined via the interface, sending a query request defining that query to the knowledge graph database to obtain atomic query result data comprising entity data for the output set of nodes for the query;
for a complex query defined via the interface, processing the atomic query result data corresponding to said plurality of query objects in accordance with said logical combination to obtain result data for the complex query; and
providing in said interface a representation of the complex query result data.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said knowledge graph comprises a plurality of types of nodes, and wherein said interface enables definition of respective node types for said input set of nodes and said output set of nodes for an atomic query.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the entity data for each node of the knowledge graph comprises a respective set of property values, and wherein said interface enables definition of a requirement relating to property values for at least one of said input set of nodes and said output set of nodes for an atomic query.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein said interface enables definition of a requirement relating to property values for said input set of nodes.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 including:
providing in said interface menu options, selectable by a user, to enable definition of an atomic query; and
processing the menu options selected by a user for an atomic query to define said input set of nodes, said relationship and said output set of nodes for the query.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 including:
further providing in said interface floating graphical result objects, a result object being connectable, via a said connector object, to a said a query object;
for any result object connected to a query object, after obtaining the atomic query result data for the atomic query associated with that query object, storing that atomic query result data as result-object data for the result object; and
providing in said interface a representation of the result-object data for a said result object.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein said interface further provides for connection of a said result object, via a said connector object, to a said logical-operator object in said graphical representation, the method including:
for any result object connected to a logical-operator object in said graphical representation, after obtaining the atomic query result data for atomic queries associated with query objects connected to that logical-operator object, processing that atomic query result data in accordance with a logical operation represented by the logical-operator object to obtain operation-result data, and storing that operation-result data as result-object data for the result object.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 including providing in said interface an input option for specification by a user of additional data to be included in atomic query result data for an atomic query, wherein said query request for that atomic query further defines said additional data to be obtained from the knowledge graph database.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the knowledge graph database comprises at least one matrix representing said knowledge graph, whereby result data for a said atomic query can be obtained from the database via matrix-by-vector multiplication.

10. A computer program product for querying a knowledge graph database in which entity data characterizes entities represented by nodes, interconnected by edges, of a knowledge graph and each edge represents one of a set of relationships between entities which is applicable to the entities represented by nodes interconnected by that edge, said computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therein, the program instructions being executable by a computing system to cause the computing system:
to provide a graphical user interface for display by a user computer, the interface enabling definition, in response to user input, of an atomic query which is associated with a floating graphical query object and a floating graphical result object in the interface, the atomic query defining an input set of said nodes for the query, a said relationship and an output set of said nodes for the query, the floating graphical result object for specifying a property of the output set of said nodes for the query, wherein responsive to the floating graphical result object being dragged into a canvas of the graphical user interface, an options panel is automatically presented concurrently, the options panel for specifying additional data to be included in resulting data for the atomic query;
to provide in said interface graphical connector and graphical logical-operator objects which are manipulatable by a user in relation to a plurality of said query objects to define a complex query by constructing a graphical representation of a desired logical combination of the query objects;
for each atomic query defined via the interface, to send a query request defining that query to the knowledge graph database to obtain atomic query result data comprising entity data for the output set of nodes for the query;
for a complex query defined via the interface, to process the atomic query result data corresponding to said plurality of query objects in accordance with said logical combination to obtain result data for the complex query; and
to provide in said interface a representation of the complex query result data.

11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10 wherein said knowledge graph comprises a plurality of types of nodes, said program instructions being executable such that said interface enables definition of respective node types for said input set of nodes and said output set of nodes for an atomic query.

12. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10 wherein the entity data for each node of the knowledge graph comprises a respective set of property values, said program instructions being executable such that said interface enables definition of a requirement relating to property values for at least one of said input

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Laino Teodoro
• Petraglia Riccardo
• Weber Valery
• Zipoli Federico

Classifications

• G06F16/2428 Primary

  Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms (G06F16/2423 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F16/9024

  Graphs; Linked lists (G06F16/9027 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06F16/248

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06F16/245

  Query processing · CPC title