{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T04:15:10Z","timestamp":1771042510697,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["ACM Trans. Database Syst."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The spreading of XML data in many contexts of modern computing infrastructures and systems causes a pressing need for adequate XML querying capabilities; to address this need, the W3C is proposing XQuery as the standard query language for XML, with a language paradigm and a syntactic flavor comparable to the SQL relational language. XQuery is designed for meeting the requirements of skilled database programmers; its inherent complexity makes the new language unsuited to unskilled users.In this article we present XQBE (XQuery By Example), a visual query language for expressing a large subset of XQuery in a visual form. In designing XQBE, we targeted both unskilled users and expert users wishing to speed up the construction of their queries; we have been inspired by QBE, a relational language initially proposed as an alternative to SQL, which is supported by Microsoft Access. QBE is extremely successful among users who are not computer professionals and do not understand the subtleties of query languages, as well as among professionals who can draft their queries very quickly.According to the hierarchical nature of XML, XQBE's main graphical elements are trees. One or more trees denote the documents assumed as query input, and one tree denotes the document produced by the query. Similar to QBE, trees are annotated so as to express selection predicates, joins, and the passing of information from the input trees to the output tree.This article formally defines the syntax and semantics of XQBE, provides a large set of examples, and presents a prototype implementation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/1071610.1071613","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,8,3]],"date-time":"2005-08-03T08:30:55Z","timestamp":1123057855000},"page":"398-443","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":73,"title":["<i>XQBE<\/i>\n            (\n            <i>XQ<\/i>\n            uery\n            <i>B<\/i>\n            y\n            <i>E<\/i>\n            xample)"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"30","author":[{"given":"Daniele","family":"Braga","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Campi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Ceri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2005,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/375663.375730"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/32.60295"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]]","author":"Atzeni P.","unstructured":"Atzeni , P. , Mecca , G. , and Merialdo , P . 1997. To weave the web . In Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]] Atzeni, P., Mecca, G., and Merialdo, P. 1997. To weave the web. In Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bongio A. Ceri S. Fraternali P. and Maurino A. 2001. Modeling data entry and operations in WebML. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1997.]]   Bongio A. Ceri S. Fraternali P. and Maurino A. 2001. Modeling data entry and operations in WebML. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 1997.]]","DOI":"10.1007\/3-540-45271-0_13"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'99)","author":"Bouganim L.","unstructured":"Bouganim , L. , Chan-Sine-Ying , T. , Dang-Ngoc , T.-T. , Darroux , J. L. , Gardarin , G. , and Sha , F . 1999. Miro web: Integrating multiple data sources through semistructured data types . In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'99) , Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 750--753.]] Bouganim, L., Chan-Sine-Ying, T., Dang-Ngoc, T.-T., Darroux, J. L., Gardarin, G., and Sha, F. 1999. Miro web: Integrating multiple data sources through semistructured data types. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'99), Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 750--753.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","unstructured":"Braga D. and Campi A. 2003a. BiblioXQBE. http:\/\/dbgroup.elet.polimi.it\/biblioXQBE.]]  Braga D. and Campi A. 2003a. BiblioXQBE. http:\/\/dbgroup.elet.polimi.it\/biblioXQBE.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","unstructured":"Braga D. and Campi A. 2003b. XQBE Web Site. http:\/\/dbgroup.elet.polimi.it\/XQBE.]]  Braga D. and Campi A. 2003b. XQBE Web Site. http:\/\/dbgroup.elet.polimi.it\/XQBE.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'96)","author":"Carey M.","unstructured":"Carey , M. , Haas , L. , Maganty , V. , and Williams , J . 1996. Pesto: An integrated query\/browser for object databases . In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'96) , D. McLeod, R. Sacks-Davis, and H. Schek, Eds. 203--214.]] Carey, M., Haas, L., Maganty, V., and Williams, J. 1996. Pesto: An integrated query\/browser for object databases. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB'96), D. McLeod, R. Sacks-Davis, and H. Schek, Eds. 203--214.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/375663.375761"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","volume-title":"WebDB (Informal Proceedings). 43--48","author":"Cohen S.","unstructured":"Cohen , S. , Kanza , Y. , Kogan , Y. 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In FQAS'98. 110--125.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/93597.98748"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/38713.38749"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","volume-title":"2nd International Conference on Expert Database Systems. 355--368","author":"Cruz I. F.","unstructured":"Cruz , I. F. , Mendelzon , A. O. , and Wood , P. T . 1988. G+: Recursive queries without recursion . In 2nd International Conference on Expert Database Systems. 355--368 .]] Cruz, I. F., Mendelzon, A. O., and Wood, P. T. 1988. G+: Recursive queries without recursion. In 2nd International Conference on Expert Database Systems. 355--368.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","unstructured":"Fernandez M. Sim\u00e9on J. Wadler P. Cluet S. Deutsch A. Florescu D. Levy A. Maier D. McHugh J. Robie J. Suciu D. and Widom J. 1999a. Xml query languages: Experiences and exemplars. http:\/\/www-db.research.belllabs.com\/user\/simeon\/xquery.ps.]]  Fernandez M. Sim\u00e9on J. Wadler P. Cluet S. Deutsch A. Florescu D. Levy A. Maier D. McHugh J. Robie J. Suciu D. and Widom J. 1999a. Xml query languages: Experiences and exemplars. http:\/\/www-db.research.belllabs.com\/user\/simeon\/xquery.ps.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/331960.331979"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","volume-title":"Workshop on Information Integration on the Web. 156--163","author":"Filha I. M. R. E.","year":"2001","unstructured":"Filha , I. M. R. E. , Laender , A. H. F. , and da Silva , A. S. 2001 . Querying semistructured data by example: The qsbye interface . In Workshop on Information Integration on the Web. 156--163 .]] Filha, I. M. R. E., Laender, A. H. F., and da Silva, A. S. 2001. Querying semistructured data by example: The qsbye interface. In Workshop on Information Integration on the Web. 156--163.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_20_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of WAIM'00","author":"Ives Z. G.","unstructured":"Ives , Z. G. and Lu , Y . 2000. Xml query languages in practice: an evaluation . In Proceedings of WAIM'00 . 29--40.]] Ives, Z. G. and Lu, Y. 2000. Xml query languages in practice: an evaluation. In Proceedings of WAIM'00. 29--40.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/588111.588133"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_22_1","unstructured":"Kepser S. 2002. A proof of the Turing-completeness of xslt and xquery. Technical report SFB 441 Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. May.]]  Kepser S. 2002. A proof of the Turing-completeness of xslt and xquery. Technical report SFB 441 Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. May.]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_23_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]]","author":"Lakshmanan L. V. S.","unstructured":"Lakshmanan , L. V. S. , Ramesh , G. , Wang , H. , and Zhao , Z. J . 2004. On testing satisfiability of tree pattern queries . In Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]] Lakshmanan, L. V. S., Ramesh, G., Wang, H., and Zhao, Z. J. 2004. On testing satisfiability of tree pattern queries. In Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]]"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_24_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]]","author":"Levy A. Y.","unstructured":"Levy , A. Y. , Rajaraman , A. , and Ordille , J. J . 2002. Querying heterogeneous information sources using source descriptions . In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB).]] Levy, A. Y., Rajaraman, A., and Ordille, J. J. 2002. Querying heterogeneous information sources using source descriptions. 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