FTwig: Efficient algorithm for processing fuzzy XML twig pattern matching

As the next generation of the Web language, XML is straightforwardly usable, which has been the de-facto standard of information representation and exchange over the Web. XML employs a tree-structured data model, and XML queries specify patterns of selection predicates on multiple elements related by a tree structure. Due to increase in web-based applications, searching for all occurrences of a twig pattern in XML documents becomes an important operation in XML query processing. A number of algorithms have been proposed to solve these twig pattern queries. However, less fulfill the requirements of managing fuzzy XML twig pattern queries. In this paper, we present an algorithm called FTwig, which adopts the region encoding scheme of structure relations to process fuzzy twig pattern queries, for matching an XML query twig pattern. Based on the fuzzy set and possibility distribution theory, we also introduce a set of primitive fuzzy XML algebraic operations.