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영어

In order to express tree pattern query in query plan and take advantage of formal method to analyze its behavioral characteristics, this paper present a formal description of tree pattern query based on functional language and denotational semantics. This description major focuses on behavior of a tree pattern query on matching against an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) document tree. First, we introduce a formal definition for a kind of extended generalized tree pattern (GTP++). Then we present a functional tree pattern description language (XTPL) for GTP++ and give its complete denotational semantics based on a novel data structure, named WTree, which efficiently organizes this typical XML data query results and provides flexible data access method. In the end, we present the formal semantics of identifying tree pattern from path expressions. By using formal methods, the semantics of tree pattern query is consistent and analyzable. As the core operation of XML query, this formal description can provide an initial step for analyzing the correctness of XML queries, and improves the reliability and robustness of query processing methods.