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Minimizing Tree Automata for Unranked Trees

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Database Programming Languages (DBPL 2005)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 3774))

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Abstract

Automata for unranked trees form a foundation for XML schemas, querying and pattern languages. We study the problem of efficiently minimizing such automata. We start with the unranked tree automata (UTAs) that are standard in database theory, assuming bottom-up determinism and that horizontal recursion is represented by deterministic finite automata. We show that minimal UTAs in that class are not unique and that minimization is np-hard. We then study more recent automata classes that do allow for polynomial time minimization. Among those, we show that bottom-up deterministic stepwise tree automata yield the most succinct representations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hasselt University and Transnational University of Limburg, Agoralaan, gebouw D, B-3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium

    Wim Martens

  2. INRIA Futurs, LIFL, Mostrare project, Lille, France

    Joachim Niehren

Authors
  1. Wim Martens
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  2. Joachim Niehren
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Microsoft Research Cambridge,  

    Gavin Bierman

  2. Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Christoph Koch

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Martens, W., Niehren, J. (2005). Minimizing Tree Automata for Unranked Trees. In: Bierman, G., Koch, C. (eds) Database Programming Languages. DBPL 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3774. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11601524_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11601524_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-30951-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31445-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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