On Effectively Answering Why and Why-not Questions in Databases

虽然数据库系统的性能和功能已经得到了显着的改善，但提高可用性的研究仍然远远落后，这导致组织的技术支持成本巨大。该项目旨在通过有效地回答用户对查询结果的“为什么”和“为什么不”问题来提高数据库系统的可用性。该项目将发明一种新颖的通用模型，用于表达为什么和为什么不问题，回答复杂查询和数据库问题的有效策略，以及涉及多个查询的场景的新颖解决方案。该项目将极大地促进查询精化的基础研究，并对相关技术的发展产生重大影响。

While the performance and functionality of database systems have gained dramatic improvement, research on improving usability still remains far behind, which results in huge cost of technical support to organisations. This project aims to improve the usability of database systems by effectively answering users' why and why-not questions on query results. This project will invent a novel and generalised model for expressing both the why and why-not questions, efficient strategies for answering questions for complex queries and databases, and novel solutions to scenarios that involve multiple queries. The project will contribute greatly to the fundamental research in query refinement and deliver significant impact on related technology development.