content.txt

Emdros is a text database middleware-layer aimed at storage and retrieval of "text plus information

</PRE><!-- widthincm : 14 -->

<P>Variations over this exist:</P>

<PRE class="code">
SELECT ALL OBJECTS
IN MyMonadSet
WHERE
// Query here, will only find objects
// in the stored monad set "MyMonadSet"

SELECT ALL OBJECTS
IN {PREOPENBRACE}1-23400{PRECLOSEBRACE}
WHERE
// Query here, will only find objects
// within the monads {PREOPENBRACE}1-23400{PRECLOSEBRACE}.
</PRE><!-- widthincm : 14 -->


<h2>Overview</h2>

<UL>


  <LI><A HREF="#Basics">The basics</A>
  <LI><A HREF="#FeatureRestrictions">Feature-restrictions</A>
  <LI><A HREF="#FirstLast">First/last</A>
  <LI><A HREF="#ObjectReferences">Object references</A>
  <LI><A HREF="#NOTEXISTKleeneStar">NOTEXIST and Kleene Star</A>

</UL>


<h2><A NAME="Basics">The basics</A></h2>

<P><strong>Object blocks, Sequence, Embedding</strong></P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->
<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[ObjectType]</PRE></td>
  <td>Objects:<br>Finds object of type ObjectType</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A]
[B]</PRE></td>
  <td>Adjacency:<br>Finds objects of type A that are adjacent to objects of type B.  However, if there is a gap in the context, that gap will be ignored and objects on either side of the gap will be "adjacent"</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word]
[Phrase]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A]!
[B]</PRE></td>
  <td>Strict adjacency:<br>Finds objects of type A that are _really_ adjacent to objects of type B.  No gaps allowed.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word]![Word]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
]</PRE></td>
  <td>Embedding:<br>Finds objects of type A inside which there is an embedded object of type B.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase
  [Word]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>
</table>

<P><strong>Arbitrary space</strong></P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->
<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  ..
  [C]
]</PRE></td>

  <td>Arbitrary space:<br>Finds objects of type A, inside of which
  ther are two objects, one of type B and one of type C, and they need
  not be adjacent (though they can be).</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Clause
  [Phrase]
  ..
  [Phrase]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  .. {PRELT}= 5
  [C]
]</PRE></td>

  <td>Arbitrary space with restriction:<br>Finds objects of type A,
  inside of which ther are two objects, one of type B and one of type
  C, and they need not be adjacent (though they can be), and there may
  be up to 5 monads between them.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Clause
  [Phrase]
  .. {PRELT}= 20
  [Phrase]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  .. {PRELT} 6
  [C]
]</PRE></td>

  <td>Arbitrary space with restriction:<br>Finds objects of type A,
  inside of which ther are two objects, one of type B and one of type
  C, and they need not be adjacent (though they can be), and there may
  be up to 5 monads between them.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Clause
  [Phrase]
  .. {PRELT} 21
  [Phrase]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  .. BETWEEN 3 AND 6
  [C]
]</PRE></td>

  <td>Arbitrary space with restriction:<br>Finds objects of type A,
  inside of which ther are two objects, one of type B and one of type
  C, and they need not be adjacent (though they can be), and there
  must be at least 3 and at most 6 monads between them.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Clause
  [Word]
  .. BETWEEN 2 AND 5
  [Word]
]</PRE></td>

</tr>
</table>

<h2><A NAME="FeatureRestrictions">Feature-restrictions</A></h2>

<P><strong>Basic feature-restrictions</strong></P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->

<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A myfeature = val]</PRE></td>

  <td>Feature-equality: A's feature "myfeature" must have value "val".<br>Other comparison-operators include:
<UL>
  <LI>"&lt;&gt;": inequality (different from)
  <LI>"&lt;": less than
  <LI>"&gt;": greather than
  <LI>"&lt;=": less than or equal to
  <LI>"&gt;=": greater than or equal to
</UL>
</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word lemma="see"]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A myfeature 
   IN (value-list)]</PRE></td>

  <td>Value-list:<br>A.myfeature must be an enumeration, and
  value-list must be a comma-separated list of enumeration constants
  in parentheses.  The meaning is as if an OR had been placed between
  individual equality (=) comparisons between the feature and the members
  of the list.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word pos IN 
     (article,noun,
      conjunction,
      adjective)]
</PRE></td>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A myfeature 
      ~ "regex"]</PRE></td>

  <td>Regular expression:<br>A.myfeature is matched via the regular
  expression "regex".  The regular expressions are compatible with
  Perl 5.  Can only be used with string-features.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word lemma 
       ~ "A(b{PREPIPE}a{PREPIPE}e)*"]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A myfeature 
       !~ "regex"]</PRE></td>

  <td>Negated regular expression: Matches those objects for which the
  feature in question does NOT match the regular expression. Can only
  be used with string-features.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word surface 
       !~ "se(a{PREPIPE}e)"]</PRE></td>
</tr>

</table>

<P><strong>Boolean combinations of feature-restrictions</strong></P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->
<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A feature1 = value1 
  AND 
  feature2 = value2
]</PRE></td>
  <td>Conjunction:<br>Both feature-comparisons must be true at the same time for the object to match.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word lemma="see" 
   AND tense=past]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A feature1 = value1
 OR feature2 = value2
]</PRE></td>

  <td>Disjunction:<br>If either of the feature-comparisons evaluates to true, then the object matches.</td>

  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase 
   phrase{PREUNDERSCORE}type = NP 
   OR phrase{PREUNDERSCORE}type=PP
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A NOT 
 feature1 = value1]</PRE></td>
  <td>Negation:<br>The feature-comparison must not be true.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Word NOT pos=verb]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A (feature1 = value1
   OR 
  feature2 = value2)
   AND 
  feature3 = value3)</PRE></td>
  <td>Grouping:<br>Parentheses can be used to group feature-comparisons.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase 
    phrase{PREUNDERSCORE}type = VP 
AND
 (function = Predicate
 OR 
 function = PredCmpl)
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

</table>

<h2><A NAME="FirstLast">First/last</A></h2>

<P>An object can be first, last, or first and last in its context.</P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->

<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[B
  [A first]
]</PRE></td>
  <td>The A object must be first in the context of the B object.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase
   [Word first]
   [Word]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[B
  [A last]
]</PRE></td>
  <td>The A object must be last in the context of the B object.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase
   [Word]
   ..
   [Word last]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

	
<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[B
  [A first and last]
]</PRE></td>
  <td>The A object must be both first and last in the context of the B object.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase
   [Word first 
         and last]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

</table>

<h2><A NAME="ObjectReferences">Object references</A></h2>

<P>You can give an object a name with the "AS" keyword and then refer
to that object later in the query with the "dot notation".</P>

<table border="1">  <!-- columns : 3 -->

<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>


<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A AS a1
  [B feature{PREUNDERSCORE}on{PREUNDERSCORE}B = 
     a1.feature{PREUNDERSCORE}on{PREUNDERSCORE}A]
]</PRE></td>
  <td>B's feature_on_B feature must be the same as the feature_on_A feature on the A object.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase AS p1
  // The phrase must
  // be the immediate
  // ancestor of the
  // word
  [Word parent = 
        p1.self]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

</table>


<h2><A NAME="NOTEXISTKleeneStar">NOTEXIST and Kleene Star</A></h2>

<P>The NOTEXIST keyword tells that an object must not exist at a given
point.</P>

<P>The Kleene-Star tells that an object must occur either 0, 1, or
more times.</P>

<P>The Kleene-Star with a set of integers tucked behind tells the
exact number of times the object may occur.</P>

<P>Currently, the Kleene Star cannot be used on the first object in a
context, or the first object after a "..".</P>

<table border="1"> <!-- columns : 3 -->

<tr>
  <th>Construction</th>
  <th>Meaning</th>
  <th>Example</th>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A NOTEXIST [B]]</PRE></td>
  <td>There must not exist a B inside of A.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Sentence
   NOTEXIST [Word 
       surface="saw"]
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  [C]*
]</PRE></td>
  <td>Inside of A, there must be a B, followed by zero or more C's.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Phrase
  [Word first 
     pos=preposition]
  [Word pos IN 
      (article,noun,
       conjunction)]*
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

<tr>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[A
  [B]
  [C]*{PREOPENBRACE}0,1{PRECLOSEBRACE}
]</PRE></td>
  <td>Inside of A, there must occur a B object, followed by either 0 or 1 C objects.  Note how this makes the C object optional.</td>
  <td><PRE class="MQLExample">[Clause
  [word 
    pos="conjunction"]
  [word 
    pos="conjunction"
  ]*{PREOPENBRACE}0,1{PRECLOSEBRACE}
]</PRE></td>
</tr>

</table>



</page>