Researching Why-Not Questions in Skyline Query Based on Orthogonal Range

Abstract

This paper aims to answer “why-not” questions in skyline queries based on the orthogonal query range (i.e., ORSQ). These queries retrieve skyline points within a rectangular query range, which improves query efficiency. Answering why-not questions in ORSQ can help users analyze query results and make decisions. We discuss the causes of why-not questions in ORSQ. Then, we outline how to modify the why-not point and the orthogonal query range so that the why-not point is included in the result of the skyline query based on the orthogonal range. When the why-not point is in the orthogonal range, we show how to modify the why-not point and narrow the orthogonal range. We also present how to expand the orthogonal range when the why-not point is not in the orthogonal range. We effectively combine query refinement and data modification techniques to produce meaningful answers. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms have high-quality explanations for why-not questions in ORSQ in the real and synthetic datasets.