Numeric-based XML labeling schema by generalized dynamic method

Most efficient indeces and query techniques over XML (extensible markup language) data are based on a certain labeling scheme, which can quickly determine ancestor-descendant and parent-child relationship between two nodes. The current basic labeling schemes such as containment scheme and prefix scheme cannot avoid relabeling when XML documents are updated. After analyzing the essence of existing dynamic XML labels such as compact dynamic binary string (CDBS) and vector encoding, this paper gives a common unifying framework for the numeric-based generalized dynamic label, which can be implemented into a variety of dynamic labels according to the different user-defined value comparison methods. This paper also proposes a novel dynamic labeling scheme called radical sign label. Extensive experiments show that the radical sign label performs well for the initialization, insertion and query operations, and especially for skewed insertion where the storage cost of the radical sign label is better than that of former methods.