An XML-Based Database for Knowledge Discovery: Definition and Implementation

Inductive databases have been proposed as general purpose databases to support the KDD process. Unfortunately, the heterogeneity of the discovered patterns and of the different conceptual tools used to extract them from source data make difficult the integration in a unique framework. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using XML as the unifying framework for inductive databases, and propose a new model, XML for Data Mining (XDM). We show the basic features of the model, based on the concepts of data item (source data and patterns) and statement (used to manage data and derive patterns). We make use of XML Namespaces (to allow the effective coexistence and extensibility of data mining operators) and of XML-Schema, by means of which we can dfine the schema, the state and the integrity constraints of an inductive database.