On prefixal one-rule string rewrite systems

International audiencePrefixal one-rule string rewrite systems are one-rule string rewrite systems for which the left-hand side of the rule is a prefix of the right-hand side of the rule. String rewrite systems induce a transformation over languages: from a starting word, one can associate all its descendants. We prove, in this work, that the transformation induced by a prefixal one-rule rewrite system always transforms a finite language into a context-free language, a property that is surprisingly not satisfied by arbitrary one-rule rewrite systems. We also give here a decidable characterization of the prefixal one-rule rewrite systems whose induced transformation is a rational transduction

Streaming Tree Automata

International audienceStreaming validation and querying of XML documents are often based on automata for tree-like structures. We propose a new notion of streaming tree automata in order to unify the two main approaches, which have not been linked so far: automata for nested words or equivalently visibly pushdown automata, and respectively pushdown forest automata

Path constraints in semistructured data

International audienceWe consider semistructured data as multirooted edge-labelled directed graphs, and path inclusion constraints on these graphs. A path inclusion constraint pnot precedes, equalsq is satisfied by a semistructured data if any node reached by the regular query p is also reached by the regular query q. In this paper, two problems are mainly studied: the implication problem and the problem of the existence of a finite exact model. - We give a new decision algorithm for the implication problem of a constraint pnot precedes, equalsq by a set of bounded path constraints pinot precedes, equalsui where p, q, and the pi's are regular path expressions and the ui's are words, improving in this particular case, the more general algorithms of S. Abiteboul and V. Vianu, and N. Alechina et al. In the case of a set of word equalities ui≡vi, we provide a more efficient decision algorithm for the implication of a word equality u≡v, improving the more general algorithm of P. Buneman et al. We prove that, in this case, implication for nondeterministic models is equivalent to implication for (complete) deterministic ones. - We introduce the notion of exact model: an exact model of a set of path constraints Click to view the MathML source satisfies the constraint pnot precedes, equalsq if and only if this constraint is implied by Click to view the MathML source. We prove that any set of constraints has an exact model and we give a decidable characterization of data which are exact models of bounded path inclusion constraints sets

Identification of biRFSA languages

International audienceThe task of identifying a language from a set of its words is not an easy one. For instance, it is not feasible to identify regular languages in the general case. Therefore, looking for subclasses of regular languages that can be identi?ed in this framework is an interesting problem. One of the most classical identi?able classes is the class of reversible languages, introduced by D. Angluin, also called bideterministic languages as they can be represented by deterministic automata (DFA) whose reverse is also deterministic. Residual Finite State Automata (RFSA) on the other hand is a class of non deterministic automata that shares some properties with DFA. In particular, DFA are RFSA and RFSA can be much smaller. We study here learnability of the class of languages that can be represented by biRFSA: RFSA whose reverse are RFSA. We prove that this class is not identi?able in general but we present two subclasses that are learnable, the second one being identi?able in polynomial time

On One-Rule Grid Semi-Thue Systems

International audienceThe family of one-rule grid semi-Thue systems, introduced by Alfons Geser, is the family of one-rule semi-Thue systems such that there exists a letter c that occurs as often in the left-hand side as the right-hand side of the rewriting rule. We prove that for any one-rule grid semi-Thue system S, the set S(w) of all words obtainable from w using repeatedly the rewriting rule of S is a constructible context-free language. We also prove the regularity of the set Loop(S) of all words that start a loop in a one-rule grid semi-Thue systems S.La famille des systèmes de semi-Thue à une seule règle "en grille", introduite par Alfons Geser, est la famille des systèmes de réécriture de mots pour lesquels il existe une lettre apparaissant autant de fois dans la partie gauche et dans la partie droite de leur unique règle. Nous prouvons que, pour tout système S de cette famille, l'ensemble S(w) des mots obtenus à partir du mot w en appliquant itérativement la règle de réécriture de S est un langage algébrique constructible. Nous prouvons également que l'ensemble Loop(S) des mots qui sont à l'origine d'une boucle de réécriture pour un systèmes de semi-Thue à une seule règle "en grille" S est un langage régulier

XML Security Views Revisited

International audienceIn this paper, we revisit the view based security framework for XML without imposing any of the previously considered restrictions on the class of queries, the class of DTDs, and the type of annotations used to dene the view. First, we show that the full class of Regular XPath queries is closed under query rewriting. Next, we address the problem of constructing a DTD that describes the view schema, which in general needs not be regular. We propose three dierent methods of ap- proximating the view schema and we show that the produced DTDs are indistinguishable from the exact schema (with queries from a class speci c for each method). Finally, we investigate problems of static analysis of security access specications

Static analysis of XML security views and query rewriting

International audienceIn this paper, we revisit the view based security framework for XML without imposing any of the previously considered restrictions on the class of queries, the class of DTDs, and the type of annotations used to define the view. First, we study {\em query rewriting} with views when the classes used to define queries and views are Regular XPath and MSO. Next, we investigate problems of {\em static analysis} of security access specifications (SAS): we introduce the novel class of \emph{interval-bounded} SAS and we define three different manners to compare views (i.e. queries), with a security point of view. We provide a systematic study of the complexity for deciding these three comparisons, when the depth of the XML documents is bounded, when the document may have an arbitrary depth but the queries defining the views are restricted to guarantee the interval-bounded property, and in the general setting without restriction on queries and document

View update translation for XML

We study the problem of update translation for views on XML documents. More precisely, given an XML view definition and a user defined view update program, find a source update program that translates the view update without side effects on the view. Additionally, we require the translation to be defined on all possible source documents; this corresponds to Hegnerâ\u80\u99s notion of uniform translation. The existence of such translation would allow to update XML views without the need of materialization. The class of views we consider can remove parts of the document and rename nodes. Our update programs define the simultaneous application of a collection of atomic update operations among insertion/deletion of a subtree and node renaming. Such update programs are compatible with the XQuery Update Facility (XQUF) snapshot semantics. Both views and update programs are represented by recognizable tree languages. We present as a proof of concept a small fragment of XQUF that can be expressed by our update programs, thus allows for update propagation. Two settings for the update problem are studied: without source constraints, where all source updates are allowed, and with source constraints, where there is a restricted set of authorized source updates. Using tree automata techniques, we establish that without constraints, all view updates are uniformly translatable and the translation is tractable. In presence of constraints, not all view updates are uniformly translatable. However, we introduce a reasonable restriction on update programs for which uniform translation with constraints becomes possible

A Standardized Workflow Based on the STAVIRO Unbaited Underwater Video System for Monitoring Fish and Habitat Essential Biodiversity Variables in Coastal Areas

Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) related to benthic habitats and high trophic levels such as fish communities must be measured at fine scale but monitored and assessed at spatial scales that are relevant for policy and management actions. Local scales are important for assessing anthropogenic impacts, and conservation-related and fisheries management actions, while reporting on the conservation status of biodiversity to formulate national and international policies requires much broader scales. Measurements must account for the fact that coastal habitats and fish communities are heterogeneously distributed locally and at larger scales. Assessments based on in situ monitoring generally suffer from poor spatial replication and limited geographical coverage, which is challenging for area-wide assessments. Requirements for appropriate monitoring comprise cost-efficient and standardized observation protocols and data formats, spatially scalable and versatile data workflows, data that comply with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles, while minimizing the environmental impact of measurements. This paper describes a standardized workflow based on remote underwater video that aims to assess fishes (at species and community levels) and habitat-related EBVs in coastal areas. This panoramic unbaited video technique was developed in 2007 to survey both fishes and benthic habitats in a cost-efficient manner, and with minimal effect on biodiversity. It can be deployed in areas where low underwater visibility is not a permanent or major limitation. The technique was consolidated and standardized and has been successfully used in varied settings over the last 12 years. We operationalized the EBV workflow by documenting the field protocol, survey design, image post-processing, EBV production and data curation. Applications of the workflow are illustrated here based on some 4,500 observations (fishes and benthic habitats) in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and Mediterranean Sea. The STAVIRO’s proven track-record of utility and cost-effectiveness indicates that it should be considered by other researchers for future applications.publishedVersio