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Hausler, Dominique ; Klettke, Meike ; Störl, Uta

A language for graph database evolution and its implementation in Neo4j

Book section

Hausler, Dominique , Klettke, Meike and Störl, Uta (2023) A language for graph database evolution and its implementation in Neo4j. In: Fonseca, Claudenir M. and Borbinha, José and Guizzardi, Giancarlo, (eds.) ER-Companion 2023 ER Forum, 7th SCME, Project Exhibitions, Posters and Demos, and Doctoral Consortium. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3618.

DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.77040


Abstract

In this article, we present an evolution language for graph databases and a method to realize evolution operations on graph databases and their schema. Graph database management systems like Neo4j can be used for different scenarios: they can store graphs where no semantic constraints are checked. It is also possible to use them to store graphs where the structure of nodes and relationships is ...

In this article, we present an evolution language for graph databases and a method to realize evolution operations on graph databases and their schema. Graph database management systems like Neo4j can be used for different scenarios: they can store graphs where no semantic constraints are checked. It is also possible to use them to store graphs where the structure of nodes and relationships is regular, for example, because the nodes and relationships of a graph have been generated by an application. In the latter case, these structures may change, that means they can undergo evolution. Currently, there is no established evolutionary language for graphs. However, evolution operations (such as add, rename, delete, merge, copy, split and move) have already been developed for other database models. In this article, we will not only use the established evolution operations but additionally extend the operations appropriated. After analyzing evolution operators explicitly in the context of graph databases, we also created a new graph-specific operation: transform. Moreover, we suggest an evolution language to graph data and show how it can be executed on the graph database schema as well as on the instances (i.e. the graphs themselves). In doing so, some operations can be implemented native based on Cypher, others non-native using the APOC library for Neo4j.


Involved Institutions


Details

Item typeBook section
Title of Book:ER-Companion 2023 ER Forum, 7th SCME, Project Exhibitions, Posters and Demos, and Doctoral Consortium
Open Access TypeCC-License
Other Series:CEUR Workshop Proceedings
Volume3618
Date2023
Date of publication10 Jul 2025 05:30
InstitutionsInformatics and Data Science > General computer science > Data Engineering (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Meike Klettke)
Projects
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (385808805)
Keywordsgraph databases evolution, evolution, graph schema description, graph evolution language
Dewey Decimal Classification000 Computer science, information & general works > 004 Computer science
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgPartially
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-770402
Item ID77040

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