PackageBuilder: From Tuples to Packages

TL;DR

PackageBuilder is a system that extends database capabilities to support package queries, enabling users to specify and evaluate collections of tuples satisfying both individual and global constraints through a declarative language and interactive interface.

Contribution

It introduces PaQL, a SQL-based language for package queries, and system techniques for efficient evaluation using pruning, heuristics, and constraint solvers.

Findings

Supports interactive package query specification and navigation

Employs pruning and heuristics for efficient query evaluation

Demonstrates practical usability through a live system

Abstract

In this demo, we present PackageBuilder, a system that extends database systems to support package queries. A package is a collection of tuples that individually satisfy base constraints and collectively satisfy global constraints. The need for package support arises in a variety of scenarios: For example, in the creation of meal plans, users are not only interested in the nutritional content of individual meals (base constraints), but also care to specify daily consumption limits and control the balance of the entire plan (global constraints). We introduce PaQL, a declarative SQL-based package query language, and the interface abstractions which allow users to interactively specify package queries and easily navigate through their results. To efficiently evaluate queries, the system employs pruning and heuristics, as well as state-of-the-art constraint optimization solvers. We demonstrate PackageBuilder by allowing attendees to interact with the system's interface, to define PaQL queries and to observe how query evaluation is performed.