Shortening the OED: experience with a grammar-defined database

ABSTRACT

Textual databases with highly variable structure can be usefully described by a grammar-defined model. One example of such a text is the Oxford English Dictionary. This paper describes a first attempt to apply technology based on this model to a real problem. A language called GOEDEL, which is a partial implementation of a set of grammar-defined database operators, was used to extract and alter a subset of the OED in order to assist the editors in their production of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. The implementation of the pstring data structure to describe a piece of text and the functions that operate on this pstring are illustrated with some detailed examples. The project was judged a success and the resulting program used in production by the Oxford University Press.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.2 DATABASE MANAGEMENT

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Specialized application languages

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING

  J. Computer Applications
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Publishing

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Languages

Keywords:
grammar defined model, parsed string, text database