Answering Constraint Path Queries over Graphs

Abstract: Constraints are powerful declarative constructs that allow users to conveniently restrict variable values that potentially range over an infinite domain. In this paper, we propose a constraint path query language over property graphs, which extends Regular Path Queries (RPQs) with SMT constraints on data attributes in the form of equality constraints and Linear Real Arithmetic (LRA) constraints. We provide efficient algorithms for evaluating such path queries over property graphs, which exploits optimization of macro-states (among others, using theory-specific techniques). In particular, we demonstrate how such an algorithm may effectively utilize highly optimized SMT solvers for resolving such constraints over paths. We implement our algorithm in MillenniumDB, an open-source graph engine supporting property graph queries and GQL. Our extensive empirical evaluation in a real-world setting demonstrates the viability of our approach.