Abstract: Recently, querying XML data has become an important research topic. Finding all occurrences of a twig pattern is a core operation for XML query processing. An improved approach of twig pattern matching for XML query is proposed. The approach can reduce the number of nodes to be processed by pruning useless data streams. In query process, it will not only shorten the query time but also enhance accuracy rate of query. The experimental results show that the algorithm can enhance query efficiency.

Key words: Extensive Makeup Language（XML）, XPath, twig pattern matching, pruning, merging

摘要： 近年来, XML数据查询成为一个重要的研究课题。处理小枝查询是XML查询实现的核心操作，针对小枝模式查询，提出了一种改进的小枝模式匹配算法。该算法通过剪去无用的数据流以减少待处理结点的数目，从而节省处理时间，提高查询的准确率。实验结果表明，该算法能够有效提高查询效率。

关键词: 可扩展标示语言（XML）, XPath, 小枝模式匹配, 剪枝, 归并