Mapping natural language to queries using a query grammar

A method comprising:

• receiving a string entered via a user interface;
• generating, based on the string, a set of tokens of a database syntax, wherein the tokens are each matched to a respective fragment of the string;
• generating a query graph for the set of tokens using a finite state machine representing a query grammar, wherein nodes of the finite state machine represent token types, directed edges of the finite state machine represent valid transitions between token types in the query grammar, vertices of the query graph correspond to respective tokens of the set of tokens, and directed edges of the query graph represent a transition between two tokens in a sequencing of the tokens, wherein generating the query graph includes determining a weight for a directed edge from a source vertex of the query graph corresponding to a first token of the set of tokens to a destination vertex of the query graph corresponding to a second token of the set of tokens, wherein the weight is determined based on a grammar weight of a directed edge from a node of the finite state machine representing a token type of the first token to a node of the finite state machine representing a token type of the second token;
• determining, based on the query graph, a sequence of the tokens in the set of tokens to form a database query;
• invoking a search of a database using a query based on the database query to obtain search results;
• and
• presenting data based on the search results in the user interface.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations comprising:

• generating, based on a string, a set of tokens of a database syntax, wherein the tokens are each matched to a respective fragment of the string;
• generating a query graph for the set of tokens using a finite state machine representing a query grammar, wherein nodes of the finite state machine represent token types, directed edges of the finite state machine represent valid transitions between token types in the query grammar, vertices of the query graph correspond to respective tokens of the set of tokens, and directed edges of the query graph represent a transition between two tokens in a sequencing of the tokens, wherein generating the query graph includes determining a weight for a directed edge from a source vertex of the query graph corresponding to a first token of the set of tokens to a destination vertex of the query graph corresponding to a second token of the set of tokens, wherein the weight is determined based on a grammar weight of a directed edge from a node of the finite state machine representing a token type of the first token to a node of the finite state machine representing a token type of the second token;
• determining, based on the query graph, a sequence of the tokens in the set of tokens to form a database query;
• and
• invoking a search of a database using a query based on the database query to obtain search results.