RELATION PATH VIABILITY PREDICTION

There is provided a process for predicting whether a query will produce a result in an information system formed of objects having different instances and relations between the objects. An instance-to-object bitmap is computed off-line, before queries are generated by a user: the bitmap is used to represent the existence of a relation path from instances to the other objects of a database. When a query is generated, the bitmap is accessed to predict whether there exists a relation from the instance to the object, that is whether the query will issue a result. The process makes it possible for a user to abort queries without consuming run-time. It also makes it possible to guide users through navigation of a Webpage or the like, by suggesting relations that will produce results.