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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.7

The Importance of Parameters in Ranking Functions

Authors: Christoph Standke, Nikolaos Tziavelis, Wolfgang Gatterbauer, and Benny Kimelfeld

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 365, 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)

Abstract

How important is the weight of a given column in determining the ranking of tuples in a table? To address such an explanation question about a ranking function, we investigate the computation of SHAP scores for column weights, adopting a recent framework by Grohe et al. [ICDT'24]. The exact definition of this score depends on three key components: (1) the ranking function in use, (2) an effect function that quantifies the impact of using alternative weights on the ranking, and (3) an underlying weight distribution. We analyze the computational complexity of different instantiations of this framework for a range of fundamental ranking and effect functions, focusing on probabilistically independent finite distributions for individual columns. For the ranking functions, we examine lexicographic orders and score-based orders defined by the summation, minimum, and maximum functions. For the effect functions, we consider global, top-k, and local perspectives: global measures quantify the divergence between the perturbed and original rankings, top-k measures inspect the change in the set of top-k answers, and local measures capture the impact on an individual tuple of interest. Although all cases admit an additive fully polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS), we establish the complexity of exact computation, identifying which cases are solvable in polynomial time and which are #P-hard. We further show that all complexity results, lower bounds and upper bounds, extend to a related task of computing the Shapley value of whole columns (regardless of their weight).

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Christoph Standke, Nikolaos Tziavelis, Wolfgang Gatterbauer, and Benny Kimelfeld. The Importance of Parameters in Ranking Functions. In 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 365, pp. 7:1-7:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{standke_et_al:LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.7,
  author =	{Standke, Christoph and Tziavelis, Nikolaos and Gatterbauer, Wolfgang and Kimelfeld, Benny},
  title =	{{The Importance of Parameters in Ranking Functions}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-413-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{365},
  editor =	{ten Cate, Balder and Funk, Maurice},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256217},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Ranking, Explanation, Shapley value, SHAP scores}
}

Document

Database Theory in Action

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.27

Database Theory in Action: Direct Access to Query Answers

Authors: Jiayin Hu and Nikolaos Tziavelis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 365, 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)

Abstract

Direct access asks for the retrieval of query answers by their ranked position, given a query and a desired order. While the time complexity of data structures supporting such accesses has been studied in depth, and efficient algorithms for many queries and common orders are known, their practical performance has received little attention. We provide an implementation covering a wide range of queries and orders; it allows us to investigate intriguing practical aspects, including the comparative performance of database systems and the relationship between direct access and its single-access counterpart.

Cite as

Jiayin Hu and Nikolaos Tziavelis. Database Theory in Action: Direct Access to Query Answers. In 29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 365, pp. 27:1-27:5, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{hu_et_al:LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.27,
  author =	{Hu, Jiayin and Tziavelis, Nikolaos},
  title =	{{Database Theory in Action: Direct Access to Query Answers}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Conference on Database Theory (ICDT 2026)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:5},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-413-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{365},
  editor =	{ten Cate, Balder and Funk, Maurice},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256411},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICDT.2026.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: direct access, conjunctive queries, joins, ranking}
}

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Documents authored by Tziavelis, Nikolaos

The Importance of Parameters in Ranking Functions

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Database Theory in Action: Direct Access to Query Answers

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