Testing Graph Databases via Transformations Between Fixed-Length and Variable-Length Queries

Summary: PATHTest introduces metamorphic testing for graph databases by transforming fixed-length queries into result-equivalent variable-length queries. Its iterative generator and three mutation rules exposed 41 previously unknown bugs across seven GDBMSs, beyond existing approaches. (summarized by gpt-5.6-luna on Aug 17 2026)

Paper ID: h7d60b1abc1bb3943
Venue: VLDB
Year: 2026
Pagerank: 4.9793485e-05
Overall Rank: 10,782 | 27.51%
DOI: 10.14778/3819518.3819547

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

No non-self incoming citations found for this paper in this database.

Authors

1. Jinxin Gui (Nanjing University)
2. Yuanhong Lan (Nanjing University)
3. Longlong Lu (Nanjing University)
4. Yifei Lu (Nanjing University)
5. Minxue Pan (Nanjing University)

BibTeX Citation

@article{gui_vldb26,
        title = {{Testing Graph Databases via Transformations Between Fixed-Length and Variable-Length Queries}},
        author = {Gui, Jinxin and Lan, Yuanhong and Lu, Longlong and Lu, Yifei and Pan, Minxue},
        journal = {PVLDB},
        series = {{VLDB} '26},
        volume = {19},
        number = {9},
        pages = {2234--2247},
        doi = {10.14778/3819518.3819547},
        url = {https://doi.org/10.14778/3819518.3819547},
        year = {2026}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 0 of 0 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 13 of 13 cited papers.

Citations counted here include only citations to other VLDB/SIGMOD/CIDR/PODS papers in this database.

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
383	Massive Stochastic Testing of SQL	1998	VLDB	0.00019484034
719	Querying Graph Databases	2013	PODS	0.00014529156
783	Distance-Join: Pattern Match Query In a Large Graph Database	2009	VLDB	0.00014021799
1,374	Neighborhood Based Fast Graph Search in Large Networks	2011	SIGMOD	0.00010880336
1,597	Finding Regular Simple Paths in Graph Databases	1989	VLDB	0.0001012429
1,832	APOLLO: Automatic Detection and Diagnosis of Performance Regressions in Database Systems	2020	VLDB	9.5430971e-05
2,235	NeMa: Fast Graph Search with Label Similarity	2013	VLDB	8.7779518e-05
3,936	Testing Graph Database Systems via Graph-Aware Metamorphic Relations	2024	VLDB	6.9162836e-05
5,054	Detecting Metadata-Related Logic Bugs in Database Systems via Raw Database Construction	2024	VLDB	6.2944842e-05
6,100	Constant Optimization Driven Database System Testing	2025	SIGMOD	5.8868734e-05
6,177	Answering Billion-Scale Label-Constrained Reachability Queries within Microsecond	2020	VLDB	5.8598586e-05
6,765	DLCR: Efficient Indexing for Label-Constrained Reachability Queries on Large Dynamic Graphs	2022	VLDB	5.6872079e-05
9,644	Dinkel: State-Aware and Granular Framework for Validating Graph Databases	2026	VLDB	5.1453267e-05

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