Yuxiang Sun, Mengshi Chen, Jianwei Wang, Wenjie Zhang, Kai Wang
Data access is often limited by privacy or proprietary restrictions, motivating relational database synthesis, which synthesizes realistic contents across related tables. Relational databases couple multi-table structure with mixed-type attributes and intricate semantic dependencies among values, making realistic synthesis challenging. In this paper, we propose REMIX, a unified framework for realistic relational database synthesis with mixed-type attributes. REMIX integrates a small language model (SLM) and a large language model (LLM) through two key phases: Graph-to-Prompt Tuning and Collaborative SLM-LLM Decoding. To capture attribute dependencies within and across tables, Graph-to-Prompt Tuning represents the database as an attributed heterogeneous graph. We project mixed-type record embeddings and aggregated relational context into soft prompts that serve as continuous vectors for an SLM. We jointly optimize the graph-to-prompt mapping and SLM through autoregressive attribute reconstruction. Furthermore, to reduce semantic inconsistencies, Collaborative SLM-LLM Decoding combines SLM-based record generation with repair programs induced by an LLM. The LLM discovers semantic dependencies, iteratively refines them through independent validation with a statistical bound on the overall probability of false acceptance, and translates validated dependencies into tested programs that repair generated values. Extensive experiments on seven real-world relational databases demonstrate the effectiveness of REMIX in generating high-fidelity data with improved semantic consistency and downstream utility.
Mengshi Chen, Yuxiang Sun, Tengchao Li Shanghai Jiaotong University, Jianwei Wang University of New South Wales, Kai Wang Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xuemin Lin Shanghai Jiaotong University, Ying Zhang University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Wenjie Zhang the university of new south wales
Data preparation is a critical step in enhancing the usability of tabular data and thus boosts downstream data-driven tasks. Traditional methods often face challenges in capturing the intricate relationships within tables and adapting to the tasks involved. Recent advances in Language Models (LMs), especially in Large Language Models (LLMs), offer new opportunities to automate and support tabular data preparation. However, why LMs suit tabular data preparation (i.e., how their capabilities match task demands) and how to use them effectively across phases still remain to be systematically explored. In this survey, we systematically analyze the role of LMs in enhancing tabular data preparation processes, focusing on four core phases: data acquisition, integration, cleaning, and transformation. For each phase, we present an integrated analysis of how LMs can be combined with other components for different preparation tasks, highlight key advancements, and outline prospective pipelines.
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cs.CL
Proceedings of the 64th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers) · 2026 · 正式发表