Outline

The following are the preprocessing steps required to run this project (or to run it on a new dataset).

1. Prepare dataset layout
2. Build Vector Indexes for the DB contents.
3. Generate IR (intermediate-representation) for the DB schemas.
4. Prepare schema input for running the datasets.

(1) Dataset Preparation

Process the downloaded official dataset archive into a file organization structure usable by this project.

Take Spider and BIRD as examples, please organize the files into the following directory tree.

OpenSQL
├── dataset
│   ├── dev.zip         // Official BIRD-dev set 
│   ├── train.zip       // Official BIRD-train set
│   └── spider_data.zip // Official Spider dataset
├── ...

Use the preprocess/prepare_datasets.py script to prepare datasets. This script will extract the downloaded data, rename it, and clean up unnecessary files.

Examples:

python preprocess/prepare_datasets.py --dataset BIRD_dev # Prepare BIRD_dev
python preprocess/prepare_datasets.py --dataset BIRD_train # Prepare BIRD_train
python preprocess/prepare_datasets.py --dataset Spider # Prepare Spider
python preprocess/prepare_datasets.py --all # Prepare all datasets

(2) Build Vector Index

Build value indexes before running schema_input.py. This step reads database contents and writes vector indexes to:

artifacts/value_index/<bench>/<db_id>.pkl

Use preprocess/build_value_index.py.

Examples:

python preprocess/build_value_index.py --bench Spider_train --device cuda:7 # Build one benchmark
python preprocess/build_value_index.py --all --device cuda:7 # Build all supported benchmarks

# Force local-only model loading (offline)
python preprocess/build_value_index.py --bench Spider_train --device cuda:7 --model-load-mode local

# Force online model loading
python preprocess/build_value_index.py --bench Spider_train --device cuda:7 --model-load-mode online

(3) Generate IR

Read the database and supplementary information to construct an intermediate representation file of the database schema.

Use preprocess/schema_to_ir.py.

By default, output files are written to:

artifacts/ir/<bench>.json

Examples:

python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench Spider_train
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench Spider_dev
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench Spider_test
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench BIRD_train
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench BIRD_dev

# Run all fixed benchmarks
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --all

# Dr.Spider benchmark
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench DB_DBcontent_equivalence
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench DB_schema_abbreviation
python preprocess/schema_to_ir.py --bench DB_schema_synonym

(4) Prepare Schema Input

This step prepares the linearized database schema, and for each user question retrieves from the vector index the database values related to that question.

Use preprocess/schema_input.py

python preprocess/schema_input.py --bench BIRD_dev --device cuda:7 # For BIRD_dev
python preprocess/schema_input.py --bench Spider_dev --device cuda:7 # For Spider_dev
python preprocess/schema_input.py --bench Spider_test --device cuda:7 # For Spider_test

# Local-only model loading (offline)
python preprocess/schema_input.py --bench Spider_dev --device cuda:7 --model-load-mode local

About Embedding Model Loading (Step 2 & 4)

preprocess/build_value_index.py and preprocess/schema_input.py both use SentenceTransformer embeddings and now support:

• --model-load-mode auto (default): try local cache first, then try online download.
• --model-load-mode local: only use local files (offline mode).
• --model-load-mode online: allow online download directly.

If your environment has internet access, the default auto mode is recommended.

If your network is unstable or restricted, manually download the model (for example Alibaba-NLP/gte-large-en-v1.5) and use a local path:

python preprocess/build_value_index.py --bench Spider_train \
  --model-name /path/to/local/gte-large-en-v1.5 --model-load-mode local

You can also place downloaded model files under artifacts/model_cache/ and provide --cache-folder if needed.