Title :
An Extension of "Representative Instances and γ-Acyclic Relational Schemes"
Author_Institution :
Computer Science and Systems Branch, Naval Research Laboratory
Abstract :
Let R be a γ-acyclic relational scheme, and let F be the set of functional dependencies (FD´s) embodied in R. Given an existence constrained database r over R, it was shown in [1] that it is possible to connect tuples from different relations in r and construct a universal instance L, possibly containing null values δ, such that the total projection of L onto R yields exactly the set r. Moreover, conditions were given which guarantee that this L would satisfy the functional dependency with nulls (NFD) counterparts of FD´s, in F. The purpose of this note is to generalize the latter result and show that under the same conditions, L actually satisfies NFD counterparts of FD´s in the closure F+ of F.
Keywords :
γ-acyclic relational scheme; Functional dependency with nulls; representative instance; universal instance; Computer science; Constraint theory; Relational databases; Terminology; Transaction databases; γ-acyclic relational scheme; Functional dependency with nulls; representative instance; universal instance;
Journal_Title :
Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TSE.1987.233792