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A logical design method for relational databases based on generalization and aggregation semantics

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Abstract

In this paper, a series of design methods for relational databases based on generalization and aggregation semantics is set up. The relationship between a class and its subclass is considered as a scheme constraint. The concept of inheritance dependencies, which describes the multiple inheritance among schemes, is presented in the paper. It is shown that the inference rules for inheritance dependencies are sound and complete. Furthermore, a series of results about the closure of inheritance dependencies and the minimal set of inheritance dependencies, which are analogues to functional dependencies, is obtained. In order to describe the aggregation semantics, the concept of aggregation dependencies is given. It is easy to implement these constraints under relational database management systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Yunnan University, 650091, Kunming

    Liu Weiyi & Yao Hong

Authors
  1. Liu Weiyi
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  2. Yao Hong
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Additional information

Liu Weiyi was born in 1950. He is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Yunnan University. His research interests include databases and information modeling.

Yao Hong was born in 1971. He received his M.S. degree from the Department of Computer Science, Yunnan University. His research interests include databases and software engineering.

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Liu, W., Yao, H. A logical design method for relational databases based on generalization and aggregation semantics. J. of Comput. Sci. & Technol. 12, 252–262 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02948975

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02948975

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