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Semantically Correct Query Answers in the Presence of Null Values

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Current Trends in Database Technology – EDBT 2006 (EDBT 2006)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 4254))

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Abstract

For several reasons a database may not satisfy a given set of integrity constraints (ICs), but most likely most of the information in it is still consistent with those ICs; and could be retrieved when queries are answered. Consistent answers to queries wrt a set of ICs have been characterized as answers that can be obtained from every possible minimally repaired consistent version of the original database. In this paper we consider databases that contain null values and are also repaired, if necessary, using null values. For this purpose, we propose first a precise semantics for IC satisfaction in a database with null values that is compatible with the way null values are treated in commercial database management systems. Next, a precise notion of repair is introduced that privileges the introduction of null values when repairing foreign key constraints, in such a way that these new values do not create an infinite cycle of new inconsistencies. Finally, we analyze how to specify this kind of repairs of a database that contains null values using disjunctive logic programs with stable model semantics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

    Loreto Bravo & Leopoldo Bertossi

Authors
  1. Loreto Bravo
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  2. Leopoldo Bertossi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität München, Germany

    Torsten Grust

  2. International University in Germany, Germany

    Hagen Höpfner

  3. University of the Basque Country,  

    Arantza Illarramendi

  4. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Stefan Jablonski

  5. Università di Milano, Italy

    Marco Mesiti

  6. University of Erlangen-Nurmberg, Germany

    Sascha Müller

  7. Institut für Informatik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Oettingenstr. 67, 80538, München, Germany

    Paula-Lavinia Patranjan

  8. Dept. of Computer Science and Automation, TU Ilmenau

    Kai-Uwe Sattler

  9. Faculty of Computer Science, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany

    Myra Spiliopoulou

  10. Université de Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium

    Jef Wijsen

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bravo, L., Bertossi, L. (2006). Semantically Correct Query Answers in the Presence of Null Values. In: Grust, T., et al. Current Trends in Database Technology – EDBT 2006. EDBT 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4254. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11896548_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11896548_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-46788-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46790-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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