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A normal form for relational databases that is based on domains and keys

Editor: Robert W. Taylor Author:

Ronald FaginAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), Volume 6, Issue 3

Pages 387 - 415

https://doi.org/10.1145/319587.319592

Published: 01 September 1981 Publication History

Abstract

A new normal form for relational databases, called domain-key normal form (DK/NF), is defined. Also, formal definitions of insertion anomaly and deletion anomaly are presented. It is shown that a schema is in DK/NF if and only if it has no insertion or deletion anomalies. Unlike previously defined normal forms, DK/NF is not defined in terms of traditional dependencies (functional, multivalued, or join). Instead, it is defined in terms of the more primitive concepts of domain and key, along with the general concept of a “constraint.” We also consider how the definitions of traditional normal forms might be modified by taking into consideration, for the first time, the combinatorial consequences of bounded domain sizes. It is shown that after this modification, these traditional normal forms are all implied by DK/NF. In particular, if all domains are infinite, then these traditional normal forms are all implied by DK/NF.

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Cited By

Zhang ZLink S(2024)Mixed Covers of Keys and Functional Dependencies for Maintaining the Integrity of Data under UpdatesProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3654621.365462617:7(1578-1590)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
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Halpin TMorgan T(2024)Schema TransformationsInformation Modeling and Relational Databases10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.00018-9(681-771)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.00018-9
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Index Terms

A normal form for relational databases that is based on domains and keys
1. Information systems
  1. Data management systems
    1. Database design and models
      1. Relational database model
    2. Query languages
      1. Relational database query languages

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Database Systems

ACM Transactions on Database Systems Volume 6, Issue 3

Sept. 1981

187 pages

ISSN:0362-5915

EISSN:1557-4644

DOI:10.1145/319587

Editor:
Robert W. Taylor
IBM Research Lab, San Jose, CA

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1981 ACM.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 September 1981

Published in TODS Volume 6, Issue 3

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Cited By

Zhang ZLink S(2024)Mixed Covers of Keys and Functional Dependencies for Maintaining the Integrity of Data under UpdatesProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3654621.365462617:7(1578-1590)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.14778/3654621.3654626
(2024)BibliographyInformation Modeling and Relational Databases10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.09995-3(1029-1040)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.09995-3
Halpin TMorgan T(2024)Schema TransformationsInformation Modeling and Relational Databases10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.00018-9(681-771)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-23790-4.00018-9
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Skavantzos PLink S(2023)Normalizing Property GraphsProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3611479.361150616:11(3031-3043)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2023
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Zhang YChronis YPatel JRekatsinas T(2023)Simple Adaptive Query Processing vs. Learned Query Optimizers: Observations and AnalysisProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3611479.361150116:11(2962-2975)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.14778/3611479.3611501
Wang HWei Z(2023)Estimating Single-Node PageRank in Õ (min{d, √m}) TimeProceedings of the VLDB Endowment10.14778/3611479.361150016:11(2949-2961)Online publication date: 24-Aug-2023
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Storey VLukyanenko RCastellanos A(2023)Conceptual Modeling: Topics, Themes, and Technology TrendsACM Computing Surveys10.1145/358933855:14s(1-38)Online publication date: 17-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3589338
Zhang ZChen WLink S(2023)Composite Object Normal Forms: Parameterizing Boyce-Codd Normal Form by the Number of Minimal KeysProceedings of the ACM on Management of Data10.1145/35886931:1(1-25)Online publication date: 30-May-2023
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