Lecture 4-6 (R.A)

Lecture 4-6
Introduction to relational Model

Outline
Structure of Relational database
Database Schema
Relational Keys
Integrity Constraints
Relational Query Languages
The Relational Algebra
Select Operation
Project Operation
Union Operation
Set Difference Operation
Set intersection Operation
Cartesian Product Operation
Rename Operation
Join Operations
Structure of Relational database
Relation: a relation is a table with columns and rows.
Attribute: an attribute is a named column of a relation.
Domain: a domain is a set of allowable values for one or more attribute.
Tuple: A tuple is a row of a relation.
Degree: The degree of a relation is the number of attribute it contain
Cardinality: The cardinality of a relation is the number of tuples it contain
Relational database: a collection of normalized relations with distinct relation
names.
Structure of Relational Database
Attributes
(column
headers) Name Address
John Washington
Tuples
Ella Boston
(rows)
Relation Instance
Customers
Relation
name
Database Relations
Relation schema: A named relation defined by a set of attribute and domain name
pairs.
Relational database schema: A set of relation schemas, each with a distinct name.
Relational Keys
SuperKey: An attribute, or set of attributes, that uniquely identifies a tuple within a
relation.
Candidate Key: A superkey that no proper subset is a superkey within the relation
Primary Key: The candidate key that is selected to identify tuples uniquely within
the relation.
Foreign Key: An attribute, or set of attributes, within one or more relation that
matches the candidate key of some (possibly the same) relation.
Integrity Constraints
Nulls: Represents a value for an attribute that is currently unknown or is not
applicable for this tuple.
Entity Integrity: In a base relation, no attribute of a primary key can be null.
Domain Integrity: refers to the rules defined for the values that can be stored for a
certain attribute
Referential integrity: If a foreign key exists in a relation, either the foreign key
value must match a candidate key value of some tuple in its home relation or the
foreign key value must be wholly null.
Relational Query Languages
Procedural
Relational algebra
Non-procedural, or declarative
Relational calculus
Tuple relational calculus
Domain relational calculus
Query languages used in practice include elements of both the procedural and the
nonprocedural approaches
Relational Algebra
Six basic operators
select: 
project: 
union: 
set difference: –
Cartesian product: x
rename: 
The Selection and Projection operations are unary operations, as they operate on one
relation, other operations work on pairs of relations and are therefore called binary
operations
The operators take one or two relations as inputs and produce a new relation as a
result.
Select Operation
Notation:  p(R)
p is called the selection predicate or condition
The select operation selects tuples that satisfy a given predicate.

We use the lowercase Greek letter sigma (σ) to denote selection.
Example
List those tuples of the instructor
relation where the instructor is in
the “Physics” department.
σdept name =“Physics” (instructor )

Select tuples having salary greater than
$85000
σsalary>85000 (instructor )
Select Operation
In general, we allow comparisons using =, =, <, ≤, >, and ≥ in the selection
predicate. Furthermore, we can combine several predicates into a larger predicate
by using the connectives and (∧), or (∨), and not ( ￢ ).
 Relation r
A=B ^ D > 5 (r)

Example
find the instructors in Physics with a
salary greater than $90,000.
σdept_name=“Physics”∧ salary>90000 (instructor )

Project Operation
Notation:  A1 , A2 ,, Ak ( R)
where A1, A2, ….,A k are attribute names and R is a relation name.
Duplicate rows removed from result, since relations are sets

Project Operation
Relation r:
A,C (r)
Example
List all instructors’ ID, name, and
salary, from the instructor relation
Union Operation
Notation: r  s
Defined as: r  s = {t | t  r or t  s}
For r  s to be valid.
1. r, s must have the same arity (same number of attributes)
2. The attribute domains must be compatible (example: 2nd column of r deals with the
same type of values as does the 2nd column of s)
Example
Relations r, s:
r  s:
Example
find the set of all courses taught in the Fall 2009 semester, the Spring 2010 semester,
or both.
Exercise
Write the following queries in relational algebra, using the university schema.
a. Find the titles of courses in the Comp. Sci. department that have 3 credits.
b. Find the IDs of all students who were taught by an instructor named Einstein;make
sure there are no duplicates in the result.
c. Find the highest salary of any instructor.
d. Find all instructors earning the highest salary (there may be more than one with the
same salary).
Suggested Reading
Chapter 5 of Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation,
and Management by Thomas Conolly 6th Edition
Chapter 2 of Database System Concepts by Abraham Silberschatz

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Lecture 4-6

Introduction to relational Model

The select operation selects tuples that satisfy a given predicate.

σdept name =“Physics” (instructor )

A=B ^ D > 5 (r)

σdept_name=“Physics”∧ salary>90000 (instructor )

Duplicate rows removed from result, since relations are sets

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