Sven Hartmann
On Interactions of Cardinality Constraints, Key and Functional Dependencies
Preprint series: Preprints aus dem Fachbereich Mathematik, Universität Rostock
MSC:
68P15 Database theory
68R10 Graph theory, See also {05Cxx, 90B10, 90B35, 90C35}
Abstract: Cardinality constraints as well as key dependencies and functional
dependencies are among the most popular classes of constraints in
database models.
While the formal properties of each of the constraint
classes are now well understood, little is known about their
interaction. The objective of this paper is to discuss how
constraints from these classes go together. We propose methods for
reasoning about a set of cardinality constraints, key and certain
functional dependencies. Moreover, we construct Armstrong databases
for these constraints, which are of special interest for example-based
deduction in database design.
Keywords: cardinality constraint; functional dependency; implication