Assumptions in Relational Database Theory

Summary: Critiques standard relational-theory assumptions (universal relation, lossless join, FD inference, decomposition, acyclic JDs), showing they can be stronger or inappropriate for real-world schemas. Gives counterexamples (e.g., FD transitivity can fail) and urges re-evaluation. (summarized by gpt-5-mini on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: 603
Venue: PODS
Year: 1982
Pagerank: 0.00014353951
Overall Rank: 1,062 | 92.63%
DOI: -

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Paolo Atzeni
2. D. Stott Parker, Jr.

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 13 of 13 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
1,302	The Use of Information Capacity in Schema Integration and Translation	1993	VLDB	0.00012696737
2,482	LAURA: A Formal Data Model and her Logical Design Methodology	1983	VLDB	8.6783176e-05
2,531	Efficient Query Answering in the Representative Instance Approach	1985	PODS	8.5916172e-05
3,086	Reflections on Boyce-Codd Normal Form	1982	VLDB	7.5948483e-05
3,096	Database Decomposition Into Fourth Normal Form	1983	VLDB	7.5755731e-05
3,615	On the Correctness of Representing Extended Entity-Relationship Structures in the Relational Model	1989	SIGMOD	6.9120226e-05
3,877	Inclusion Dependencies and the Universal Instance	1983	PODS	6.6673599e-05
4,904	Universal Relation Views: A Pragmatic Approach	1983	VLDB	5.8397481e-05
5,036	Query Processing For Distributed Databases Using Generalized Semi-Joins	1982	SIGMOD	5.7403975e-05
8,205	Answering Queries In Relational Databases	1983	SIGMOD	4.5546165e-05
8,946	ONE FLAVOR ASSUMPTION AND gamma-ACYCLICITY FOR UNIVERSAL RELATION VIEWS	1986	PODS	4.4229886e-05
12,985	DYNAMIC QUERY INTERPRETATION IN RELATIONAL DATABASES (Extended abstract)	1987	PODS	4.1905499e-05
13,006	On the Properties and Characterisation of Connection-trap-free Schemes (Extended Abstract)	1986	PODS	4.1905499e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 4 of 4 cited papers.

Citations counted here include only citations to other VLDB/SIGMOD/CIDR/PODS papers in this database.

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
131	Can We Use The Universal Instance Assumption Without Using Nulls?	1981	SIGMOD	0.00043719033
924	The U. R. Strikes Back	1982	PODS	0.00015249498
1,227	A Generalized Access Path Model And Its Application To A Relational Data Base System	1976	SIGMOD	0.00013159117
1,886	Normal forms and relational database operators	1979	SIGMOD	0.00010205841

Semantically Similar Papers

Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
13,062	Algebraic Aspects of Relational Database Decomposition (Extended Abstract)	1983	PODS	4.1905499e-05
13,020	Relaxing the Universal Relation Scheme Assumption	1985	PODS	4.1905499e-05
13,071	A Theory Of Data Dependencies Over Relational Expressions	1982	PODS	4.1905499e-05
9,118	Unifying Functional and Multivalued Dependencies for Relational Database Design	1986	PODS	4.388537e-05
12,960	Decomposition of Relational Schemata into Components Defined by Both Projection and Restriction	1988	PODS	4.1905499e-05
500	Independent Database Schemas (Extended Abstract)	1982	PODS	0.00021622167
170	A Complete Axiomatization For Functional And Multivalued Dependencies In Database Relations	1977	SIGMOD	0.00038859332
3,052	Comprehensive Approach to the Design of Relational Database Schemes	1984	VLDB	7.6485833e-05
13,045	On Lossless Transformation of Database Schemes Not Necessarily Satisfying Universal Instance Assumption (preliminary version)	1984	PODS	4.1905499e-05
13,072	A Systematic Approach to Relational Database Theory	1982	SIGMOD	4.1905499e-05