The Format Model: A Theory of Database Organization (extended abstract)

Summary: Defines “formats”—recursively built, semantically rich representations from three primitives—and formalizes relative information capacity and dataset restructuring. Gives a rigorous equivalence notion with a unique normal form per class and a method to compare non‑equivalent formats, informing view integration and schema evolution. (summarized by gpt-5-mini on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: 628
Venue: PODS
Year: 1982
Pagerank: 0.00018742219
Overall Rank: 421 | 97.12%
DOI: 10.1145/588111.588146

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Richard Hull (University of California Los Angeles; University of Southern California)
2. Chee K. Yap (New York University; University of Southern California)

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{hull_pods82,
        address = {New York, NY, USA},
        series = {{PODS} '82},
        title = {{The Format Model: A Theory of Database Organization (extended abstract)}},
        url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/588111.588146},
        doi = {10.1145/588111.588146},
        booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} {SIGMOD} Symposium on {Principles} of {Database} {Systems}},
        publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
        author = {Hull, Richard and Yap, Chee K.},
        year = {1982}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 24 of 24 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
413	Relative Information Capacity of Simple Relational Database Schemata	1984	PODS	0.00018894294
475	A Calculus for Complex Objects	1986	PODS	0.00017864549
538	Non First Normal Form Relations To Represent Hierarchically Organized Data	1984	PODS	0.00016919845
544	A New Approach to Database Logic	1984	PODS	0.00016792556
782	FAD, a Powerful and Simple Database Language	1987	VLDB	0.00014080876
799	Logic Programming With Sets	1987	PODS	0.00013911498
1,473	Towards a Theory of Spatial Database Queries (Extended Abstract)	1994	PODS	0.0001066845
1,566	The Use of Information Capacity in Schema Integration and Translation	1993	VLDB	0.00010346227
1,609	Managing Semantic Heterogeneity in Databases : A Theoretical Perspective	1997	PODS	0.00010225236
2,130	Normal Forms and Conservative Properties for Query Languages over Collection Types	1993	PODS	9.1244275e-05
2,483	ISIS: Interface for a Semantic Information System	1985	SIGMOD	8.5177061e-05
3,443	LAURA: A Formal Data Model and Her Logical Design Methodology	1983	VLDB	7.4116889e-05
3,633	IFO: A Formal Semantic Database Model (Preliminary Report)	1984	PODS	7.2366114e-05
4,010	Inheritance and Persistence in Database Programming Languages	1986	SIGMOD	6.9610816e-05
4,713	On the Expressive Power of the Logical Data Model	1985	SIGMOD	6.5501272e-05
4,899	A Grammar-Based Approach Towards Unifying Hierarchical Data Models (extended abstract)	1989	SIGMOD	6.4539543e-05
5,270	Semantics and Expressiveness Issues in Active Databases	1995	PODS	6.2908453e-05
6,085	Dynamic Constraints And Database Evolution	1983	PODS	5.9820991e-05
6,134	The MR Diagram - A Model for Conceptual Database Design	1985	VLDB	5.9651222e-05
7,138	Towards DBMSs for Supporting New Applications	1986	VLDB	5.6933382e-05
12,231	On the Expressive Power of Update Primitives	2013	PODS	5.093636e-05
12,974	On Genericity and Parametricity	1996	PODS	5.093636e-05
13,013	Flexible Relations - Operational Support of Variant Relational Structures	1995	VLDB	5.093636e-05
13,127	On Restructuring Nested Relations in Partitioned Normal Form	1990	VLDB	5.093636e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 6 of 6 cited papers.

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

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
10	Extending the Data Base Relational Model to Capture More Meaning	1979	SIGMOD	0.0007727299
15	The Functional Data Model and the Data Language DAPLEX	1979	SIGMOD	0.00061144858
139	A Language Facility for Designing Interactive Database-Intensive Applications	1978	SIGMOD	0.00029742792
589	On The Semantics Of The Relational Data Model	1975	SIGMOD	0.00016066932
1,047	Constructing Superviews	1981	SIGMOD	0.00012436053
4,284	FQL - A Functional Query Language (a preliminary report)	1979	SIGMOD	6.7819254e-05

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#	Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue
1	2,258	On the Algebraic Specification of Databases	1982	VLDB
2	14,445	Using Design Axioms and Topology to Model Database Semantics	1987	VLDB
3	6,338	Formal Definition of Mappings in a Data Base	1977	SIGMOD
4	3,432	An Information-Theoretic Approach to Normal Forms for Relational and XML Data	2003	PODS
5	7,782	Formal Data Base Specification - An Eclectic Perspective	1984	PODS
6	10	Extending the Data Base Relational Model to Capture More Meaning	1979	SIGMOD
7	9,328	Forms Approach to Requirements Specification for Database Design	1983	SIGMOD
8	13,161	Management of Complex Objects as Dynamic Forms	1988	VLDB
9	413	Relative Information Capacity of Simple Relational Database Schemata	1984	PODS
10	589	On The Semantics Of The Relational Data Model	1975	SIGMOD