On the Semantics of Updates in Databases

Summary: Models database updates as theory revision: pick new theories that minimize change and, if several minima exist, retain the ambiguity by admitting all minimal solutions. Adapts to databases with integrity constraints, prioritized facts, and view updates. (summarized by gpt-5-mini on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: h1d42b60a758c900a
Venue: PODS
Year: 1983
Pagerank: 0.00015511647
Overall Rank: 619 | 95.85%
DOI: 10.1145/588058.588100

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Ronald Fagin (IBM)
2. Jeffrey D. Ullman (Stanford University)
3. Moshe Y. Vardi (Stanford University)

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{fagin_pods83,
        address = {New York, NY, USA},
        series = {{PODS} '83},
        title = {{On the Semantics of Updates in Databases}},
        url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/588058.588100},
        doi = {10.1145/588058.588100},
        booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} {SIGMOD} Symposium on {Principles} of {Database} {Systems}},
        publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
        author = {Fagin, Ronald and Ullman, Jeffrey D. and Vardi, Moshe Y.},
        year = {1983}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 25 of 25 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
897	On the Decidability and Complexity of Query Answering over Inconsistent and Incomplete Databases	2003	PODS	0.00013198452
2,459	Update Semantics for Incomplete Databases	1985	VLDB	8.431401e-05
2,557	On the Complexity of Propositional Knowledge Base Revision, Updates, and Counterfactuals	1992	PODS	8.2969024e-05
2,729	On The Integrity Of Databases With Incomplete Information	1986	PODS	8.0855936e-05
3,227	On the Equivalence of Logical Databases	1984	PODS	7.5067215e-05
3,808	Dependency Satisfaction in Databases with Incomplete Information	1984	VLDB	7.0068633e-05
4,063	The Complexity of Resilience and Responsibility for Self-Join-Free Conjunctive Queries	2016	VLDB	6.8215087e-05
4,323	Multi-Tuple Deletion Propagation: Approximations and Complexity	2013	VLDB	6.6628189e-05
4,439	Maximizing Conjunctive Views in Deletion Propagation	2011	PODS	6.5969995e-05
4,750	New Results for the Complexity of Resilience for Binary Conjunctive Queries with Self-Joins	2020	PODS	6.4344094e-05
5,994	A Dichotomy in the Complexity of Deletion Propagation with Functional Dependencies	2012	PODS	5.9198073e-05
6,104	Database Updates Through Abduction	1990	VLDB	5.8838416e-05
6,862	A Model-Theoretic Approach to Updating Logical Databases (Extended Abstract)	1986	PODS	5.6613276e-05
7,268	Canonical View Update Support through Boolean Algebras of Components	1984	PODS	5.5674125e-05
9,887	Understanding the implications of view update policies	1985	VLDB	5.115241e-05
10,099	Object Projection Views In The Dynamic Relational Model	1984	PODS	5.078242e-05
10,101	Transactions in Relational Databases (Preliminary Report)	1984	VLDB	5.078242e-05
12,134	Programmable View Update Strategies on Relations	2020	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
13,285	The Size of a Revised Knowledge Base	1995	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,344	On the Semantics of Theory Change: Arbitration between Old and New Information	1993	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,378	Knowledgebase Transformations	1992	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,428	Updating Databases in the Weak Instance Model	1989	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,445	A Framework for Comparison of Update Semantics (Extended Abstract)	1988	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,473	Axiomatization and Simplification Rules for Relational Transactions (Extended Abstract)	1987	PODS	4.9769913e-05
13,503	QUERYING LOGICAL DATABASES: Preliminary Report	1985	PODS	4.9769913e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 1 of 1 cited papers.

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

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
9,445	The Revenge Of The Jd	1983	PODS	5.1757253e-05

Semantically Similar Papers

#	Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue
1	14,415	Temporal Integrity Constraints with Indeterminacy	2000	VLDB
2	13,388	Updates in a Rule-Based Language for Objects	1992	VLDB
3	7,229	Derived Data Update in Semantic Databases	1989	VLDB
4	9,429	The Role of Integrity Constraints in Database Interoperation	1996	VLDB
5	14,863	Update-By-Dialogue: An Interactive Approach To Database Modification	1977	SIGMOD
6	6,104	Database Updates Through Abduction	1990	VLDB
7	13,445	A Framework for Comparison of Update Semantics (Extended Abstract)	1988	PODS
8	6,862	A Model-Theoretic Approach to Updating Logical Databases (Extended Abstract)	1986	PODS
9	2,459	Update Semantics for Incomplete Databases	1985	VLDB
10	3,227	On the Equivalence of Logical Databases	1984	PODS