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: hbc062bf21d2a0007
Venue: PODS
Year: 1982
Pagerank: 0.00018259668
Overall Rank: 437 | 97.08%
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
428	Relative Information Capacity of Simple Relational Database Schemata	1984	PODS	0.00018419906
488	A Calculus for Complex Objects	1986	PODS	0.00017406684
551	Non First Normal Form Relations To Represent Hierarchically Organized Data	1984	PODS	0.00016502064
561	A New Approach to Database Logic	1984	PODS	0.00016361117
810	FAD, a Powerful and Simple Database Language	1987	VLDB	0.0001372686
831	Logic Programming With Sets	1987	PODS	0.00013564613
1,515	Towards a Theory of Spatial Database Queries (Extended Abstract)	1994	PODS	0.00010390168
1,528	Managing Semantic Heterogeneity in Databases : A Theoretical Perspective	1997	PODS	0.00010322417
1,599	The Use of Information Capacity in Schema Integration and Translation	1993	VLDB	0.0001009539
2,185	Normal Forms and Conservative Properties for Query Languages over Collection Types	1993	PODS	8.891353e-05
2,546	ISIS: Interface for a Semantic Information System	1985	SIGMOD	8.296104e-05
3,519	LAURA: A Formal Data Model and Her Logical Design Methodology	1983	VLDB	7.219922e-05
3,723	IFO: A Formal Semantic Database Model (Preliminary Report)	1984	PODS	7.0484146e-05
4,124	Inheritance and Persistence in Database Programming Languages	1986	SIGMOD	6.7797683e-05
4,834	On the Expressive Power of the Logical Data Model	1985	SIGMOD	6.3799062e-05
5,048	A Grammar-Based Approach Towards Unifying Hierarchical Data Models (extended abstract)	1989	SIGMOD	6.2877212e-05
5,417	Semantics and Expressiveness Issues in Active Databases	1995	PODS	6.1264606e-05
6,230	Dynamic Constraints And Database Evolution	1983	PODS	5.8259308e-05
6,273	The MR Diagram - A Model for Conceptual Database Design	1985	VLDB	5.811287e-05
7,283	Towards DBMSs for Supporting New Applications	1986	VLDB	5.5510474e-05
12,571	On the Expressive Power of Update Primitives	2013	PODS	4.9605343e-05
13,311	On Genericity and Parametricity	1996	PODS	4.9605343e-05
13,350	Flexible Relations - Operational Support of Variant Relational Structures	1995	VLDB	4.9605343e-05
13,464	On Restructuring Nested Relations in Partitioned Normal Form	1990	VLDB	4.9605343e-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	0.00075677079
16	The Functional Data Model and the Data Language DAPLEX	1979	SIGMOD	0.00059778867
145	A Language Facility for Designing Interactive Database-Intensive Applications	1978	SIGMOD	0.00028989663
603	On The Semantics Of The Relational Data Model	1975	SIGMOD	0.00015658563
1,078	Constructing Superviews	1981	SIGMOD	0.00012120058
4,400	FQL - A Functional Query Language (a preliminary report)	1979	SIGMOD	6.6052217e-05

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#	Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue
1	2,326	On the Algebraic Specification of Databases	1982	VLDB
2	14,801	Using Design Axioms and Topology to Model Database Semantics	1987	VLDB
3	6,477	Formal Definition of Mappings in a Data Base	1977	SIGMOD
4	3,514	An Information-Theoretic Approach to Normal Forms for Relational and XML Data	2003	PODS
5	7,967	Formal Data Base Specification - An Eclectic Perspective	1984	PODS
6	10	Extending the Data Base Relational Model to Capture More Meaning	1979	SIGMOD
7	9,546	Forms Approach to Requirements Specification for Database Design	1983	SIGMOD
8	13,498	Management of Complex Objects as Dynamic Forms	1988	VLDB
9	428	Relative Information Capacity of Simple Relational Database Schemata	1984	PODS
10	603	On The Semantics Of The Relational Data Model	1975	SIGMOD