Chapter 2: Relational Model

Based on the text book “Database System Concepts”, 5th Ed.

Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan

Chapter 2: Relational Model

Structure of Relational Databases

Fundamental Relational-Algebra-Operations

Additional Relational-Algebra-Operations

Extended Relational-Algebra-Operations

Null Values

Modification of the Database

2.2
 Example of a Relation

2.3

Basic Structure

Formally, given sets D1, D2, %. Dn a relation r is a subset of
D1 x D2 x % x Dn
Thus, a relation is a set of n-tuples (a1, a2, %, an) where each ai ∈ Di

Example: If

 customer_name = {Jones, Smith, Curry, Lindsay, %}

/* Set of all customer names */
 customer_street = {Main, North, Park, %} /* set of all street names*/
 customer_city = {Harrison, Rye, Pittsfield, %} /* set of all city names */
Then r = { (Jones, Main, Harrison),
(Smith, North, Rye),
(Curry, North, Rye),
(Lindsay, Park, Pittsfield) }
is a relation over
customer_name x customer_street x customer_city
2.4
 Attribute Types

Each attribute of a relation has a name

The set of allowed values for each attribute is called the domain of the
attribute

Attribute values are (normally) required to be atomic; that is, indivisible
 E.g. the value of an attribute can be an account number,
but cannot be a set of account numbers

Domain is said to be atomic if all its members are atomic

The special value null is a member of every domain

The null value causes complications in the definition of many operations
 We shall ignore the effect of null values in our main presentation
and consider their effect later

2.5

Relation Schema

A1, A2, %, An are attributes

R = (A1, A2, %, An ) is a relation schema

Example:
Customer_schema = (customer_name, customer_street, customer_city)

r(R) denotes a relation r on the relation schema R

Example:
customer (Customer_schema)

2.6
 Relation Instance

The current values (relation instance) of a relation are specified by
a table

An element t of r is a tuple, represented by a row in a table

attributes
(or columns)
customer_name customer_street customer_city

Jones Main Harrison

Smith North Rye tuples
Curry North Rye (or rows)
Lindsay Park Pittsfield

customer

2.7

Relations are Unordered

Order of tuples is irrelevant (tuples may be stored in an arbitrary order)

Example: account relation with unordered tuples

2.8
 Database

A database consists of multiple relations

Information about an enterprise is broken up into parts, with each

relation storing one part of the information

account : stores information about accounts

depositor : stores information about which customer
owns which account
customer : stores information about customers

Storing all information as a single relation such as

bank(account_number, balance, customer_name, ..)
results in
 repetition of information

e.g.,if two customers own an account (What gets repeated?)
 the need for null values

e.g., to represent a customer without an account

Normalization theory (Chapter 7) deals with how to design relational
schemas
2.9

The customer Relation

2.10
 The depositor Relation

2.11

Keys

Let K ⊆ R

K is a superkey of R if values for K are sufficient to identify a unique tuple of
each possible relation r(R)
 by “possible r ” we mean a relation r that could exist in the enterprise we
are modeling.
 Example: {customer_name, customer_street} and
{customer_name}
are both superkeys of Customer, if no two customers can possibly have
the same name

In real life, an attribute such as customer_id would be used instead of
customer_name to uniquely identify customers, but we omit it to keep
our examples small, and instead assume customer names are unique.

2.12
 Keys (Cont.)

K is a candidate key if K is minimal

Example: {customer_name} is a candidate key for Customer, since it
is a superkey and no subset of it is a superkey.

Primary key: a candidate key chosen as the principal means of
identifying tuples within a relation
 Should choose an attribute whose value never, or very rarely,
changes.
 E.g. email address is unique, but may change

2.13

Foreign Keys

A relation schema may have an attribute that corresponds to the primary
key of another relation. The attribute is called a foreign key.
 E.g. customer_name and account_number attributes of depositor are
foreign keys to customer and account respectively.
 Only values occurring in the primary key attribute of the referenced
relation may occur in the foreign key attribute of the referencing
relation.

Schema diagram

2.14
 Query Languages

Language in which user requests information from the database.

Categories of languages
 Procedural
 Non-procedural, or declarative

“Pure” languages:
 Relational algebra
 Tuple relational calculus
 Domain relational calculus

Pure languages form underlying basis of query languages that people
use.

2.15

Relational Algebra

Procedural language

Six basic operators

 select: σ
 project: ∏
 union: ∪
 set difference: –
 Cartesian product: x
 rename: ρ

The operators take one or two relations as inputs and produce a new
relation as a result.

2.16
 Select Operation – Example

Relation r
A B C D

α α 1 7
α β 5 7
β β 12 3
β β 23 10

σA=B ^ D > 5 (r)

A B C D

α α 1 7
β β 23 10

2.17

Select Operation

Notation: σ p(r)

p is called the selection predicate

Defined as:

σp(r) = {t | t ∈ r and p(t)}

Where p is a formula in propositional calculus consisting of terms

connected by : ∧ (and), ∨ (or), ¬ (not)
Each term is one of:
<attribute> op <attribute> or <constant>
where op is one of: =, ≠, >, ≥. <. ≤

Example of selection:

σ branch_name=“Perryridge”(account)

2.18
 Project Operation – Example

Relation r: A B C

α 10 1
α 20 1
β 30 1
β 40 2

∏A,C (r) A C A C

α 1 α 1
α 1 = β 1
β 1 β 2
β 2

2.19

Project Operation

Notation:
∏ A1 , A2 ,K, Ak (r )
where A1, A2 are attribute names and r is a relation name.

The result is defined as the relation of k columns obtained by erasing
the columns that are not listed

Duplicate rows removed from result, since relations are sets

Example: To eliminate the branch_name attribute of account

∏account_number, balance (account)

2.20
 Union Operation – Example

Relations r, s: A B A B

α 1 α 2
α 2 β 3
β 1 s
r

A B

r ∪ s: α 1
α 2
β 1
β 3

2.21

Union Operation

Notation: r ∪ s

Defined as:
r ∪ s = {t | t ∈ r or t ∈ s}

For r ∪ s to be valid.
1. r, s must have the same arity (same number of attributes)
2. The attribute domains must be compatible (example: 2nd column
of r deals with the same type of values as does the 2nd
column of s)

Example: to find all customers with either an account or a loan

∏customer_name (depositor) ∪ ∏customer_name (borrower)

2.22
 Set Difference Operation – Example

Relations r, s:
A B A B

α 1 α 2
α 2 β 3
β 1 s
r

r – s:
A B

α 1
β 1

2.23

Set Difference Operation

Notation r – s

Defined as:
r – s = {t | t ∈ r and t ∉ s}

Set differences must be taken between compatible

relations.
 r and s must have the same arity
 attribute domains of r and s must be compatible

2.24
 Cartesian-Product Operation – Example

Relations r, s:
A B C D E

α 1 α 10 a
β 10 a
β 2
β 20 b
r γ 10 b
s

r x s:
A B C D E
α 1 α 10 a
α 1 β 10 a
α 1 β 20 b
α 1 γ 10 b
β 2 α 10 a
β 2 β 10 a
β 2 β 20 b
β 2 γ 10 b

2.25

Cartesian-Product Operation

Notation r x s

Defined as:
r x s = {t q | t ∈ r and q ∈ s}

Assume that attributes of r(R) and s(S) are disjoint. (That is, R ∩ S = ∅).

If attributes of r(R) and s(S) are not disjoint, then renaming must be
used.

2.26
 Composition of Operations

Can build expressions using multiple operations

Example: σA=C(r x s)

rxs
A B C D E
α 1 α 10 a
α 1 β 10 a
α 1 β 20 b
α 1 γ 10 b
β 2 α 10 a
β 2 β 10 a
β 2 β 20 b
β 2 γ 10 b

σA=C(r x s)

A B C D E

α 1 α 10 a
β 2 β 10 a
β 2 β 20 b

2.27

Rename Operation

Allows us to name, and therefore to refer to, the results of relational-
algebra expressions.

Allows us to refer to a relation by more than one name.

Example:

ρ x (E)

returns the expression E under the name X

If a relational-algebra expression E has arity n, then

ρ x ( A ,A
1 2 ,..., A n ) (E )
returns the result of expression E under the name X, and with the
attributes renamed to A1 , A2 , 4., An .

2.28
 Banking Example
branch (branch_name, branch_city, assets)

customer (customer_name, customer_street, customer_city)

account (account_number, branch_name, balance)

loan (loan_number, branch_name, amount)

depositor (customer_name, account_number)

borrower (customer_name, loan_number)

2.29

Example Queries

Find all loans of over $1200

σamount > 1200 (loan)

Find the loan number for each loan of an amount greater than
$1200

∏loan_number (σamount > 1200 (loan))

Find the names of all customers who have a loan, an account, or both,
from the bank

∏customer_name (borrower) ∪ ∏customer_name (depositor)

2.30
 Example Queries

Find the names of all customers who have a loan at the Perryridge
branch.

∏customer_name (σbranch_name=“Perryridge”
(σborrower.loan_number = loan.loan_number(borrower x
loan)))

Find the names of all customers who have a loan at the
Perryridge branch but do not have an account at any branch of
the bank.

∏customer_name (σbranch_name = “Perryridge”

(σborrower.loan_number = loan.loan_number(borrower x loan))) –

∏customer_name(depositor)

2.31

Example Queries

Find the names of all customers who have a loan at the Perryridge branch.

 Query 1

∏customer_name (σbranch_name = “Perryridge” (

σborrower.loan_number = loan.loan_number (borrower x loan)))

 Query 2

∏customer_name(σloan.loan_number = borrower.loan_number (
(σbranch_name = “Perryridge” (loan)) x borrower))

2.32
 Example Queries

Find the largest account balance
 Strategy:

Find those balances that are not the largest
– Rename account relation as d so that we can compare each
account balance with all others

Use set difference to find those account balances that were not found
in the earlier step.
 The query is:

∏balance(account) - ∏account.balance
(σaccount.balance < d.balance (account x ρd (account)))

2.33

Formal Definition

A basic expression in the relational algebra consists of either one of the
following:
 A relation in the database
 A constant relation

Let E1 and E2 be relational-algebra expressions; the following are all
relational-algebra expressions:

 E1 ∪ E2

 E1 – E2

 E1 x E2

 σp (E1), P is a predicate on attributes in E1

 ∏s(E1), S is a list consisting of some of the attributes in E1

 ρ x (E1), x is the new name for the result of E1

2.34
 Additional Operations
We define additional operations that do not add any power to the
relational algebra, but that simplify common queries.

Set intersection

Natural join

Division

Assignment

2.35

Set-Intersection Operation

Notation: r ∩ s

Defined as:

r ∩ s = { t | t ∈ r and t ∈ s }

Assume:
 r, s have the same arity
 attributes of r and s are compatible

Note: r ∩ s = r – (r – s)

2.36
 Set-Intersection Operation – Example

Relation r, s:
A B A B
α 1 α 2
α 2 β 3
β 1

r s

r∩s

A B

α 2

2.37

Natural-Join Operation

Notation: r s

Let r and s be relations on schemas R and S respectively.
Then, r s is a relation on schema R ∪ S obtained as follows:
 Consider each pair of tuples tr from r and ts from s.
 If tr and ts have the same value on each of the attributes in R ∩ S, add
a tuple t to the result, where

t has the same value as tr on r

t has the same value as ts on s

Example:
R = (A, B, C, D)
S = (E, B, D)
 Result schema = (A, B, C, D, E)
 r s is defined as:
∏r.A, r.B, r.C, r.D, s.E (σr.B = s.B ∧ r.D = s.D (r x s))

2.38
 Natural Join Operation – Example

Relations r, s:

A B C D B D E

α 1 α a 1 a α
β 2 γ a 3 a β
γ 4 β b 1 a γ
α 1 γ a 2 b δ
δ 2 β b 3 b ∈
r s

r s
A B C D E
α 1 α a α
α 1 α a γ
α 1 γ a α
α 1 γ a γ
δ 2 β b δ

2.39

Division Operation

Notation: r÷s

Suited to queries that include the phrase “for all”.

Let r and s be relations on schemas R and S respectively
where
 R = (A1, %, Am , B1, %, Bn )
 S = (B1, %, Bn)
The result of r ÷ s is a relation on schema
R – S = (A1, %, Am)
r ÷ s = { t | t ∈ ∏ R-S (r) ∧ ∀ u ∈ s ( tu ∈ r ) }
Where tu means the concatenation of tuples t and u to
produce a single tuple

2.40
 Division Operation – Example

Relations r, s:
A B
B
α 1 1
α 2
α 3 2
β 1 s
γ 1
δ 1
δ 3
δ 4
∈ 6
∈ 1
β 2

r ÷ s: A r

α
β

2.41

Another Division Example

Relations r, s:
A B C D E D E

α a α a 1 a 1
α a γ a 1 b 1
α a γ b 1 s
β a γ a 1
β a γ b 3
γ a γ a 1
γ a γ b 1
γ a β b 1
r

r ÷ s:
A B C

α a γ
γ a γ

2.42
 Division Operation (Cont.)

Property
 Let q = r ÷ s
 Then q is the largest relation satisfying q x s ⊆ r

Definition in terms of the basic algebra operation
Let r(R) and s(S) be relations, and let S ⊆ R

r ÷ s = ∏R-S (r ) – ∏R-S ( ( ∏R-S (r ) x s ) – ∏R-S,S(r ))

To see why
 ∏R-S,S (r) simply reorders attributes of r

 ∏R-S (∏R-S (r ) x s ) – ∏R-S,S(r) ) gives those tuples t in

∏R-S (r ) such that for some tuple u ∈ s, tu ∉ r.

2.43

Assignment Operation

The assignment operation (←) provides a convenient way to express
complex queries.
 Write query as a sequential program consisting of

a series of assignments

followed by an expression whose value is displayed as a result of
the query.
 Assignment must always be made to a temporary relation variable.

Example: Write r ÷ s as
temp1 ← ∏R-S (r )
temp2 ← ∏R-S ((temp1 x s ) – ∏R-S,S (r ))
result = temp1 – temp2

 The result to the right of the ← is assigned to the relation variable on

the left of the ←.
 May use variable in subsequent expressions.

2.44
 Bank Example Queries

Find the names of all customers who have a loan and an account at
bank.

∏customer_name (borrower) ∩ ∏customer_name (depositor)

Find the name of all customers who have a loan at the bank and the
loan amount

∏customer_name, loan_number, amount (borrower loan)

2.45

Bank Example Queries

Find all customers who have an account from at least the “Downtown”
and the Uptown” branches.
 Query 1

∏customer_name (σbranch_name = “Downtown” (depositor account )) ∩

∏customer_name (σbranch_name = “Uptown” (depositor account))

 Query 2
∏customer_name, branch_name (depositor account)
÷ ρtemp(branch_name) ({(“Downtown” ), (“Uptown” )})
Note that Query 2 uses a constant relation.

2.46
 Bank Example Queries

Find all customers who have an account at all branches located in
Brooklyn city.

∏customer_name, branch_name (depositor account)

÷ ∏branch_name (σbranch_city = “Brooklyn” (branch))

2.47

Extended Relational-Algebra-Operations

Generalized Projection

Aggregate Functions

Outer Join

2.48
 Generalized Projection

Extends the projection operation by allowing arithmetic functions to be
used in the projection list.

∏F ,F ,...,F (E)
1 2 n

E is any relational-algebra expression

Each of F1, F2, %, Fn are are arithmetic expressions involving constants

and attributes in the schema of E.

Given relation credit_info(customer_name, limit, credit_balance), find
how much more each person can spend:
∏customer_name, limit – credit_balance (credit_info)

2.49

Aggregate Functions and Operations

Aggregation function takes a collection of values and returns a single
value as a result.
avg: average value
min: minimum value
max: maximum value
sum: sum of values
count: number of values

Aggregate operation in relational algebra

G1,G2 ,K,Gn
ϑF ( A ),F ( A ,K,F ( A ) (E )
1 1 2 2 n n

E is any relational-algebra expression

 G1, G2 %, Gn is a list of attributes on which to group (can be empty)
 Each Fi is an aggregate function
 Each Ai is an attribute name

2.50
 Aggregate Operation – Example

Relation r:

A B C

α α 7
α β 7
β β 3
β β 10

g sum(c) (r) sum(c )

27

2.51

Aggregate Operation – Example

Relation account grouped by branch-name:

branch_name account_number balance

Perryridge A-102 400
Perryridge A-201 900
Brighton A-217 750
Brighton A-215 750
Redwood A-222 700

branch_name g sum(balance) (account)

branch_name sum(balance)
Perryridge 1300
Brighton 1500
Redwood 700

2.52
 Aggregate Functions (Cont.)

Result of aggregation does not have a name
 Can use rename operation to give it a name
 For convenience, we permit renaming as part of aggregate
operation

branch_name g sum(balance) as sum_balance (account)

2.53

Outer Join

An extension of the join operation that avoids loss of information.

Computes the join and then adds tuples form one relation that does not
match tuples in the other relation to the result of the join.

Uses null values:

 null signifies that the value is unknown or does not exist

 All comparisons involving null are (roughly speaking) false by
definition.

We shall study precise meaning of comparisons with nulls later

2.54
 Outer Join – Example

Relation loan

loan_number branch_name amount

L-170 Downtown 3000
L-230 Redwood 4000
L-260 Perryridge 1700

Relation borrower

customer_name loan_number
Jones L-170
Smith L-230
Hayes L-155

2.55

Outer Join – Example

Join

loan borrower

loan_number branch_name amount customer_name

L-170 Downtown 3000 Jones
L-230 Redwood 4000 Smith

Left Outer Join

loan borrower
loan_number branch_name amount customer_name
L-170 Downtown 3000 Jones
L-230 Redwood 4000 Smith
L-260 Perryridge 1700 null

2.56
 Outer Join – Example

Right Outer Join
loan borrower

loan_number branch_name amount customer_name

L-170 Downtown 3000 Jones
L-230 Redwood 4000 Smith
L-155 null null Hayes

Full Outer Join
loan borrower

loan_number branch_name amount customer_name

L-170 Downtown 3000 Jones
L-230 Redwood 4000 Smith
L-260 Perryridge 1700 null
L-155 null null Hayes

2.57

Null Values

It is possible for tuples to have a null value, denoted by null, for some
of their attributes

null signifies an unknown value or that a value does not exist.

The result of any arithmetic expression involving null is null.

Aggregate functions simply ignore null values (as in SQL)

For duplicate elimination and grouping, null is treated like any other
value, and two nulls are assumed to be the same (as in SQL)

2.58
 Null Values

Comparisons with null values return the special truth value: unknown
 If false was used instead of unknown, then not (A < 5)
would not be equivalent to A >= 5

Three-valued logic using the truth value unknown:
 OR: (unknown or true) = true,
(unknown or false) = unknown
(unknown or unknown) = unknown
 AND: (true and unknown) = unknown,
(false and unknown) = false,
(unknown and unknown) = unknown
 NOT: (not unknown) = unknown
 In SQL “P is unknown” evaluates to true if predicate P evaluates to
unknown

Result of select predicate is treated as false if it evaluates to unknown

2.59

Modification of the Database

The content of the database may be modified using the following
operations:
 Deletion
 Insertion
 Updating

All these operations are expressed using the assignment
operator.

2.60
 Deletion

A delete request is expressed similarly to a query, except
instead of displaying tuples to the user, the selected tuples are
removed from the database.

Can delete only whole tuples; cannot delete values on only
particular attributes

A deletion is expressed in relational algebra by:
r←r–E
where r is a relation and E is a relational algebra query.

2.61

Deletion Examples

Delete all account records in the Perryridge branch.

account ← account – σ branch_name = “Perryridge” (account )

Delete all loan records with amount in the range of 0 to 50

loan ← loan – σ amount ≥ 0 and amount ≤ 50 (loan)

Delete all accounts at branches located in Needham.

r1 ← σ branch_city = “Needham” (account branch )

r2 ← ∏ account_number, branch_name, balance (r1)
r3 ← ∏ customer_name, account_number (r2 depositor)
account ← account – r2
depositor ← depositor – r3

2.62
 Insertion

To insert data into a relation, we either:

 specify a tuple to be inserted
 write a query whose result is a set of tuples to be inserted

in relational algebra, an insertion is expressed by:
r← r ∪ E
where r is a relation and E is a relational algebra expression.

The insertion of a single tuple is expressed by letting E be a constant
relation containing one tuple.

2.63

Insertion Examples

Insert information in the database specifying that Smith has $1200 in
account A-973 at the Perryridge branch.

account ← account ∪ {(“A-973”, “Perryridge”, 1200)}

depositor ← depositor ∪ {(“Smith”, “A-973”)}

Provide as a gift for all loan customers in the Perryridge

branch, a $200 savings account. Let the loan number serve
as the account number for the new savings account.

r1 ← (σbranch_name = “Perryridge” (borrower loan))

account ← account ∪ ∏loan_number, branch_name, 200 (r1)
depositor ← depositor ∪ ∏customer_name, loan_number (r1)

2.64
 Updating

A mechanism to change a value in a tuple without charging all values in

the tuple

Use the generalized projection operator to do this task

r ← ∏ F ,F ,K,F , (r )
1 2 l

Each Fi is either
 the I th attribute of r, if the I th attribute is not updated, or,
 if the attribute is to be updated Fi is an expression, involving only
constants and the attributes of r, which gives the new value for the
attribute

2.65

Update Examples

Make interest payments by increasing all balances by 5 percent.

account ← ∏ account_number, branch_name, balance * 1.05 (account)

Pay all accounts with balances over $10,000 6 percent interest

and pay all others 5 percent

account ← ∏ account_number, branch_name, balance * 1.06 (σ BAL > 10000 (account ))

∪ ∏ account_number, branch_name, balance * 1.05 (σBAL ≤ 10000 (account))

2.66
 End of Chapter 2

Based on the text book “Database System Concepts”, 5th Ed.

Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan