Lecture # 20-21 Relational

Database Design Algorithms

Rashmi Dutta Baruah
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
 Chapter Outline
• Designing a Set of Relations
• Properties of Relational Decompositions
• Algorithms for Relational Database Schema
• Multivalued Dependencies and Fourth Normal Form

Chapter 11-2
 DESIGNING A SET OF RELATIONS (1)
The Approach of Relational Synthesis (Bottom-up
Design) :
• Assumes that all possible functional dependencies
are known.
• First constructs a minimal set of FDs
• Then applies algorithms that construct a target set of
3NF or BCNF relations.
• Additional criteria may be needed to ensure the the
set of relations in a relational database are
satisfactory (dependency preservation and non-
additive join).

Chapter 11-3
 DESIGNING A SET OF RELATIONS (2)
Goals:
• Lossless join property (a must) – algorithm 1 tests
for general losslessness
• Dependency preservation property – algorithm 3
decomposes a relation into BCNF components by
sacrificing the dependency preservation.
• Additional normal forms
– 4NF (based on multi-valued dependencies)
– 5NF (based on join dependencies)

Chapter 11-4
 1. Properties of Relational Decompositions (1)
Relation Decomposition and Insufficiency of Normal
Forms:
• Universal Relation Schema: a relation schema R={A1, A2, …, An}
that includes all the attributes of the database.
• Universal relation assumption: every attribute name is
unique.
• Decomposition: The process of decomposing the universal
relation schema R into a set of relation schemas D = {R1,R2, …,
Rm} that will become the relational database schema by using
the functional dependencies.

Chapter 11-5
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (2)
Relation Decomposition and Insufficiency of Normal
Forms (cont.):
• Attribute preservation condition: Each attribute in R
will appear in at least one relation schema Ri in the
decomposition so that no attributes are “lost”.
• Another goal of decomposition is to have each
individual relation Ri in the decomposition D be in
BCNF or 3NF.
• Additional properties of decomposition are needed
to prevent from generating spurious tuples
Chapter 11-6
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (3)
Dependency Preservation Property of a Decomposition :
Definition:
• Given a set of dependencies F on R, the projection of F
on Ri, denoted by pRi(F) where Ri is a subset of R, is the
set of dependencies X  Y in F+ such that the
attributes in X υ Y are all contained in Ri. Hence, the
projection of F on each relation schema Ri in the
decomposition D is the set of functional dependencies
in F+, the closure of F, such that all their left- and right-
hand-side attributes are in Ri.

Chapter 11-7
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (4)
Dependency Preservation Property of a Decomposition
(cont.):
• Dependency Preservation Property: a decomposition
D = {R1, R2, ..., Rm} of R is dependency-preserving with
respect to F if the union of the projections of F on each
Ri in D is equivalent to F; that is, ((R1(F)) υ . . . υ
(Rm(F)))+ = F+

Claim 1: It is always possible to find a dependency-

preserving decomposition D with respect to F such
that each relation Ri in D is in 3NF.
Chapter 11-8
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (5)
Lossless (Non-additive) Join Property of a Decomposition:
Definition:
• Lossless join property: a decomposition D = {R1, R2, ..., Rm} of R
has the lossless (nonadditive) join property with respect to the
set of dependencies F on R if, for every relation state r of R that
satisfies F, the following holds, where * is the natural join of all
the relations in D:
* (R1(r), ..., Rm(r)) = r

Note: The word loss in lossless refers to loss of information, not

to loss of tuples. In fact, for “loss of information” a better term
is “addition of spurious information”

Chapter 11-9
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (6)
Lossless (Non-additive) Join Property of a Decomposition (cont.):
Algorithm 1: Testing for Lossless Join Property
Input: A universal relation R, a decomposition D = {R1, R2, ..., Rm} of
R, and a set F of functional dependencies.
1. Create an initial matrix S with one row i for each relation Ri in D,
and one column j for each attribute Aj in R.
2. Set S(i,j):=bij for all matrix entries. (* each bij is a distinct symbol
associated with indices (i,j) *).
3. For each row i representing relation schema Ri
{for each column j representing attribute Aj
{if (relation Ri includes attribute Aj) then set S(i,j):= aj;};};
(* each aj is a distinct symbol associated with index (j) *)

Chapter 11-10
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (7)
Lossless (Non-additive) Join Property of a Decomposition (cont.):
Algorithm 1: Testing for Lossless Join Property (cont.)
4. Repeat the following loop until a complete loop execution
results in no changes to S
{for each functional dependency X Y in F
{for all rows in S which have the same symbols in the columns
corresponding to attributes in X
{make the symbols in each column that correspond to an attribute in Y
be the same in all these rows as follows: if any of the rows has an “a”
symbol for the column, set the other rows to that same “a” symbol in the
column. If no “a” symbol exists for the attribute in any of the rows, choose
one of the “b” symbols that appear in one of the rows for the attribute and
set the other rows to that same “b” symbol in the column ;};};};
5. If a row is made up entirely of “a” symbols, then the
decomposition has the lossless join property; otherwise it does
not.

Chapter 11-11
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (8)
Lossless (nonadditive) join test for n-ary decompositions.
(a) Case 1: Decomposition of EMP_PROJ into EMP_PROJ1 and EMP_LOCS fails test. (b) A decomposition of EMP_PROJ

that has the lossless join property.

Chapter 11-12
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (8)

Lossless (nonadditive)
join test for n-ary
decompositions.
(c) Case 2:
Decomposition of
EMP_PROJ into EMP,
PROJECT, and
WORKS_ON satisfies
test.

Chapter 11-13
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (9)
Testing Binary Decompositions for Lossless Join Property:
• Binary Decomposition: decomposition of a relation R
into two relations.
• PROPERTY LJ1 (lossless join test for binary
decompositions): A decomposition D = {R1, R2} of R
has the lossless join property with respect to a set of
functional dependencies F on R if and only if either
– The f.d. ((R1 ∩ R2)  (R1- R2)) is in F+, or
– The f.d. ((R1 ∩ R2)  (R2 - R1)) is in F+.

Chapter 11-14
 Properties of Relational Decompositions (10)
Successive Lossless Join Decomposition:
• Claim 2 (Preservation of non-additivity in successive
decompositions):
If a decomposition D = {R1, R2, ..., Rm} of R has the lossless (non-
additive) join property with respect to a set of functional
dependencies F on R, and if a decomposition Di = {Q1, Q2, ..., Qk}
of Ri has the lossless (non-additive) join property with respect
to the projection of F on Ri, then the decomposition D2 = {R1, R2,
..., Ri-1, Q1, Q2, ..., Qk, Ri+1, ..., Rm} of R has the non-additive join
property with respect to F.

Chapter 11-15
 2. Algorithms for Relational Database Schema
Design (1)
Algorithm 2: Relational Synthesis into 3NF with Dependency
Preservation (Relational Synthesis Algorithm)
Input: A universal relation R and a set of functional dependencies F
on the attributes of R.
1. Find a minimal cover G for F;
2. For each left-hand-side X of a functional dependency that
appears in G, create a relation schema in D with attributes {X υ
{A1} υ {A2} ... υ {Ak}}, where X  A1, X  A2, ..., X  Ak are the
only dependencies in G with X as left-hand-side (X is the key of
this relation) ;
3. Place any remaining attributes (that have not been placed in
any relation) in a single relation schema to ensure the attribute
preservation property.
Claim 3: Every relation schema created by Algorithm 2 is in 3NF.

Chapter 11-16
Algorithms for Relational Database Schema Design
(2)
Algorithm 3: Relational Decomposition into BCNF with Lossless
(non-additive) join property
Input: A universal relation R and a set of functional dependencies F
on the attributes of R.
1. Set D := {R};
2. While there is a relation schema Q in D that is not in BCNF
do {
choose a relation schema Q in D that is not in BCNF;
find a functional dependency X  Y in Q that violates BCNF;
replace Q in D by two relation schemas (Q - Y) and (X υ Y);
};
Assumption: No null values are allowed for the join attributes.
Chapter 11-17
Algorithms for Relational Database Schema Design
(3)
Algorithm 4 Relational Synthesis into 3NF with Dependency
Preservation and Lossless (Non-Additive) Join Property
Input: A universal relation R and a set of functional dependencies F
on the attributes of R.
1. Find a minimal cover G for F (Use Algorithm 10.2).
2. For each left-hand-side X of a functional dependency that
appears in G, create a relation schema in D with attributes {X υ
{A1} υ {A2} ... υ {Ak}}, where X  A1, X  A2, ..., X –>Ak are the
only dependencies in G with X as left-hand-side (X is the key of
this relation).
3. If none of the relation schemas in D contains a key of R, then
create one more relation schema in D that contains attributes
that form a key of R. (Use Algorithm 4a to find the key of R)

Chapter 11-18
Algorithms for Relational Database Schema Design
(4)
Algorithm 4a Finding a Key K for R Given a set F of
Functional Dependencies
Input: A universal relation R and a set of functional dependencies F
on the attributes of R.
1. Set K := R.
2. For each attribute A in K {
compute (K - A)+ with respect to F;
If (K - A)+ contains all the attributes in R,
then set K := K - {A}; }

Chapter 11-19
Algorithms for Relational Database Schema Design
(7)
Discussion of Normalization Algorithms:
Problems:
• The database designer must first specify all the relevant
functional dependencies among the database attributes.
• These algorithms are not deterministic in general.
• It is not always possible to find a decomposition into relation
schemas that preserves dependencies and allows each relation
schema in the decomposition to be in BCNF (instead of 3NF as
in Algorithm 4).

Chapter 11-20
 Algorithms for Relational Database Schema Design
(8)
Table Summary of some of the algorithms discussed above

Algorit Input Output Properties/Purp Remarks

hm ose

1 A decomposition Boolean result: Testing for non- See the simpler

D of R and a set F yes or no for additive join test for binary
of functional lossless join decomposition decompositions
dependencies property
2 Set of functional A set of Dependency No guarantee of
dependencies F relations in 3NF preservation satisfying lossless
join property
3 Set of functional A set of Lossless join No guarantee of
dependencies F relations in decomposition dependency
BCNF preservation
.4 Set of functional A set of Lossless join and May not achieve
dependencies F relations in 3NF dependency BCNF
preserving
decomposition
4a Relation schema Key K of R To find a key K The entire relation
R with a set of (which is a R is always a
functional subset of R) default superkey
Chapter 11-21
dependencies F
 Multivalued Dependencies and Fourth Normal
Form (1)
Inference Rules for Functional and Multivalued Dependencies:
IR1 (reflexive rule for FDs): If X  Y, then X –> Y.
IR2 (augmentation rule for FDs): {X –> Y} = XZ –> YZ.
IR3 (transitive rule for FDs): {X –> Y, Y –>Z} = X –> Z.
IR4 (complementation rule for MVDs): {X —>> Y} = X —>> (R – (X  Y))}.
IR5 (augmentation rule for MVDs): If X —>> Y and W  Z then WX —>> YZ.
IR6 (transitive rule for MVDs): {X —>> Y, Y —>> Z} = X —>> (Z 2 Y).
IR7 (replication rule for FD to MVD): {X –> Y} = X —>> Y.
IR8 (coalescence rule for FDs and MVDs): If X —>> Y and there exists W with the
properties that (a) W  Y is empty, (b) W –> Z, and (c) Y  Z, then X –> Z.

Chapter 11-22
 Multivalued Dependencies and Fourth Normal
Form (2)
Lossless (Non-additive) Join Decomposition into 4NF
Relations:
• PROPERTY LJ1’
The relation schemas R1 and R2 form a lossless (non-additive)
join decomposition of R with respect to a set F of functional and
multivalued dependencies if and only if
(R1 ∩ R2) —>> (R1 - R2)
or by symmetry, if and only if
(R1 ∩ R2) —>> (R2 - R1)).

Chapter 11-23
 Multivalued Dependencies and Fourth Normal
Form (3)
Algorithm 5: Relational decomposition into 4NF relations
with non-additive join property
Input: A universal relation R and a set of functional and multivalued
dependencies F.
1. Set D := { R };
2. While there is a relation schema Q in D that is not in 4NF do
{ choose a relation schema Q in D that is not in 4NF;
find a nontrivial MVD X —>> Y in Q that violates 4NF;
replace Q in D by two relation schemas (Q - Y) and (X υ Y);
};

Chapter 11-24
 Summary
• Discussed briefly the bottom up design approach
• Properties of Relational Decompositions discussed
– Attribute preservation
– Dependency preservation
– Lossless join
• Algorithms for Relational Database Schema
– Algorithm 1: Testing for Lossless Join Property
– Algorithm 2: Relational Synthesis into 3NF with Dependency Preservation (Relational
Synthesis Algorithm)
– Algorithm 3: Relational Decomposition into BCNF with Lossless (non-additive) join
property
– Algorithm 4 Relational Synthesis into 3NF with Dependency Preservation and Lossless
(Non-Additive) Join Property
– Algorithm 4a Finding a Key K for R Given a set F of Functional Dependencies
– Algorithm 5: Relational decomposition into 4NF relations with non-additive join
property

• Multivalued Dependencies and Fourth Normal -propoerties

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