NotesofFunctionalDependencies

FunctionalDependency(FD)
When ,ifvalueofaisofaspecificvalue,bmustbetheotherindicatedvalueandnotanother
value

Tablebelowshowsthat sinceifA=1,B=5.A=2,B=4.

A B
1 5
1 5
2 4
Tablebelowviolates sincewhenA=1,B=5&B=2.

A B
1 5
1 2
2 4

Trivial,Nontrivial,Completelynontrivial
Trivial, ,RHSissubsetofLHS

NonTrivial, ,LHSandRHSgotsomecommonattributes

CompletelyNonTrivial, ,LHSandRHStotallynolink

LogicallyImplies
ifeveryFDinFisinG

Whensaying ,isjustaskingif isinsideF.

Closure
ClosureofFmeanseverythingthatcanbelinkeddirectly&indirectlyfrom1attributetoanother

e.g. , , , , , , ,

Startwith1FDandcalculatetherest.

Calculationofclosureattributes
GivenR(a,b,c,d)R={ , ,

Tofindclosureofe.g.

1. Startwith
2. Lookthroughthedependenciesandseeifanyotherattributescanbederievedfromother
FDs
from ,
from ,
3. WhenthereisnomorechangeswhenloopingthroughtheFDs,thentheresultistheClosure
ofthatattribute
EquivalentFD
if ,alsocanuse

Axioms
Reflexivity:given(a,b,c) .Subset

Augmentation: , .Multiplybothsidesbyy

Transitivity: ,

Union: ,

Decomposition: , ,

KeysStuff
Superkey:AbunchofattributesthatcandetermineallattributesinR,usuallyhaveredundant
attributes.Nocombinationofthekeysmustbethesameintherelation

Key/Candidatekey:AbunchofattributesthatcandetermineallattributesofRANDnosubsetof
thatkeycanbeasuperkey(noredundantattributes)

Todeterminethekey,lookforattributesmissingintheRHSandstartfromthere.

Primeattribute:AnattributethatisinsomekeyofR

Minimal/CanonicalCover
MinimalnumberofFDsrequiredthatstillmapsbacktoFDsofF

Step1:DecomposeallRHStosingleattributes
Step2:Removalofredundantattributes
ForeachoftheFDs
ForeachattributeintheLHSofanFD
1. Findtheclosureofthat(FDremoved)attribute
a. iftheclosurecontainstheRHS,thentheattributeisredundant
b. elseitisnotnonredundant

Step3:RemovalofredundantFDs
ForeachoftheFDs(afterremovalofredundantattributes)
1. FindclosureofLHSusingFDw.r.t(FwiththatFDremoved)
a. IfclosurecontainsRHS,redundant.
b. Elsenotredundant

Resultsinaminimalcover

Checkingforlossless

Ifmultipletables,findouthowtheyaredecomposedandcheckforeachbreakdowniflosslessornot

Alternatemethod
Createatablewhere
columns=#ofattributes

rows=#ofdecompositions

e.g. , , ,

, ,

Startwith

A B C D E G
X X
X X
X X X X
X X

ForeachFD,ifwehave2rowswithXforLHS,andatleast1XontheRHS.FilluptheRHSofthose
rowswithoutX.

e.g.for . and hasXonB,but doesnotcontainD.SofillthatcolumnwithanX

A B C D E G
X X O
X X
X X X X
X X

Continuewiththerest(Repeatagainandagainuntilnomorecanbefilled)

A B C D E G
X X O O O
X X O
X X X X O
X X

IfthereisarowwithallX/O,thismeansdecompositionislossless,otherwiselossy(asinthis
example).Whatthisisdoingisjoiningthetablestoseeifwecangetbacktheoriginaldata)

LosslessJoinDecompositions
If isnontrivial.ThenthedecompositionofRinto , isalosslessjoindecomposition

If , , islosslessand , , , islosslessdecompositionof then

Calculating :

1. Startwithresultasemptyset
2. LoopthrougheachattributeofFincludingcombinationsofattributes(calledb)
a. Computetheclosureofb
b. RemovenonrelatedFDsofa,byintersectingwitha.ThusLHSclosure
c. Addthe(LHSclosure)totheresultset

Checkingifdependencyispreserved
and Trivialtoproof,mainaimistoprooffirstcondition

IfthereisanFDinFsuchthattheunionsdontcontainf,thenitisnotdependencypreserving.

DependencyPreservingDecompositions
1. Computeprojections foreachtable
2. Unionalltheprojections,calledG
3. LoopthrougheachFD, ,inF
a. Compute wrtG
b. if doesnotcontainb,thenno

BoyceCoddNormalForm(BCNF)
Assumptions:RHSisasingleattribute

NotallschemashasadependencypreservingBCNF

TobeBCNF:ForeverynontrivialFD( )ofF,ifaisnotasupeykey,violatesBCNF.OnlyifALL
FDsdontviolatethenitisBCNF.

**CanonlycheckagainstoriginalFDwhencheckingiftheoriginalschemaisinBCNF**

**Whencheckingdecomposedschema,checkwithEVERY **

e.g. , , , , , andthat ,

isnotBCNFsince isin and isACD,and violatesBCNF.

in iscomputedfrom ,

BCNFProperty(lemma2)
Anyschemathathas2attributesisBCNF

BCNFTest/DecomposingtoBCNF(Input:Fand ,returnsnull/FDthatviolatesBCNF)
1. If2attributes,returnnull(BCNFPropertylemma2)
2. Loopthrougheachain
a. let w.r.tF( isanFDthatholdson )
b. ifX=a,FDistrivial,tossaway
c. ifX= ,alphaissuperkey,doesnotviolateBCNF,tossaway
 d. elsereturn (SuchaFDviolatesBCNF)
3. returnnull

Example
, , , , ,with ,

, , , , , using from

, , , , , , , using from

BCNFatthispoint

ThirdNormalForm(3NF)
Guaranteeslosslessjoinandpreservedependencies

3NF:ForeverynontrivialFD ,aisasuperkeyorbisaprimeattribute(appearinsomekey)

Violationof3NF:ForeverynontrivialFD ,aisnotsuperkeyandbisnonprimeattribute

3NFDecomposition/Synthesisalgorithm
GivenFmustbeaminimalcoverofR.Returns3NFdecomposition.

1. Startanemptysetforresult
2. ApplyunionruleforFDscalledG(GroupFDswithsameLHS,reduceno.oftablescreated)
3. ForeachFDinG( )
a. Createschema ,
b. Addthisschematoresult(Willresultin#FDtables)
4. Chooseakeykandcreateatablewiththoseattributes(formissingattributesinFD)
5. Removeredundanttablesinresult(e.g.ABC,ABCD,canremovetablewithABC,ifsuperset,
removesmallerone)
6. Returnresult