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RA Queries

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33 views6 pages

RA Queries

Uploaded by

JABBAR ALTAF
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In Relational Algebra (RA), various operations allow for querying and manipulating relational data.

Some of the most common operations are Cartesian Product, Projection, Union, Intersection,
and Difference. Below is an explanation of each of these operations with examples:

1. Cartesian Product (×)

The Cartesian Product (also known as Cross Join) of two relations produces all possible pairs of
rows between two tables. Each row in the first table is combined with every row in the second table.

Syntax:

R1×R2R_1 \times R_2R1×R2

Where:

• R1R_1R1 and R2R_2R2 are two relations (tables).

Example:

Given two tables:

Table 1: Employees

Emp_ID Name

1 John

2 Alice

3 Bob

Table 2: Departments

Dept_ID Dept_Name

101 HR

102 IT

The Cartesian Product of Employees and Departments is:

Employees×Departments\text{Employees} \times \text{Departments}Employees×Departments

Result:

Emp_ID Name Dept_ID Dept_Name

1 John 101 HR

1 John 102 IT

2 Alice 101 HR
Emp_ID Name Dept_ID Dept_Name

2 Alice 102 IT

3 Bob 101 HR

3 Bob 102 IT

Each row from the Employees table is combined with each row from the Departments table.

2. Projection (π)

Projection selects specific columns from a relation and eliminates duplicates. It is used to retrieve
specific attributes from a table.

Syntax:

πattribute1, attribute2, ...(R)\pi_{\text{attribute1, attribute2, ...}}(R)πattribute1, attribute2, ...(R)

Where:

• RRR is a relation (table).

• attribute1, attribute2, ... are the attributes (columns) you want to keep.

Example:

Given the table Employees:

Emp_ID Name Salary Department

1 John 50000 HR

2 Alice 60000 IT

3 Bob 55000 IT

Projection of the Name and Salary columns:

πName, Salary(Employees)\pi_{\text{Name, Salary}}(\text{Employees})πName, Salary(Employees)

Result:

Name Salary

John 50000

Alice 60000

Bob 55000
Only the Name and Salary columns are returned, with duplicates removed.

3. Union (∪)

Union combines the results of two relations and returns all unique rows that appear in either of the
two relations. The two relations must have the same schema (same number and type of columns).

Syntax:

R1∪R2R_1 \cup R_2R1∪R2

Where:

• R1R_1R1 and R2R_2R2 are two relations (tables).

Example:

Given two tables:

Table 1: Employees

Emp_ID Name

1 John

2 Alice

Table 2: Contractors

Emp_ID Name

3 Bob

4 Carol

The Union of Employees and Contractors is:

Employees∪Contractors\text{Employees} \cup \text{Contractors}Employees∪Contractors

Result:

Emp_ID Name

1 John

2 Alice

3 Bob

4 Carol
All rows from both tables are returned, with duplicates removed.

4. Intersection (∩)

Intersection returns the rows that are common to both relations. The two relations must have the
same schema.

Syntax:

R1∩R2R_1 \cap R_2R1∩R2

Where:

• R1R_1R1 and R2R_2R2 are two relations (tables).

Example:

Given two tables:

Table 1: Employees

Emp_ID Name

1 John

2 Alice

3 Bob

Table 2: Contractors

Emp_ID Name

2 Alice

3 Bob

4 Carol

The Intersection of Employees and Contractors is:

Employees∩Contractors\text{Employees} \cap \text{Contractors}Employees∩Contractors

Result:

Emp_ID Name

2 Alice

3 Bob
Only the rows that appear in both tables are returned.

5. Difference (−)

Difference returns the rows that appear in the first relation but not in the second relation. The two
relations must have the same schema.

Syntax:

R1−R2R_1 - R_2R1−R2

Where:

• R1R_1R1 and R2R_2R2 are two relations (tables).

Example:

Given two tables:

Table 1: Employees

Emp_ID Name

1 John

2 Alice

3 Bob

Table 2: Contractors

Emp_ID Name

2 Alice

3 Bob

4 Carol

The Difference between Employees and Contractors is:

Employees−Contractors\text{Employees} - \text{Contractors}Employees−Contractors

Result:

Emp_ID Name

1 John

The rows in Employees that are not present in Contractors are returned. In this case, only the row
for "John" is returned.
Summary of Operations:

Operation Description

Cartesian Product (×) Combines each row from one table with every row of another table.

Projection (π) Selects specific columns from a table.

Union (∪) Combines rows from two tables, removing duplicates.

Intersection (∩) Returns rows that are common to both tables.

Difference (−) Returns rows in the first table that are not in the second table.

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