Relational Algebra

Ram Datta Bhatta

Relational Algebra

• Relational Algebra is a procedural query language, which takes relation as input and generate
relation as output. Relational Algebra mainly provides theoretical foundation for relational
databases and SQL.
• Relational Algebra is a language for expressing relational database queries.
• It uses operators to perform queries. And operator can be either unary or binary.
Types of operator in Relational Algebra

• Basic/ fundamental operators

• Additional / Derived operators
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Selection (σ) :
• selection operator is a unary operator in relational algebra that performs a selection operation .
• It selects tuples (or rows) that satisfy the given condition from a relation.
• It is denoted by (σ)
Notation:
σ condition (Relation Name)

Example: select tuple from student table whose age is greater than 17
σ age>17 (Student)
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Table: student
Roll_no Name Age Address
1 A 20 Bhopal
2 B 17 Mumbai
3 C 16 Mumbai
4 D 19 Delhi
5 E 18 Delhi

Example: select tuple from student table whose age is greater than 17
σ age>17 (Student)
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: select tuple from student table whose age is greater than 17
σ Age > 17 (Student)
output
Roll_no Name Age Address
1 A 20 Bhopal
4 D 19 Delhi
5 E 18 Delhi
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: select student whose Roll_no is 2.

σ Roll_no = 2 (Student)
Output Name
Roll_no Age Address
2 B 17 Mumbai
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: select student Name whose name is D.

σ Name = “D” (Student)

Roll_no Name Age Address

4 D 19 Delhi
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: select tuple from student table whose age is greater than 17 and who lives in Delhi.
σ Age > 17 ʌ Address = “Delhi (Student)

Roll_no Name Age Address

4 D 19 Delhi
5 E 18 Delhi
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Projection (Π) :
• Projection operator(Π) is a unary operator in relational algebra that performs a projection
operation .
• It projects (or displays) the particular columns ( or attributes) from a relation.
• It delete the column(s) that are not in the projection list.
• It is denoted by (Π )

Notation:
Π attribute_list (Relation Name)
Duplicate rows are automatically eliminated from result.
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: display the columns roll_no and name from the relation student.
Π roll-no, name( student)
Table: student Output
Roll_no Name Age Roll_no Name
1 A 20 1 A
2 B 17 2 B
3 C 18 3 C
4 D 19 4 D
5 E 18 5 E
6 F 18 6 F
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example: display ( Project) the name of students from the relation student.
Π name ( student)
Table: student Output
Roll_no Name Age Name
1 A 20 A
2 B 17 B
3 C 18 C
4 D 19 D
5 E 18 E
6 F 18 F
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Cartesian Product/Cross Product :

• Cartesian Product/Cross Product is fundamental Operator in relational algebra.
• Cartesian Product combines information of two different relations into one.
• Notations : R1 X R2
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example:
R1 R2
A B C D
1 X 2 P
2 Y 3 Q

R1 X AR2 B C D
1 X 2 P
1 X 3 Q
2 Y 2 P
2 Y 3 Q
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example:
R1 X R2
A B C D
1 X 2 P
1 X 3 Q
2 Y 2 P
2 Y 3 Q

σ A=C (R1 X R2) Output

A B C D
2 Y 2 P
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example:
R1 X R2

A B C D
1 X 2 P
1 X 3 Q
2 Y 2 P
2 Y 3 Q

Π A (σ C=3 (R1 X R2) ) Output

A
1
2
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Rename Operator:
• The Rename Operator is used to rename the output of a relation.
Symbol: rho (ρ )
Notation: ρ S ( E )
Where (ρ ) is used to denote the rename operator.
(E) Is the result of operation which is saved with the name s.
R R X ρ S (R)
A B R.A R.B S.A S.B

P 1 P 1 P 1

Q 2 P 1 Q 2
Q 2 P 1
R X ρ S (R ) Q 2 Q 2
Rename R to S.
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Union Operator ( U) :
• The union operator selects all the tuples that are either in Relation R or S or
in both relations R and S.
• For Union Operation to be valid, the following conditions must hold.
• Two relations R and S both have same number of attributes.
• Corresponding attribute (or column) have same domain ( or type)
• The attributes of R and S must occur in the same order.
Student Employee
Roll_no Name
Roll_no Name Emp_no Name 1 A
1 A 2 B 2 B
2 B 8 G 3 C
3 C 9 H 4 D
4 D 8 G
9 H
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Student Employee Student U Employee

Roll_no Name Emp_no Name Roll_no Name
1 A 2 B 1 A
2 B 8 G 2 B
3 C 9 H 3 C
4 D
4 D
8 G
9 H

Π Name (Student) U Π Name (Employee)

Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Π Name (Student) U Π Name (Employee)

Name
A
B
C
D
G
H
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Set Difference ( - ) Operator:

• Suppose R and S are two relations. The set difference operator selects all
the tuples that are present in the first relation R but not in the second
relation S.
• The following condition must hold for the set difference is valid.
• Two relations R and S both have same number of attributes.
• Corresponding attribute( or columns) have the same domain (or type).
The attribute of R and S must occur in the same order .
• Symbol: ( - )
• Syntax : R – S
Basic/ Fundamental Operators

Example
Student Employee (Student) – ( Employee)
Roll_no Name Emp_no Name Roll_no Name
1 A 2 B 1 A
2 B 8 G 3 C
3 C 9 H 4 D
4 D

Π Name (Student) - Π Name (Employee) OUTPUT

Name
A
C
D
Join Operation ( )

• Join is an additional/Derived operator which simplify the queries, but does

not add any new power to the basic relational algebra.
• Join is a combination of a Cartesian product followed by a selection
operation.
Join = Cartesian Product + selection
• A join operation pairs two tuples from different relations, if and only if a
given join condition is satisfied.

Symbol:

A C B = σC(AXB)
Types of Join

• Inner join
• Theta join
• Equi join
• Natural join
• Outer join
• Left outer join
• Right outer join
• Full outer join
Inner Join

• Inner join
An inner join includes only those tuples that satisfy the matching criteria,
while the rest of tuples are excluded.
Theta join, equi join and natural join are called inner join
Theta( θ ) / Conditional Join

• it combines tuples from different relations provided they satisfy the Theta (
θ ) Condition.
• It is general case of join and it is used when we want to join two or more
relation based on some condition.
• The join conditions is denoted by the symbol ( θ ).
• It uses all kinds of comparison operator like < , >, < = , > = , = , < > .
Notation: A θ B

Where θ is predicate/ condition . It can be any comparison operator.

( < , >, <= , > =, =, < > )
A θ B = σ θ ( A X B)
Theta( θ ) / Conditional Join

Example :
R1 R1 X S1

A B C
A B R1.C S1.C D E
1 8 25
1 8 25 26 X 45
2 9 30
1 8 25 22 Y 43
3 10 22
1 8 25 24 Z 51
2 9 30 26 X 45
S1
2 9 30 22 Y 43
C D E
2 9 30 24 Z 51
26 X 45
3 10 22 26 X 45
22 Y 43
3 10 22 22 Y 43
24 Z 51
3 10 22 24 Z 51
Theta( θ ) / Conditional Join

Example :
R1 X S1
A B R1.C S1.C D E
1 8 25 26 X 45
3 10 22 26 X 45
3 10 22 24 Z 51

R1 R1.C < S1.C S1 = σ R1.C < S1.C (R1 X S1)

Equi Join

• When a theta join uses only equivalence ( = ) condition, it becomes a Equi

Join.
• Equi Join is a special case of theta ( or conditional ) Join where condition
contains equalities( = ).

Notation :
A A.a1 = B.b1 ʌ ………ʌA.an = B.B.bn B
Equi Join

Student Student X Subject

Sid Name std Sid Name Std Class Subjects

101 Rohan 11 101 Rohan 11 11 Maths
102 Mira 12 101 Rohan 11 11 Physics
101 Rohan 11 12 English
Subject 101 Rohan 11 12 Chemistry
Class Subjects 102 Mira 12 11 Maths
11 Maths 102 Mira 12 11 Physics
11 Physics 102 Mira 12 12 English
12 English 102 Mira 12 12 Chemistry
12 Chemistru
Equi Join

Example: Student X Subject

Sid Name Std Class Subjects

101 Rohan 11 11 Maths
101 Rohan 11 11 Physics
102 Mira 12 12 English
102 Mira 12 12 Chemistry

Student Student.Std = Subjects.Class Subject

Natural Join

• Natural Join can only be performed if there is at least one common

attribute ( column) that exists between two relations. In addition, the
attribute must have the same name and domain.
• Notation : A B
• The result of the natural join is the set of all combinations of tuple in two
relations A and B that are equal on their common attribute names.
• Natural Join is by default inner join because the tuples which does not
satisfy the conditions of Join does not appear in the result set.
Natural Join

Example:
Courses HOD
Cid Course Dept Dept Head
101 Database CS CS Rohan
102 Mechanics ME ME Sara
103 Electronics EE EE Jiya

Courses HOD
Cid Course Dept Head
101 Database CS Rohan
102 Mechanics ME Sara
103 Electronics EE Jiya
Natural Join

∏ Cid, Course, Dept, Head ( σ Courses.Dept = HOD.Dept ( Courses X HOD))

Outer Join

• An inner join includes only those tuples with matching attributes and the
rest are discarded in the resulting relation. Therefore, we need to use outer
join to include all the rest of the tuples from the participating relations in
the resulting relation.
• The outer join operation is an extension of the join operation that avoids
loss of information.
• Outer Join contains matching tuples that satisfy the matching condition ,
along with some or all tuples that do not satisfy the matching condition.
• It is based on both matched and unmatched tuple.
• It contains all rows from either one or both relations are present.
• It uses NULL values . NULL signifies that the value is unknown or does not
exist.
Left Outer Join (R1 R2 )

• Left Outer Join, all the tuples from left relation R1 are included in the
resulting relation . The tuples from R1 which do not satisfy Join condition ,
will have values as NULL for attributes of R2 .
• In Short
• All records from left table.
• Only matching records from right table.
Symbol :
Notation: R1 R2
Left Outer Join (R1 R2 )

Example :
Courses HOD
Cid Course Cid Name
100 Database 100 Rohan
101 Mechanics 102 Sara
102 Electronics 104 Jiya

Courses HOD
Cid Course Name
100 Database Rohan
101 Mechanics NULL
102 Electronics Jia
Right Outer Join (R1 R2 )

• In Right Outer Join, all the tuples from right relation R2 are included in the
resulting relation. The tuples of R2 which do not satisfy join condition will
have values as NULL for attributes of R1.
• In short:
• All records from right table
• Only matching record from left table.
Symbol :
Notation : R1 R2
Right Outer Join (R1 R2 )

Example :
Courses HOD
Cid Course Cid Name
100 Database 100 Rohan
101 Mechanics 102 Sara
102 Electronics 104 Jiya

Courses HOD
Cid Course Name
100 Database Rohan
102 Electronics Sara
104 NULL Jia
Full Outer Join (R1 R2 )

• In Full Outer Join, all the tuples from both left relation R1 and right relation
R2 are included in the resulting relation. The tuples of both relations R1 and
R2 which do not satisfy Join condition, their respective unmatched
attributes are made NULL .
• In short:
• All records from all tables.
Symbol:
Notation : R1 R2
Full Outer Join (R1 R2 )

Example :
Courses HOD
Cid Course Cid Name
100 Database 100 Rohan
101 Mechanics 102 Sara
102 Electronics 104 Jiya

Courses HOD
Cid Course Name
100 Database Rohan
101 Mechanics NULL
102 Electronics Sara
104 NULL Jiya
Division Operator
Division Operation is represented by "division"(÷ or /) operator and is
used in queries that involve keywords "every", "all", etc.
Notation : R(X,Y)/S(Y)
Here,
R is the first relation from which data is retrieved.
S is the second relation that will help to retrieve the data.
X and Y are the attributes/columns present in relation. We can have
multiple attributes in relation, but keep in mind that attributes of S
must be a proper subset of attributes of R.
For each corresponding value of Y, the above notation will return us
the value of X from tuple<X,Y> which exists everywhere.
Example

the query is to return the STUDENT_ID of students who are enrolled in every course
Database Modification
• Deletion
• Insertion
• Updation
Deletion
Insertion
Updation
Update, delete and insert
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfH9Q4gS9BQ
• https://www.scaler.com/topics/dbms/relational-algebra-in-dbms/
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/02-dml-relational-algebra-build-
your-own-dbms-from-first-el-deen/