RELATIONAL

ALGEBRA
 Content
2
s
 What is Relational Algebra?
 Operations in Relational Algebra
 Extended Relational Algebra
Operations
 Assignments
Relational model Relational algebra/Relational calculas

RDBMSSQL
 What is Relational
3
Algebra?
 It is a procedural query language.
 Consists of set of operations.
 Takes one (unary) or two (binary) relations as input
& produce a new relation as output.
 Introduced by E. F. Codd in 1970 as a basis for a
database query languages.
 What is a Query
4
Language?
 Database language.
 Use for retrieving informations from database.
 Two types:-
- Procedural
Specifies what data are needed & how to
get those data.
- Non-procedural
Specifies what data are needed except how
to get those data.
 Operation
5
s Select


 Project
 Union FUNDAMENT
 Set Difference AL
 Cartesian OPERATIONS
Product
 Rename
 Set Intersection
 Natural Join
 Semi Join OTHER
OPERATIO
 Theta Join
NS
 Assignment
 Outer Join
 Division
 Select Operation
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(σ)
 Unary operation.
 Selects tuples (rows) that satisfy the given predicate
(condition) from a relation (table).
σp(r)

PREDICATE RELATION

 There can be more than one predicate connected by

connectors (and [^], or [v], not [¬]).
 Comparisons are performed using relational operators
(=, ≠, ≥, <, >, ≤).
 Example
7
s
person(name, age, weight)
1. Find the details of all persons having age
greater than equals to 34.
Ans: σage≥34(person)

2. Find the details of all persons having age

greater than 34 & weight equals to 54.
Ans: σage>34 ^ weight=54(person)
 Illustration
8
s
perso бage>=34(person)
name n age weight name age weight

Harry 34 80 Harry 34 80
Helena 54 54
Sally 28 64
Peter 34 80
George 29 70

Helena 54 54
б age>34 ^ weight=54(person)
Peter 34 80
name age weight
Helena 54 54
 Project Operation
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(Π)
 Unary operation.
 Selects specified attributes (columns) from
a relation.
ΠA1, A2, An(r)

RELATION
ATTRIBUTES
 Exampl
10
e
employee(name, age,
salary)
1. Find the name of all employees.
Ans: Πnameemploye
(employee) ∏ (employee)
name

name e age salary name

Harry 34 80,000 Harry
Sally 28 90,000 Sally
George 29 70,000 George
Helena 54 54,280 Helena
Peter 34 40,000 Peter
 Combination of Select & Project
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Operations - Example
employee(name, age, salary)
1. Find the name of employees earning more
than 80,000
Ans: Πname(σsalary>80000(employee))
employe бsalary>80,000(employee)
namee age salary name age salary
Harry 34 80,000 Sally 28 90,000
Sally 28 90,000
George 29 70,000 ∏ name(бsalary>80,000(employee))
Helena 54 54,280 name
Peter 34 40,000 Sally
 Union Operation
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(U)
 Binary operation.
 Returns the union of two compatible relations (say
r
& s).
rUs
where,
- r & s must have the same number of attributes.
- Attribute domains must be compatible.
- Duplicate tuples are automatically eliminated.
 Exampl
13
e
course(name, semester, teacher)
1. Find the name of all courses taught in the 1st
semester, the 2nd semester, or both.
Ans: Πname(σsemester=“1st"(course)) U

Πname(σsemester=“2nd"(course))
 Illustratio
14
n
cours
∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))
name e
semester teacher name
C1 1st T1 C1

C2 2nd T2
∏ name (course
C3 3rd T3 (б semester=“2nd" ))
name
C4 4th T4 C2
C1 2nd T1 C1

∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))U ∏name(бsemester=“2nd"(course))
name
C1
C2
 Set Difference
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(-)
 Binary operation.
 Returns the tuples which are present in first relation
(r) but are not in the second relation (s).
r −s
 Like union the conditions are same for a valid r –
s
operation.
 Exampl
16
e
course(name, semester, teacher)
1. Find the name of all courses taught in the 1st
semester but not in 2nd semester.
Ans: Πname(σsemester=“1st"(course))
-
Πname(σsemester=“2nd"(course))
 Illustratio
17
n
cours ∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))
name e
semester teacher name
C1
C1 1st T1
C3
C2 2nd T2
∏ name (course
C3 1st T3 (б semester=“2nd" ))
name
C4 4th T4 C2
C1 2nd T1 C1

∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))
- ∏name(бsemester=“2nd"(course))
name
C3
 Cartesian Product
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(x)
 Binary operation.
 Combines information from any two relations (r &
s). r x s
 It defines a relation by concatenating every tuple
of relation r with every tuple of relation s.
 Illustratio
19
n
perso city
name n age weight city

Harry 34 80 San Jose

Austin
Sally 28 64
George 29 70
person X
name city weight city
age
Harry 34 80 San Jose
Harry 34 80 Austin
Sally 28 64 San Jose
Sally 28 64 Austin
George 29 70 San Jose
George 29 70 Austin
 Rename Operation
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(ρ)
 Unary operation
ρ a / b (r)
where,
- r is a relation
- a and b are attributes
 The result is identical to r except that the b field
in the relation is renamed to an a field.
 Exampl
21
e
employe ρename / (employee)
name

namee age salary ename age salary

Harry 34 80,000 Harry 34 80,000
Sally 28 90,000 Sally 28 90,000
George 29 70,000 George 29 70,000
Helena 54 54,280 Helena 54 54,280
Peter 34 40,000 Peter 34 40,000
 Set Intersection
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()
 Binary operation.
r s
 Defines a relation consisting of the set of all tuples
that are in both r and s.
 Like union the conditions are same for a valid r 
s
operation.
 Expressed using basic operations:
r  s = r – (r – s)
 Exampl
23
e
course(name, semester, teacher)
1. Find the name of all courses taught in both the 1st
& 2nd semesters.
Ans: Πname(σsemester=“1st"(course))


Πname(σsemester=“2nd"(course))
 Illustratio
24
n
cours ∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))
name e
semester teacher name
C1
C1 1st T1
C3
C2 2nd T2
∏ name (course
C3 1st T3 (б semester=“2nd" ))
name
C4 4th T4 C2
C1 2nd T1 C1

∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course)) ∏name(бsemester=“2nd"(course))
name
C1
 Natural Join
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(⋈)
 Binary operation.
r⋈s
where,
- r & s are relations.
 The result is the set of all combinations of tuples in r
and s that are equal on their common attribute
names.
 Natural Join only if there is at least one
common attribute that exists between two
relations
 Illustratio
26
n
t1 t2
a b b c

a1 b1 b1 c1

a2 b2 b2 c2
a3 b3 b4 c4

t1 ⋈
a t2 b c

a1 b1 c1

a2 b2 c2
 Semi Join
27
(⋉)
 Similar to the Natural Join.
r⋉s
where,
- r & s are relations.
 Outputs only those set of tuples in r for which
there is a tuple in s that is equal on their common
attribute names.
 Illustratio
28
n
t1 t2
a b b c

a1 b1 b1 c1

a2 b2 b2 c2
a3 b3 b4 c4

t1 ⋉
a t2 b

a1 b1

a2 b2
 Theta Join
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(θ)
 Variant of the Natural Join.
 Combine a selection & a Cartesian product into
a single operation.
r ⋈θs = σθ(r x s)
where,
- r & s are relations.
- θ is a predicate.
 Assignment
30
Operation
 Writing a relational algebra expression
by assigning parts of it to temporary
relation variables.
 Works like assignment in a programming
language.
 Denoted by .
 Illustratio
31
n
cours r1  ∏ name(бsemester=“1st"(course))
name e
semester teacher name
C1
C1 1st T1
C3
C2 2nd T2
r2  ∏ name (course
C3 1st T3 (б semester=“2nd" ))
name
C4 4th T4 C2
C1 2nd T1 C1

r1
r2
name
C1
 Outer
32
Join
 Deals with missing information.
 Works in a similar fashion like natural join, but
preserves those tuples that would be lost in the join
by creating tuples in the result containing null
values.
 Three types:
- Left Outer Join
- Right Outer Join
- Full Outer Join
 Left Outer Join
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(=⋈)
 Takes all the tuples in the left relation that did not
match with any tuple in the right relation.
 Pads the tuples with null values for all other
attributes from the right relation.
 Adds them to the result of the natural join.
r =⋈ s
where,
- r & s are relations.
 Illustratio
34
n
t1 t2
a b b c

a1 b1 b1 c1

a2 b2 b2 c2
a3 b3 b4 c4

t1 =⋈
a t2 b c

a1 b1 c1

a2 b2 c2
a3 b3 null
 Right Outer Join
35
(⋈=)
 Takes all the tuples in the right relation that did not
match with any tuple in the left relation.
 Pads the tuples with null values for all other
attributes from the left relation.
 Adds them to the result of the natural join.
r ⋈= s
where,
- r & s are relations.
 Illustratio
36
n
t1 t2
a b b c

a1 b1 b1 c1

a2 b2 b2 c2
a3 b3 b4 c4

t1 ⋈=
a t2 b c

a1 b1 c1

a2 b2 c2
null b4 c4
 Full Outer Join
37
(=⋈=)
 Performs both left & right outer join operations.
 Pads the tuples with null values from the right

relation that did not match with any from the

left relation & vice versa.
Left Outer Join + Right Outer Join = Full Outer
Join r =⋈= s
where,
- r & s are relations.
 Illustratio
38
n
t1 t2
a b b c

a1 b1 b1 c1

a2 b2 b2 c2
a3 b3 b4 c4

t1 =⋈=
a t2 b c

a1 b1 c1

a2 b2 c2
a3 b3 null
null b4 c4
 Division
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Operation
 Binary operation.
r/s
where,
- r is the dividend relation & s is the divisor relation.
- All the attributes in s also appear in r.
- s is not empty.
 The result consists of the restrictions of tuples in r to the
attribute names unique to r, i.e., in the header of r
but not in the header of s, for which it holds that all
their combinations with tuples in s are present in r.
 Illustratio
40
n
complete DBProjec
d
student task t task
Fred Database1 Database1
Fred Database2 Database2
Fred Compiler1
Eugene Database1
Sara Database1 completed /
Sara Database2 DBProjectstudent
Eugene Compiler1 Fred
Sara

If DBProject contains all the tasks of the Database project, then the result of the division
above contains exactly the students who have completed both of the tasks in the Database
project.
 Extended Relational Algebra
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Operations
• Generalized
Projection
• Aggregation
 Generalized
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Projection
 Extension of projection operation.
 Allows arithmetic operations & string functions to be
used in the projection list.
 Exampl
43
e
employee(name, age, salary)
1. Find the name & monthly salary of all
employees. Ans: Πname, salary/12(employee)
 Aggregation
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(G)
 Permits the use of aggregate functions (sum,
average, min, max, count)
- take a collection of values & return a single value as a
result.
G1,…,GnGF1(A1),…,Fm(Am)(E)
where,
- E => Any relational algebra expression
- G1,…,Gn => List of attributes on which to group
- F1,…,Fm => Aggregate functions
- A1,…,Am => Attribute names
 Example
45
s
instructor (id, name, dept_name, salary)
teaches (id, course_id, sec_id, semester,
year)
1. Find out the sum of salaries of all instructors
Gsum(salary)(instructor)
2. Find the total no. of instructors who teach a course in the
Spring 2010 semester
Gcount-distinct(id)(σsemester=“Spring” ^ year=2010(teaches))
3. Find out the average salary of all instructors
Gaverage(salary)(instructor)
4. Find out the average salary in each department
dept_nameGaverage(salary)(instructor)
 Assignment
46
s
1. instructor (id, name, dept_name, salary)
teaches (id, course_id, sec_id, semester,
year)
Find the names of all instructors in the Physics
department together with the course-id of all
courses they taught.
 Assignments
47
(contd…)
2. employee (emp_name, street, city)
works (emp_name, comp_name,
sal) company (comp_name, city)
manages (emp_name,
a) manager_name)
Find the names of all employees who work for 1st Bank Co-orporation.
b) Find the names & cities of residence of all employees who work for
1st Bank Co-orporation.
c) Find the names, street addresses & cities of all employees who work
for
1st Bank Co-orporation & earn more than 10,000.
d) Find all employees in the DB who live in the same cities as the
companies for which they work.
e) Find all employees in the DB who live in the same city & the same
f) street as do their managers.
Find all employees in the DB who don’t work for 1st Bank Co-
orporation.
 Assignments
48
(contd…)
3. sailors (sid, sname, rating,
age) reserved (sid, bid, day)
boats (bid, bname, color)
a) Find the names of the sailors who have reserved a red
or green boat.
b) Find the names of the sailors with age over 20 who
have not reserved a red boat.
c) Find the names of the sailor who have reserved all
boats.
d) Find the color of the boat reserved by Smith.
 Assignments
49
(contd…)
4. staff (sno, sname, pos, dob, sal,
bno) branch (bno, street, city,
pincode)
propertyforrent (pno, street, city,
pincode, type,
rooms, rent, ownerno,
sno, bno)
a) List the names of all managers who earn more than
25000.
b) List the staff names who manage properties for rent in
Kolkata.
c) List the names of staff who currently don’t manage
 Reference
50
s
 Database System Concepts, 6th edition,
Silberschatz, Korth, Sudarshan
 www.tutorialspoint.com/dbms/relational_algebra.ht

m
 www.cs.sjsu.edu/faculty/lee/cs157/26FRelational_

Algebra(Gupta).ppt
51