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Given a set of functional dependencies , an Armstrong relation is a relation which satisfies all the functional dependencies in the closure + and only those dependencies. . Unfortunately, the minimum-size Armstrong relation for a given set of dependencies can have a size which is an exponential function of the number of attributes in the dependencies conside
In relational database theory, a functional dependency is the following constraint between two attribute sets in a relation: Given a relation R and attribute sets X,Y R, X is said to functionally determine Y (written X → Y) if each X value is associated with precisely one Y value.
Every non-trivial functional dependency begins with a superkey (a stricter form of 3NF) — Every non-trivial multivalued dependency begins with a superkey — Every join dependency has a superkey component [8] — Every join dependency has only superkey components — Every constraint is a consequence of domain constraints and key constraints
A trivial multivalued dependency X Y is one where either Y is a subset of X, or X and Y together form the whole set of attributes of the relation. A functional dependency is a special case of multivalued dependency. In a functional dependency X → Y, every x determines exactly one y, never more than one.
Dependency theory is a subfield of database theory which studies implication and optimization problems related to logical constraints, commonly called dependencies, on databases. The best known class of such dependencies are functional dependencies , which form the foundation of keys on database relations .
A table is in EKNF if and only if all its elementary functional dependencies begin at whole keys or end at elementary key attributes. For every full non-trivial functional dependency of the form X→Y, either X is a key or Y is (a part of) an elementary key.
A database relation (e.g. a database table) is said to meet third normal form standards if all the attributes (e.g. database columns) are functionally dependent on solely a key, except the case of functional dependency whose right hand side is a prime attribute (an attribute which is strictly included into some key).
There is a functional dependency from the candidate key to all the attributes in the relation. The superkeys of a relation are all the possible ways we can identify a row. The candidate keys are the minimal subsets of each superkey and as such, they are an important concept for the design of database schema.