Boolean conjunctive query: Difference between revisions

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In the theory of [[relational databases]], a '''Boolean conjunctive query''' is a [[conjunctive query]] without distinguished predicates, i.e., a query in the form <math>R_1(t_1) \wedge \cdots \wedge R_n(t_n)</math>, where each <math>R_i</math> is a relation symbol and each <math>t_i</math> is a [[tuple]] of variables and constants; the number of elements in <math>t_i</math> is equal to the [[arity]] of <math>R_i</math>. Such a query evaluates to either true or false depending on whether the relations in the database contain the appropriate tuples of values, i.e. the conjunction is [[Validity (logic)|valid]] according to the facts in the database.

As an example, if a [[database schema]] contains the relation symbols <math>{{mvar|Father</math>}} (binary, who's the father of whom) and <math>{{mvar|Employed</math>}} (unary, who is employed), a conjunctive query could be <math>Father(\text{Mark}, x) \wedge Employed(x)</math>. This query evaluates to true if there exists an individual <math>{{mvar|x</math>}} who is a child of Mark and employed. In other words, this query expresses the question: "does Mark have an employed childrenchild?"

== Complexity ==

{{Main|Conjunctive query#Complexity}}

==See also==

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* {{cite journal

| author author1= G. Gottlob, |author2=N. Leone, |author3=F. Scarcello | title = The complexity of acyclic conjunctive queries

| journal = Journal of the ACM (JACM)

| title = The complexity of acyclic conjunctive queries

| journal = Journal of the ACM (JACM)

| volume = 48

| issue = 3

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| doi = 10.1145/382780.382783

}}

[[Category:Boolean algebra]]