OBJECTS IN RELATIONAL DATABASE SCHEMES WITH FUNCTIONAL, INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION DEPENDENCIES

Objects are unique entities that are capable of independent existence. Objects are formally defined and characterized for relational database schemes with functional, inclusion and exclusion dependencies. Object normal forms are developed and the decision problem for object normal forms is shown to be undecidable. The concept of an object is generalized to that of a high-order object for recognizing different views of the same set of real-world objects during the view-integration approach to database design. High-order objects are formally defined and characterized for database schemes with functional, inclusion and exclusion dependencies. The recognition problem for high-order objects is also investigated.