Scribd
Upload
44 views

Relational Algebra: Prepared By: Raquel Ofreneo, MIT

Relational algebra is a set of mathematical principles for manipulating relational tables. The main operators are SELECT, PROJECT, JOIN, INTERSECT, UNION, DIFFERENCE, PRODUCT, and DIVIDE. A relvar holds relation data in a container. SELECT selects rows, PROJECT selects columns, UNION appends tables, INTERSECT yields common rows, and DIFFERENCE yields unique rows. PRODUCT yields all pairs of rows. JOIN yields rows based on criteria like natural join on common columns. Left and right outer joins yield all rows including non-matches.

Uploaded by

Dianne Ballon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
44 views

Relational Algebra: Prepared By: Raquel Ofreneo, MIT

Relational algebra is a set of mathematical principles for manipulating relational tables. The main operators are SELECT, PROJECT, JOIN, INTERSECT, UNION, DIFFERENCE, PRODUCT, and DIVIDE. A relvar holds relation data in a container. SELECT selects rows, PROJECT selects columns, UNION appends tables, INTERSECT yields common rows, and DIFFERENCE yields unique rows. PRODUCT yields all pairs of rows. JOIN yields rows based on criteria like natural join on common columns. Left and right outer joins yield all rows including non-matches.

Uploaded by

Dianne Ballon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

Relational Algebra

Prepared by: Raquel Ofreneo, MIT


Outline

u The Need for Databases


u Relational Set Operators
o SELECT (or RESTRICT), PROJECT, UNION,
INTERSECT, DIFFERENCE, PRODUCT, JOIN
and DIVIDE operators
Relational Algeba
u Relational algebra – a set of mathematical principles
that form the basis for manipulating relational table
contents; the eight main functions are SELECT,
PROJECT, JOIN, INTERSECT, UNION, DIFFERENCE,
PRODUCT and DIVIDE

u Relvar – Short for relation variable, a variable that


holds a relation. A relvar is a container (variable) for
holding relation data, not the relation itself
Relational Set Operators

u SELECT – In relational algebra, an operator used to


select a subset of rows. Also known as RESTRICT
Relational Set Operators

u PROJECT – In relational algebra, an operator used to


select a subset of columns
Relational Set Operators
Relational Set Operators

u UNION – In relational algebra, an operator used to


merge (append) two tables into a new table,
dropping the duplicate rows. The table must be
union-compatible

u Union – compatible – two or more tables that have


the same number of columns and the corresponding
columns have compatible domains
Relational Set Operators
Relational Set Operators

u INTERSECT – In relational algebra, an operator used


to yield only the rows that are common to two union-
compatible tables
Relational Set Operators

u DIFFERENCE – In relational algebra, an operator used


to yield all rows from one table that are not found in
another union-compatible table.
Relational Set Operators

u PRODUCT – In relational algebra, an operator used to


yield all possible pairs of rows from two tables. Also
known as the Cartesian product.
Relational Set Operators
u JOIN– In relational algebra, a type of operator used
to yield rows from two tables based on criteria.
There are many types of join, such as natural join,
theta join, equijoin and outer join

u Natural join – a relational operation that yields a new


table composed of only the rows with common values
in their common attributes

u Join columns – columns that are used in the criteria


of join operations. The join columns generally share
similar values
Relational Set Operators
Relational Set Operators
u A natural join is the result of a three-stage process.
1. First, A PRODUCT of the tables is created, yielding the results
below
Relational Set Operators
Relational Set Operators
2. Second, a select is performed on the output of Step 1 to yield
only the rows for which the AGENT_CODE values are equal. The
common columns are referred to as the join columns
Relational Set Operators
3. A PROJECT is performed on the results of Step 2 to yield a
single copy of each attributes, thereby eliminating duplicate
columns. Step 3 yields the output shows figure below
Relational Set Operators
Left outer join – a join operation that yields all the rows in the
left table, including those that have no matching values in the
other table
Relational Set Operators
Right outer join – a join operation that yields all of the rows in
the right table, including the ones with no matching values in
the other table

You might also like