Recursive database structures
Daniel M. Brandon · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2005
Recursion has always been an interesting topic in computer science, and one of the most difficult data structures to implement in modern relational database systems is recursive relationships. In a recursive relationship one type of entity is related in some way to other entity instances of the same type. Since a relationship exists, referential integrity constraints must be enforced and processing must be developed to follow the bi-directional relationship in both mapping directions. For non-recursive relationships, referential integrity constraint enforcement and bi-directional information flows have been automated to a great extent in modern database products; but this automation is not available for the recursive case. This paper discusses this problem, presents proposed solutions, and illustrates a practical application of such a solution.