Extending the constraint database framework
Dina Goldin, Ayferi Kutlu, Mingjun Song · 2003
Constraint Databases (CDBs) are an extension of relational databases that enrich both the relational data model and the relational query primitives with constraints. By providing a finite representation of data with infinite semantics, the Constraint Database approach is particularly appropriate for querying spatiotemporal data.Since the introduction of Constraint Databases in the early 1990's, several Constraint Database systems have been implemented. In this paper, we discuss several extensions to Paris's Constraint Database framework that we believe necessary, based on the experience with these implementations, and specifically CQA/CDB:Extending the CDB schema to explicitly distinguish traditional from constraint attributes.Additional Constraint Query Algebra operators: keeping queries safe.Multi-attribute indexing systems: how best to group the attributes?Flexibility in representing infinite data: taking constraints.We believe that Paris would have been the first to modify the Constraint Database framework if he felt there were a way to improve it, and we hope that these extensions to the CDB framework bring us closer towards realizing the promise that constraint database technology holds for integrating the advantages of traditional relational database technology with emerging data intensive applications.