A quantum interpretation of the view-update problem
Christian Flender · 2010
The ANSI-SPARC architecture was proposed as a hi-erarchical model for the implementation of Database Management Systems (DBMS). A separation of ex-ternal user views and shared base relations (concep-tual schema) constitutes their logical independence, i.e., external views are immune to changes of the con-ceptual schema. Moreover, users can customize their views independent of the conceptual schema. How-ever, all updates to a base relation should be imme-diately reflected in all views that reference the base relation. Vice versa, if a view is updated, then the underlying base relation should reflect the change. Keeping views and base relations in sync came to be known as the view-update problem. This paper argues that view updates require the user to cause a change. Prior to a view update user and view are entangled. Entangled states cannot be reduced to fac-tual states of user and base relation. It will be shown that the view-update problem arises due to a view update (causation) being irreducible to a functional mapping between base relation and view (causality).