Normalization and hierarchical dependencies in the relational data model

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to the conceptual design of logical schemata for relational databases. One-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships between the attributes of database relations are modeled by means of functional dependencies and multivalued dependencies. A new type of dependency is introduced: first-order hierarchical decomposition. The properties of this new type of dependency are studied and related to the normalization process of relations. The relationship between the concept of first-order hierarchical decomposition and the notion of hierarchical organization of data is discussed through the normalization process.