SYSTEM/U: a database system based on the universal relation assumption

Abstract

System/U is a universal relation database system under development at Standford University which uses the language C on UNIX. The system is intended to test the use of the universal view, in which the entire database is seen as one relation. This paper describes the theory behind System/U, in particular the theory of maximal objects and the connection between a set of attributes. We also describe the implementation of the DDL (Data Description Language) and the DML (Data Manipulation Language), and discuss in detail how the DDL finds maximal objects and how the DML determines the connection between the attributes that appear in a query.