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FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCIES

K.Yeshwanth
M.sc-CS
2022239008
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WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCY?

• Functional dependency is a relationship that

exists when one attribute uniquely determines
another attribute.

• It typically exists between the primary key and

non-key attribute within a table.
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WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCY?

• Let R be a relation with attributes X and Y,

X->Y
X=>determinant set
Y=>determinant attribute
Y is functionally dependent on X
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WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCY?

Example:

(roll_no) -> (name)

(roll_no) ->(dept_name)
(roll_no) -> (name, dept_name)
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In functional dependency theory,

• Closure of a set of functional dependency
• Closure of attributes
• Canonical cover
• Lossless decomposition
• Dependency preservation
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CLOSURE OF ATTRIBUTE:
• The closure of a set of attributes X is the set of
those attributes that can be functionally
determined from X.

• The closure of X is denoted as X+.

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CLOSURE OF ATTRIBUTE:
• Consider a relation R with attributes A,B,C and
D where,
A->B
B->D
C->B
In this case the closure of A is,
{A+ } -> {A,B,D}
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CLOSURE OF A SET OF FUNCTIONAL

DEPENDENCY:
• Closure of set of functional dependency F is set
of all functional dependencies that include F as
well as all dependencies that can be inferred
from F.

• Denoted as F+.
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RULES FOR FINDING CLOSURE FOR F:

• Reflexivity rule: If A is a set of attributes and
B ⊆ A, then A→B holds.

• Augmentation rule: If A→B holds and C is a

set of attributes, then CA→CB holds.

• Transitivity rule: If A→B holds and B→C

holds, then A→ C holds.
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RULES FOR FINDING CLOSURE FOR F:

• Union rule: If A→ B holds and A→C holds,
then A→ BC holds.

• Pseudotransitivity rule: If A →B holds and

BC→ D holds, then AC→ D holds.

• Decomposition rule: If A→ BC holds, then

A→B holds and A→C holds.
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EXAMPLE:
Let us apply our rules to the example
of schema R(A, B, C, G, H, I) and the
set F of functional dependencies
{A→B, A→C,CG→H, CG→I, B→H}.
• A →H.(Transitivity rule)

• CG →HI, A →BC.(Union rule)

• AG →I.(Pseudotransitivity rule)
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CANONICAL COVER:
• In DBMS, a canonical cover is a set of functional
dependencies that is minimal, irreducible, and
equivalent to the original set of dependencies.

• It is irreducible set of functional dependency.

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CANONICAL COVER:
• To achieve this we have to follow 3 rules:
Make singleton attribute in RHS.
No functional dependency in Fc contains an
extraneous attribute in LHS.
No redundant functional dependency.

Extraneous attributes: A attribute which in

removal does not affect F.
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Q1.Find the canonical cover for

the given F= {A->BC, B->C, AB->D}?
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MAKE SINGLETON ATTRIBUTES IN RHS:

• F= {A->BC, B->C, AB->D}.
Using decomposition rule we can split A->BC as,

o A->B
o A->C

F becomes,
F= {A->B, A->C , B->C, AB->D}.
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CHECK FOR EXTRANEOUS ATTRIBUTE:

• Let us consider the functional dependency
F= {A->B, A->C , B->C, AB->D}.
To check A is extraneous in AB->D:
Closure(B)=BC (B->C)
To check B is extraneous in AB->D:
Closure(A)=ABC (A->B),(A->C)
Since we have FD (A->B), B in (AB->D) is
extraneous , hence F becomes,
F= {A->B, A->C , B->C, A->D}.
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REMOVE REDUNDANT FUNCTIONAL

DEPENDENCY:
F= {A->B, A->C , B->C, A->D}
Remove A->C from F.
F’ = {A->B, B->C, A->D}
Closure(A)=ABCD.
Closure of A contains all the other attributes.
Hence A is redundant.
F becomes,
F={A->B, B->C, A->D}.
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LOSSLESS DECOMPOSITION:
• A decomposition (R1,R2,R3……..Rn) of a relation
R is called lossless decomposition for R, if the
natural join of R1,R2,R3……..Rn produces
exactly the value of R.

• That is a relation must not loose it’s information

even after its decomposition.
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LOSSLESS DECOMPOSITION:
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LOSSY DECOMPOSITION:
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DEPENDENCY PRESERVATION:
• A decomposition D={R1,R2,…,Rn} of R is
dependency preserving with respect to set F of
functional dependency if closure(F1 U F2 U….U
Fn)=closure(F).

• That is, if R is decomposed into R1 with (F1)

and R2 with (F2).Then,
closure(F1 U F2) = closure(F).
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Q1.Let R(A,B,C,D) be a relational

schema with the following functional
dependencies: (A->B),(B->C),(C->D) and
(D->B). Check whether decomposition
of R into (A,B), (B,C) and (B,D) is
dependency preserving or not?.
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SOLUTION:
• Let’s say relation R is decomposed into R1, R2
and R3 with functional dependency F1, F2 and
F3 respectively,

To prove a decomposition of R is dependency

Preserving we have to prove,

Closure(F1 U F2 U F3) = Closure(F).

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SOLUTION: F={A->B, B->C, C->D, D->B}.

• To find F1, F2 and F3,
R1(A,B) R2(B,C) R3(B,D)
Closure(A)=ABCD Closure(B)=BCD Closure(B)=BCD

A->B, A->C, A->D B->C, B->D B->C, B->D

Here, C and D are not Here, D is not present Here, C is not present
present in the sub- in the sub-relation R2. in the sub-relation R3.
relation R1.
Closure(C)=CBD Closure(D)=DBC
Closure(B)=BCD C->B, C->D D->B, D->C

C and D are not D is not present in R2, C is not present in R3,

present in R1, hence hence hence

F1={A->B} F2={B->C, C->B} F3={B->D, D->B}

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SOLUTION:
Now F1 U F2 U F3 is,
F1 U F2 U F3={A->B, B->C, C->B, B->D, D->B}.
Given,
F={A->B, B->C, C->D, D->B}.
Using transitivity rule,
If C->B and B->D holds, then C->D holds.
(F1 U F2 U F3)+={A->B, B->C, C->D, D->B}.
(F)+={A->B, B->C, C->D, D->B}.
Hence the dependency is preserved.
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THANK YOU!