Relational Algebra

Database Principles
What is Relational Algebra?

• It is a language in which we can ask questions (query) of

a database.
• Basic premise is that tables are sets (mathematical) and
so our query language should manipulate sets with ease.

• Traditional Set Operations:

– union, intersection, Cartesian product, set difference
• Extended Set Operations:
– selection, projection, join, quotient

Database Principles
Supplier-Part Example
supplies
Supplier Part

PK Sno PK Pno
(0,n) (1,n)
Sname Pdesc
Location O_date Colour

Supplier Part
Sno Sname Location Pno Pdesc Colour

s1 Acme NY p1 screw red

s2 Ajax Bos p2 bolt yellow
s3 Apex Chi p3 nut green
s4 Ace LA p4 washer red
s5 A-1 Phil

Supplies
Sno Pno O_date

s1 p1 nov 3
s2 p2 nov 4
s3 p1 nov 5
s3 p3 nov 6
s4 p1 nov 7
s4 p2 nov 8
s4 p4 nov 9

Database Principles
SELECTION:

• Selection returns a subset of the rows of a single table.

• Syntax:
select <table_name> where <condition>
/* the <condition> must involve only
columns
from the indicated table */

alternatively

σ <condition> (table_name)
Find all suppliers from Boston.

Supplier Answer
Sno Sname Location
Sno Sname Location
Select Supplier
s1 Acme NY
s2 Ajax Bos
where Location = ‘Bos’ s2 Ajax Bos
s3 Apex Chi
s4 Ace LA σ Location = ‘Bos’ (Supplier)
s5 A-1 Phil

Database Principles
SELECTION Exercise:

• Find the Cardholders from Modena.

select Cardholder where b_addr = ‘Modena’

alternatively

σ b_addr = ‘Modena’ (Cardholder)

• Observations:
– There is only one input table.
– Both Cardholder and the answer table have the same
schema (list of columns)
– Every row in the answer has the value ‘Modena’ in the
b_addr column.

Database Principles
SELECTION:
same schema

Answer

All rows in the answer have

the value ‘Modena’ in the
b_addr column

Database Principles
 PROJECTION:

• Projection returns a subset of the columns of a single table.

• Syntax:
project <table_name> over <list of columns>
/* the columns in <list of columns> must
come from the indicated table */

alternatively

π <list of columns> (table_name)

Find all supplier names

Supplier Answer
Sname
Sno Sname Location
Project Supplier over Sname
Acme
s1 Acme NY
Ajax
s2 Ajax Bos π Sname (Supplier) Apex
s3 Apex Chi
Ace
s4 Ace LA
A-1
s5 A-1 Phil

Database Principles
PROJECTION Exercise:

• Find the addresses of all Cardholders.

project Cardholder over b_addr

alternatively

π b_addr (Cardholder)

• Observations:
– There is only one input table.
– The schema of the answer table is the list of columns
– If there are many Cardholders living at the same
address these are not duplicated in the answer table.

Database Principles
PROJECTION:
schema of answer table
is the same as the list of
columns in the query

Answer

Duplicate ‘New Paltz’ values

in the Cardholder table are
dropped from the Answer table

Database Principles
CARTESIAN PRODUCT:

• The Cartesian product of two sets is a set of pairs of

elements (tuples), one from each set.
• If the original sets are already sets of tuples then the
tuples in the Cartesian product are all that bigger.
• Syntax:
<table_name> x <table_name>

• As we have seen, Cartesian products are usually

unrelated to a real-world thing. They normally contain
some noise tuples.
• However they may be useful as a first step.

Database Principles
 CARTESIAN PRODUCT:

5 rows 4 rows
Supplier Part
Sno Sname Location Pno Pdesc Colour

s1 Acme NY p1 screw red

s2 Ajax Bos p2 bolt yellow
s3 Apex Chi p3 nut green
s4 Ace LA p4 washer red
s5 A-1 Phil

Supplier x Part 20 rows

Sno Sname Location Pno Pdesc Color

s1 Acme NY p1 screw red

s2 Ajax Bos p1 screw red
noise:
s3 Apex Chi p1 screw red
13 rows
info: s4 Ace LA p1 screw red
in total
7 rows s5 A-1 Phil p1 screw red
in total s1 Acme NY p2 bolt yellow
...
s5 A-1 Phil p4 washer red

Database Principles
CARTESIAN PRODUCT Exercise:

Names = Project Cardholder over b_name

Addresses = Project Cardholder over b_addr

Names x Addresses

Names Addresses Names x Addresses

b_name b_addr b_name b_addr

john New Paltz john New Paltz

albert Rosendale albert New Paltz
. noise
jo-ann New Paltz jo-ann New Paltz
.
mike Modena Names x Addresses mike New Paltz
.
john Kingston john New Paltz
diana Tilson diana New Paltz
susan Wallkill susan New Paltz
john Rosendale
...
Info = susan Wallkill
project cardholder
over b_name, b_addr
How many rows? 49

Database Principles
UNION:

• Treat two tables as sets and perform a set union

• Syntax: table_1
table_1 table_2
table_2

Table1 UNION Table2

alternatively
∩
Table1 Table2

• Observations:
– This operation is impossible unless both tables involved
have the same schemas. Why?
– Because rows from both tables must fit into a single
answer table; hence they must “look alike”.
– Because some rows might already belong to both tables

Database Principles
UNION Example:

Part1Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p1’) over Sno

Part2Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p2’) over Sno

Part1Suppliers UNION Part2Suppliers

alternatively
Part1Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p1’ (Supplies) )
Part2Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p2’ (Supplies) )
∩
Answer = Part1Suppliers Part2Suppliers

Part1Suppliers
union
Part1Suppliers Part2Suppliers Part2Suppliers
Sno Sno Sno

s1 s2 s1
s3 s4 s2
s4 s3
s4

Database Principles
UNION Exercise:

• Find the borrower numbers of all borrowers who have

either borrowed or reserved a book (any book).
Reservers = project Reserves over
borrowerid
Borrowers = project Borrows over borrowerid
Answer = Borrowers union Reservers
alternatively
Reservers = πborrowerid (Reserves)
∩
Borrowers = πborrowerid(Borrows)
Answer = Borrowers Reservers Borrowers
union
Reservers
Borrowers Reservers
borrowerid
borrowerid borrowerid
1234
1234 1345 1325
1325 1325 2653
2653 9823 7635
not duplicated
7635 2653 9823
9823 7635 5342
5342 1345

Database Principles
INTERSECTION:

• Treat two tables as sets and perform a set intersection

• Syntax: Table1 Table2

Table1 INTERSECTION Table2

alternatively

Table1 ∩ Table2

• Observations:
– This operation is impossible unless both tables involved
have the same schemas. Why?
– Because rows from both tables must fit into a single
answer table; hence they must “look alike”.

Database Principles
INTERSECTION Example:
Part1Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p1’) over Sno
Part2Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p2’) over Sno

Part1Suppliers INTERSECT Part2Suppliers

alternatively
Part1Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p1’ (Supplies) )
Part2Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p2’ (Supplies) )

Answer = Part1Suppliers
∩ Part2Suppliers

Part1Suppliers
intersect
Part1Suppliers Part2Suppliers
Part2Suppliers
Sno Sno
Sno
s1 s2
s3 s4 s4
s4

Database Principles
INTERSECTION Exercise:

• Find the borrower numbers of all borrowers who have

borrowed and reserved a book.
Reservers = project Reserves over
borrowerid
Borrowers = project Borrows over borrowerid

Answer = Borrowers intersect Reservers

alternatively
Reservers = πborrowerid (Reserves)
Borrowers = πborrowerid(Borrows)
∩ Borrowers
Answer = BorrowersReservers
Reservers intesect
Borrowers Reservers
borrowerid borrowerid borrowerid
1234 1345 1325
1325 1325 2653
2653 9823 7635
7635 2653 9823
9823 7635
5342

Database Principles
SET DIFFERENCE:

• Treat two tables as sets and perform a set intersection

• Syntax: Table1
Table1 Table2
Table2

Table1 MINUS Table2

alternatively

Table1 \ Table2

• Observations:
– This operation is impossible unless both tables involved
have the same schemas. Why?
– Because it only makes sense to calculate the set
difference if the two sets have elements in common.

Database Principles
SET DIFFERENCE Example:
Part1Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p1’) over Sno
Part2Suppliers = project (select Supplies where Pno = ‘p2’) over Sno

Part1Suppliers MINUS Part2Suppliers

alternatively
Part1Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p1’ (Supplies) )
Part2Suppliers = πSno(σPno = ‘p2’ (Supplies) )

Answer = Part1Suppliers \ Part2Suppliers

Part1Suppliers
minus
Part1Suppliers Part2Suppliers Part2Suppliers
Sno Sno Sno
s1 s2
s4
s1
s3
s4 s3

Database Principles
SET DIFFERENCE Exercise:

• Find the borrower numbers of all borrowers who have

borrowed something and reserved nothing.
Reservers = project Reserves over
borrowerid
Borrowers = project Borrows over borrowerid

Answer = Borrowers minus Reservers

alternatively
Reservers = πborrowerid (Reserves)
Borrowers = πborrowerid(Borrows)
Borrowers
minus
Borrowers \ Reservers
Answer = BorrowersReservers Reservers
borrowerid borrowerid borrowerid
1234 1345
1234
1325 1325
5342
2653 9823
7635 2653
9823 7635
5342

Database Principles
JOIN:

• The most useful and most common operation.

• Tables are “related” by having columns in common;
primary key on one table appears as a “foreign” key in
another.
• Join uses this relatedness to combine the two tables into
one.
• Join is usually needed when a database query involves
knowing something found in one table but wanting to
know something found in a different table.
• Join is useful because both Select and Project work on
only one table at a time.

Database Principles
 JOIN Example:
supplies
• Suppose we want to know the names of all parts ordered
Supplier Part
PK Pno
between Nov 4 and Nov 6.
PK Sno
(0,n) (1,n)
Sname Pdesc
Location Colour
related
O_date

tables The names we want are here

Supplier Part
Sno Sname Location Pno Pdesc Colour

s1 Acme NY p1 screw red

s2 Ajax Bos p2 bolt yellow
s3 Apex Chi p3 nut green
s4 Ace LA p4 washer red
s5 A-1 Phil

Supplies
Sno Pno O_date

s1 p1 nov 3
s2
s3
s3
p2
p1
p3
nov 4
nov 5
nov 6
} What we know is here?
s4 p1 nov 7
s4 p2 nov 8
s4 p4 nov 9

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• Step 1: Without the join operator we would start by

combining the two tables using Cartesian Product.
Part x Supplies

• The table, Supplies x Part, now contains both

– What we know (OrderDate) and
– What we want (PartDescription)
• The schema of Supplies x Part is:
Supplies x Part = {Sno, Pno, ODate, Pno, PDesc, Colour}

What we know. What we want

• We know, from our previous lecture, that a Cartesian

Product contains some info rows but lots of noise too.
Database Principles
 JOIN Example

• The Cartesian Product has noise rows we need to get rid of

Supplies.Pno = Part.Pno Supplies.Pno != Part.Pno

Supplies x Part
Sno Pno O_date Pno Pdesc Colour

s1 p1 nov 3 p1 screw red

s1 p1 nov 3 p2 bolt yellow noise
s1 p1 nov 3 p3 nut green
info s1 p1 nov 3 p4 washer red
s2 p2 nov 4 p1 screw red
...
s4 p4 nov 9 p4 washer red

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• Step 2: Let’s get rid of all the noise rows from the
Cartesian Product.
A = select (Supplies x Part) where Supplies.PNo = Part.PNo

• The table, A, now contains both

– What we know (OrderDate) and
– What we want (PartDescription) identical
columns
– And no noise rows!
Select (Supplies x Part) where Supplies.Pno = Part.Pno
Sno Pno O_date Pno Pdesc Colour

s1 p1 nov 3 p1 screw red

s2 p2 nov 4 p2 bolt yellow
s3 p1 nov 5 p1 screw red
s3 p3 nov 6 p3 nut green
s4 p1 nov 7 p1 screw red
s4 p2 nov 8 p2 bolt yellow
s4 p4 nov 9 p4 washer red

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• Step 3: We now have two identical columns

– Supplies.Pno and Part.Pno
• We can safely get rid of one of these

project(select (Supplies x Part) where Supplies.Pno = Part.Pno)

over Sno, Supplies.Pno, O_date, Pdesc, Colour
Sno Pno O_date Pdesc Colour

s1 p1 nov 3 screw red

s2 p2 nov 4 bolt yellow
s3 p1 nov 5 screw red
s3 p3 nov 6 nut green
s4 p1 nov 7 screw red
s4 p2 nov 8 bolt yellow
s4 p4 nov 9 washer red

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• Because the idea of:

1. taking the Cartesian Product of two tables with a
common column,
2. then select getting rid of the noise rows and finally
3. project getting rid of the duplicate column
is so common we give it a name - JOIN.
Project ( Select ( Supplies x Part ) where Supplies.Pno = Part.Pno ) over
Sno, Supplies.Sno, O_date,Pdesc, Coulor

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• SYNTAX: Supplies JOIN Part

alternatively
Supplies Part

Supplies Part =
project(select (Supplies x Part) where Supplies.Pno = Part.Pno)
over Sno, Supplies.Pno, O_date, Pdesc, Colour
Sno Pno O_date Pdesc Colour

s1 p1 nov 3 screw red

s2 p2 nov 4 bolt yellow
s3 p1 nov 5 screw red
s3 p3 nov 6 nut green
s4 p1 nov 7 screw red
s4 p2 nov 8 bolt yellow
s4 p4 nov 9 washer red

Database Principles
JOIN Example:

• Summary:
– Used when two tables are to be combined into one
– Most often, the two tables share a column
– The shared column is often a primary key in one of the
tables
– Because it is a primary key in one table the shared
column is called a foreign key in any other table that
contains it
– JOIN is a combination of
• Cartesian Product
• Select
• Project
Database Principles
JOIN Example (Finishing Up):

• Let’s finish up our query.

• Step 4: We know that the only rows that really interest

us are those for Nov 4, 5 and 6.

A = Supplies JOIN Part

B = select A where O_date between ‘Nov 4’ and ‘Nov 6’

Sno Pno O_date Pdesc Colour

s2 p2 nov 4 bolt yellow

s3 p1 nov 5 screw red
s3 p3 nov 6 nut green

Database Principles
JOIN Example (Finishing Up):

• Step 5: What we wanted to know in the first place was

the list of parts ordered on certain days.
B

Sno Pno O_date Pdesc Colour

s2 p2 nov 4 bolt yellow

s3 p1 nov 5 screw red
s3 p3 nov 6 nut green

we want the values

in this column

Answer
• Final Answer: Pdesc

Answer = project B over Pdesc bolt

screw
nut

Database Principles
JOIN Summary:

• JOIN is the operation most often used to combine two

tables into one.
• The kind of JOIN we performed where we compare two
columns using the = operator is called the natural equi-
join.
• It is also possible to compare columns using other
operators such as <, >, <=, != etc. Such joins are called
theta-joins. These are expressed with a subscripted
condition

R.A θ S.B
where θ is any comparison operator except =

Database Principles
JOIN Exercise:

• Find the author and title of

books purchased for purchase price
of $12.00
$12.00
– What we know,
purchase price, is in
the Copy table.
– What we want, author
info we want
and title, are in the
Book table.
– Book and Copy share
a primary key/foreign
key pair (Book.ISBN,
Copy.ISBN)
Database Principles
JOIN Exercise:

• Step 1: JOIN Copy and Book

A = Copy JOIN Book

• Step 2: Find the copies that cost $12.00

B = Select A where p_price = 12.00

• Step 3: Find the author and title of those books.

Answer = project B over author, title

Answer
author title
Brookes MMM

Database Principles
QUOTIENT

• Although Cartesian Product tables normally contain

noise rows, sometimes they do not. Sometimes you
can even find a Cartesian Product table inside another
table.
Supplier4 RedParts Supplier4 x Redparts Supplies
Sno Pno Sno Pno Sno Pno O_date
x p1 = s4 p1 s1 p1 nov 3
s4 s4 p4
p4 s2 p2 nov 4
s3 p1 nov 5
s3 p3 nov 6
s4 p1 nov 7
s4 p2 nov 8
s4 p4 nov 9

• This often happens when we are interested in

answering a query like
Find the suppliers who supply all red parts

Database Principles
QUOTIENT

• In fact, QUOTIENT is used precisely when the query

contains the words “all” or “every” in the query condition.
• CARTESIAN PRODUCT contains this quality of “all”.
• In a CARTESIAN PRODUCT the elements of one set are
combined with all elements of another.
• In the following slides we construct the answer to the
query:
Find the suppliers who supply all red parts

Database Principles
QUOTIENT
SuppliedParts
Sno Pno
SuppliedParts = project Supplies over Sno, Pno
s1 p1
s2 p2
s3 p1
s3 p3
7 rows s4 p1
s4 p2
s4 p4

RedParts = project (select Part where Colour = ‘Red’) RedParts

over Pno Pno

p1
p4
AllSuppliers
Sno
AllSuppliers = project Supplier over Sno
s1
s2
s3
s4
s5

Database Principles
 AllSuppliers x RedParts
QUOTIENT
Sno Pno

s1 p1 i Note: Like most Cartesian

s2 p1 n Products this table contains
AllSuppliers x RedParts
s3 p1 i a few rows of info and the
s4 p1 rest is noise
i
s5 p1
s1 p4 n
10 rows n
s2 p4
s3 p4 n
s4 p4 i
s5 p4 n

• Compare AllSuppliers x RedParts with SuppliedParts

• they have the same schema – {Sno, Pno}.
• SuppliedParts contains only info
• AllSuppliers x RedParts contains some info (4 rows)
and some noise (6 rows)
• The rows they have in common are the info rows of
AllSuppliers x RedParts
Database Principles
QUOTIENT

AllSuppliers x RedParts SuppliedParts

Sno Pno Sno Pno

s1 p1 s1 p1
s2 p1 s2 p2
s3 p1 s3 p1
s4 p1 s3 p3
s5 p1 s4 p1
s1 p4 s4 p2
s2 p4
s4 p4
s3 p4
s4 p4
s5 p4

AllSuppliers x RedParts \
• Next calculate: RedParts
Sno Pno NOTE: These are the
NonSuppliedRedParts = “noise” rows of the
s2 p1
(AllSuppliers x RedParts) \ SuppliedParts Cartesian Product. We
s5 p1
s1 p4 know that for every row
s2 p4 in this table, the supplier
s3 p4 mentioned did NOT
s5 p4 supply the red part
mentioned.

Database Principles
QUOTIENT

• The list of suppliers in NonSuppliedRedParts is important

to us – this is a list of all suppliers who are NOT in our
final answer. NonAnswer
Sno
NonAnswer =
project NonSuppliedRedParts over Sno s2
s5
s1
s3

• So the final answer is the suppliers in:

FinalAnswer =
FinalAnswer
AllSuppliers \ NonAnswer
Sno

s4

Database Principles
QUOTIENT

• This large amount of work is performed by the

QUOTIENT operator.
• Definition: If R and S are tables such that S R, then

∩
the QUOTIENT of R by S (written R/S) is defined to be
the largest table (call it Q) such that Q x S R.

∩
x

SuppliedParts FinalAnswer =
Sno Pno SuppliedParts / RedParts

s1 p1 FinalAnswer
RedParts
s2 p2

=
Sno

/
s3 p1 Pno
s3 p3
s4 p1 p1 s4
s4 p2 p4
s4 p4

Database Principles
How to Use QUOTIENT

• Consider the query you are trying to answer; one that

contains “all” in the condition.
Find the suppliers of all red parts

• We have to create three tables here – R, S and Q.

• We know that Q S = R.
∩

• S contains whatever is described in the “all” phrase. In

this case, S = {all red parts} and S = {Pno}.
• Q is the answer table so in this case, Q = {Sno}.
• Hence R = {Sno,Pno}, since Q x S = R.

Database Principles
How to Use QUOTIENT

• Our problem becomes build a table R that is easy to

build, has the correct schema and data related to what
we are trying to find.
• In our example, we are asking to find suppliers who
supple all red parts and so R must be about supplying
parts; red or otherwise. Thus
R = project Supplies over Sno, Pno

• There is no choice for S. It must be

S = project (select Part where Colour = ‘Red’) over Pno

• Given R and S, Q must be the answer to the query.

Database Principles
QUOTIENT Exercise:

• Find the Cardholders who have reserved all books

published by Addison-Wesley.
R = project Reserves over borrowerid, isbn
S = project (select book where pub_name = ‘AW’) over isbn
Q = R/S

Q is the answer

• NOTE:
– We only use key attributes. This is important

Database Principles