Constraint Databases

This is the first comprehensive survey of the field of constraint databases, written by leading researchers. Constraint databases are a fairly new and active area of database research. Their ability to deal with infinite sets makes them particularly promising as a technology for integrating spatial and temporal data with standard relational databases. Constraint databases bring techniques from a variety of fields, such as logic and model theory, algebraic and computational geometry, as well as symbolic computation, to the design and analysis of data models and query languages.

The ?rst International Symposium on the Applications of Constraint Databases (CDB2004) took place in Paris, France, on June 12–13, 2004, just before the ACM SIGMOD and PODS conferences. Since the publication of the paper “Constraint Query Languages” by Kan- lakis, Kuper and Revesz in 1990, the last decade has seen a growing interest in constraint database theory, query evaluation, and applications, re?ected in a variety of conferences, journals, and books. Constraint databases have proven to be extremely ?exible and adoptable in environments that relational database systems cannot serve well, such as geographic information systems and bioinf- matics. This symposium brought together people from several diverse areas all c- tributing to the practice and the application of constraint databases. It was a continuation and extension of previous workshops held in Friedrichshafen, G- many (1995), Cambridge, USA (1996), Delphi, Greece (1997), and Seattle, USA (1998) as well as of the work in the comprehensive volume “Constraint Data- ses” edited by G. Kuper, L. Libkin and J. Paredaens (2000) and the textbook “Introduction to Constraint Databases” by P. Revesz (2002). The aim of the symposium was to open new and future directions in c- straint database research; to address constraints over domains other than the reals; to contribute to a better implementation of constraint database systems, in particular of query evaluation; to address e?cient quanti?er elimination; and to describe applications of constraint databases.

Differing from other books on the subject, this one uses the framework of constraint databases to provide a natural and powerful generalization of relational databases. An important theme running through the text is showing how relational databases can smoothly develop into constraint databases, without sacrificing any of the benefits of relational databases whilst gaining new advantages. Peter Revesz begins by discussing data models and how queries may be addressed to them. From here, he develops the theory of relational and constraint databases, including Datalog and the relational calculus, concluding with three sample constraint database systems -- DISCO, DINGO, and RATHER. Advanced undergraduates and graduates in computer science will find this a clear introduction to the subject, while professionals and researchers will appreciate this novel perspective on their subject.

This volume is the proceedings of the Second International Workshop on the Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming, held at Rosario, Orcas Island, Washington, USA in May 1994 in cooperation with AAAI and ALP. The volume contains 27 full revised papers selected from 87 submissions as well as a summary of a panel session on commercial applications of constraint programming. The contributions cover a broad range of topics including constraint programming languages, algorithms for constraint satisfaction and entailment, and constraints and their relation to fields such as artificial intelligence, databases, operations research, problem solving, and user interfaces.

The ?rst International Symposium on the Applications of Constraint Databases (CDB2004) took place in Paris, France, on June 12–13, 2004, just before the ACM SIGMOD and PODS conferences. Since the publication of the paper “Constraint Query Languages” by Kan- lakis, Kuper and Revesz in 1990, the last decade has seen a growing interest in constraint database theory, query evaluation, and applications, re?ected in a variety of conferences, journals, and books. Constraint databases have proven to be extremely ?exible and adoptable in environments that relational database systems cannot serve well, such as geographic information systems and bioinf- matics. This symposium brought together people from several diverse areas all c- tributing to the practice and the application of constraint databases. It was a continuation and extension of previous workshops held in Friedrichshafen, G- many (1995), Cambridge, USA (1996), Delphi, Greece (1997), and Seattle, USA (1998) as well as of the work in the comprehensive volume “Constraint Data- ses” edited by G. Kuper, L. Libkin and J. Paredaens (2000) and the textbook “Introduction to Constraint Databases” by P. Revesz (2002). The aim of the symposium was to open new and future directions in c- straint database research; to address constraints over domains other than the reals; to contribute to a better implementation of constraint database systems, in particular of query evaluation; to address e?cient quanti?er elimination; and to describe applications of constraint databases.

Constraint programming aims at supporting a wide range of complex applications, which are often modeled naturally in terms of constraints. Early work, in the 1960s and 1970s, made use of constraints in computer graphics, user interfaces, and artificial intelligence. Such work introduced a declarative component in otherwise-procedural systems to reduce the development effort.

Constraints and Databases contains seven contributions on the rapidly evolving research area of constraints and databases. This collection of original research articles has been compiled as a tribute to Paris C. Kanellakis, one of the pioneers in the field. Constraints have long been used for maintaining the integrity of databases. More recently, constraint databases have emerged where databases store and manipulate data in the form of constraints. The generality of constraint databases makes them highly attractive for many applications. Constraints provide a uniform mechanism for describing heterogenous data, and advanced constraint solving methods can be used for efficient manipulation of constraint data. The articles included in this book cover the range of topics involving constraints and databases; join algorithms, evaluation methods, applications (e.g. data mining) and implementations of constraint databases, as well as more traditional topics such as integrity constraint maintenance. Constraints and Databases is an edited volume of original research comprising invited contributions by leading researchers.

This text presents the theory and applications of ""constraint database"" systems, which provide new methods for the design of data models and query languages.

Finite model theory,as understoodhere, is an areaof mathematicallogic that has developed in close connection with applications to computer science, in particular the theory of computational complexity and database theory. One of the fundamental insights of mathematical logic is that our understanding of mathematical phenomena is enriched by elevating the languages we use to describe mathematical structures to objects of explicit study. If mathematics is the science of patterns, then the media through which we discern patterns, as well as the structures in which we discern them, command our attention. It isthis aspect oflogicwhichis mostprominentin model theory,“thebranchof mathematical logic which deals with the relation between a formal language and its interpretations”. No wonder, then, that mathematical logic, and ?nite model theory in particular, should ?nd manifold applications in computer science: from specifying programs to querying databases, computer science is rife with phenomena whose understanding requires close attention to the interaction between language and structure. This volume gives a broadoverviewof some central themes of ?nite model theory: expressive power, descriptive complexity, and zero–one laws, together with selected applications to database theory and arti?cial intelligence, es- cially constraint databases and constraint satisfaction problems. The ?nal chapter provides a concise modern introduction to modal logic,which emp- sizes the continuity in spirit and technique with ?nite model theory.