Lossless Join Decomposition in DBMS

Lossless join decomposition

There are two possibilities when a relation R is decomposed into R1 and R2.They are

• • Lossy decomposition i.e., R1⋈R2⊃R
  • Lossless decomposition i.e., R1⋈R2=R

For a decomposition to be lossless, it should hold the following conditions :

• Union of attributes of R1 and R2 must be equal to attribute R. each attribute of R must be either in R1 or in R2 i.e., Att(R1) ⋃ Att(R2) = Att(R)
• Intersection of attributes of R1 and R2 must not be null i.e., Att(R1) ⋂ Att(R2) ≠ Ø
• Common attribute must be a key for atleast one relation(R1 or R2) i.e., Att(R1) ⋂ Att(R2) -> Att(R1) or Att(R1) ⋂ Att(R2)->Att(R2)

Example

A relation R(A,B,C,D) with FD set {A->BC} is decomposed into R1(ABC) and R2(AD). This is lossless join decomposition because

• • First rule holds true as Att(R1) ⋃ Att(R2)=(ABC) ⋃ (AD)= (ABCD) = Att(R)
  • Second rule holds true as Att(R1) ⋂ Att(R2) = (ABC) ⋂ (AD) ≠ Ø
  • Third rule holds true as Att(R1) ⋂ Att(R2) = A is a key of R1(ABC) because A->BC is given