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Multi-valued Dependency

 

A Multi-Valued Dependency(MVD) over schema R is a statement of the form X →→ Y where X, Y Í schema(R).

 

An MVD X →→ Y is satisfied in a relation r over R, denoted by r |= X →→ Y, for all t1, t2 Î r, if t1[X] = t2[X], there exists  t3, t4  such that:

1) t1[X] = t2[X]= t3[X] = t4[X],

2) t3[Y] = t1[Y], t3[Z] = t2[Z] and

3) t4[Y] = t2[Y], t4[Z] = t1[Z],

where Z =  schema(R) - XY

 

Set M of multivalued dependencies in our banking example

 

Customer-credit-card-schema: customer-ID →→ credit_card_number

Each customer has a number of credit cards issued by the bank, which are identified by the numbers printed on the credit cards.

Customer-credit-card-schema: customer-ID →→ account-number

Each customer has a number of saving accounts in the bank, which are identified by the saving account numbers. The owner of a credit card can use it to access the current balance of all the saving accounts that he or she has in the bank. Any saving account that an owner can access using one credit card can also be accessed using another credit card of the same owner.

customer_ID credit_card_number account_number
Amy 0000-1111-1111-1111 0-1-2222-3333-4444
Amy 0000-1111-1111-1111 0-1-2222-3333-5555
C8392380567 0000-1111-1111-2222 0-1-2222-3333-5555
C8392380567 0000-1111-1111-2222 0-1-2222-3333-4444
C8954385123 0000-2222-2222-2222 0-1-2222-2222-2222
C2389490434 0000-3333-3333-3333 0-1-3333-3333-3333
C9384899234 0000-4444-4444-4444 0-1-4444-4444-4444
C0930238083 0000-5555-5555-5555 0-1-5555-5555-5555
C3487327487 0000-6666-6666-6666 0-1-6666-6666-6666
C3249893849 0000-7777-7777-7777 0-1-7777-7777-7777
C3948938442 0000-8888-8888-8888 0-1-8888-8888-8888
C2394893848 0000-9999-9999-0000 0-1-9999-9999-0000
C2394893848 0000-9999-9999-0000 0-1-9999-9999-1111
C2394893848 0000-9999-9999-1111 0-1-9999-9999-0000
C2394893848 0000-9999-9999-1111 0-1-9999-9999-1111