Navigational facilities for relational data base

摘要

Charles Bachman's great idea of navigation in a data base is applied to the relational data model. This idea, understood as a way of user thinking, is formulated in such a manner, that no physical concepts are introduced to the user's awareness. Thus the demanded level of data independence is not reduced.A concept of “navigational statement” is defined. The navigational statements may be used to improve other relational languages, for example SEQUEL. It is shown that navigational statements simplify the grammar structure of language expressions and make them shorter and more readable. Elliptic (incomplete) navigational statements are also defined. Such statements may be regarded as a good tool for the casual user.This paper may be viewed as a (not necessarily complete) review of possibilities related to the idea of navigation in a relational data base.