MFDBS 87 [electronic resource] : 1st Symposium on Mathematical Fundamentals of Database Systems Dresden, GDR, January 19–23, 1987 Proceedings / edited by J. Biskup, J. Demetrovics, J. Paredaens, B. Thalheim.

Information measurement in relational databases -- On hierarchical normal forms -- Data manipulation languages for the universal relation view DURST -- The equivalence problem for relational database schemes -- On global context dependencies and their properties -- Functional dependency implications, inducing horizontal decompositions -- Extremal combinatorial problems of database models -- A formal model for distributed information systems -- A theory of reference graphs in relational databases -- Modal logic and incomplete information -- Designing alpha-acyclic BCNF-database schemes -- Design tools for large relational database systems -- Searching and retrieval in databases by trees -- Database models, where they are going now? -- Open problems in database theory.

This volume contains the 13 best of the 18 papers presented at the first MFDBS conference held in Dresden, GDR, January 19-23, 1987. A short summary of the two panel discussions is also included. The volume is intended to be a reflection of the current state of knowledge and a guide to further development in database theory. The main topics covered are: theoretical fundaments of the relational data model (dependency theory, design theory, null values, query processing, complexity theory), and of its extensions (graphical representations, NF2-models), conceptual modelling of distributed database management systems and the relationship between logic and databases.