Inferences of multivalued dependencies in fixed and undetermined universes

Abstract

We study systems of inference rules for multivalued dependencies in database relations. For such systems we define a new notion of completeness in which the underlying universe of attributes is left undetermined, whereas the earlier studied concept of completeness refers to a fixed finite universe. We introduce a new inference rule, the subset rule, and using this rule we prove that a certain system is complete. Furthermore we clarify the role of the so-called complementation rule.