The Relational Database Dictionary, Extended Edition

Introduction

This dictionary contains just over 900 entries dealing with issues, terms, and concepts involved in, or arising from use of, the relational model of data. Many of the entries include not only a definition as such but also an illustrative example (sometimes more than one). With regard to those definitions, I've done my best to make them as clear, precise, and accurate as possible; they're based on my own best understanding of the material, an understanding I've gradually been honing over nearly 40 years of involvement in this field.

I'd like to stress the point that the dictionary is, as advertised, relational. To that end, I've deliberately omitted many terms and concepts that are only tangentially connected to relational matters (e.g., ...