Functional Database Constraints

A general notation is developed based on functional languages and Horn clauses to express database constraints. A general notation not only provides a medium for a comprehensive study of all database constraints, as opposed to individual types of constraints, but it also reveals that constraints constitute a major building block of many other database components. In that respect, they are likely to aid in the study of all of those components ranging from queries and transactions to derivations and design algorithms. A universal building block is also likely to be the first step in the development of a unifying theory.