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Unravelling Is-a Structures

Author

Listed:
  • Robert C. Goldstein

    (Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2)

  • Veda C. Storey

    (William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627)

Abstract

Is-a relationships are widely recognized as conveying important information for database design. Although these relationships are implicitly hierarchical in nature, it is not uncommon to find collections of is-a relationships that form nonhierarchical structures. This paper formally defines is-a structures and classifies and interprets them. It illustrates how is-a structures can be used to identify possible database design errors or inefficiencies and to produce a database design that incorporates more of the semantics of an application.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert C. Goldstein & Veda C. Storey, 1992. "Unravelling Is-a Structures," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 99-126, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:3:y:1992:i:2:p:99-126
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.3.2.99
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