Find the key of relation R

Find the candidate keys of a relation, How to find the candidate keys, Which is the key for the given table, concept of candidate key in dbms, candidate key examples

Question:

Consider the relation R = {A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J} and the set of functional dependencies F = {AB → C, A → DE, B → F, F → GH, D → IJ}. Find the key of relation R.

Solution: [One more simple solution - Click here]

We can find keys (candidate keys) for a relation by finding the closure of an/set of attributes. Checking each attribute or all subsets of the given set of attributes for a key is time consuming job. Hence, we may employ some of the following heuristics/assumptions in identifying the keys;

• We may start checking all the left hand side attributes of any/all of the given set of functional dependencies. We can start with single LHS attributes.

• If we find the closure of an attribute and that attribute is the candidate key then any superset cannot be the candidate key. For example, if A is a candidate key, then AB is not a candidate key but a super key.

LHS	Result	Description
A+	= ADE from the functional dependency A → DE (By reflexivity rule) = ADEIJ from D → IJ (By transitivity rule. A → D and D → IJ hence A → IJ) No more functional dependencies that has either of the attributes ADEIJ in LHS. Hence, A+ = ADEIJ.	A+ ≠ R. So, A is not a candidate key.
B+	= BF from B → F (By reflexivity rule) = BFGH from F → GH (By transitivity rule) No more functional dependencies that has either of the attributes BFGH in LHS. Hence, B+ = BFGH.	B+ ≠ R. So, B cannot be a candidate key.
(AB)+	= ABC from AB → C = ABCDE from the functional dependency A → DE = ABCDEIJ from D → IJ = ABCDEFIJ from B → F = ABCDEFGHIJ from F → GH	(AB)+ = R. So, (AB) is the candidate key.

One more simple solution - Click here.

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Find the keys of a relational table in dbms solved problem