A basis for deductive database systems II

AbstractThis paper is the third in a series providing a theoretical basis for deductive database systems. A deductive database consists of closed typed first order logic formulas of the form A ← W, where A is an atom and W is a typed first order formula. A typed first order formula can be used as a query, and a closed typed first order formula can be used as an integrity constraint. Functions are allowed to appear in formulas. Such a deductive database system can be implemented using a PROLOG system. The main results of this paper are concerned with the nonfloundering and completeness of query evaluation. We also introduce an alternative query evaluation process and show that corresponding versions of the earlier results can be obtained. Finally, we summarize the results of the three papers and discuss the attractive properties of the deductive database system approach based on first order logic