In computer science, domain relational calculus is a calculus that was introduced by Edgar F. Codd as part of the relational model in order to give a declarative database query language for this data model.
A DRC Query has the form:
- < X1,X2,....,Xn > | p( < X1,X2,....,Xn > )
where each Xi is either a domain variable or constant, and p(<X1, X2, ...., Xn>) denotes a DRC Formula. The result of the query is set of tuples Xi to Xn which makes the DRC formula true.
This language uses the same operators as tuple calculus;
Logicial operators ∧ (and), ∨ (or) and ¬ (not), and we can use the existential quantifier (∃) and the universal quantifier (∀) to bind the variables.
Here are examples of DRC:
Let's take A,B1,C to mean Rank, Name, ID
and D,E,F to mean Name, DeptName, ID
Find all Captains of the Enterprise:
- {<A, B1, C> | <A, B1, C> in Enterprise ∧ A = "Captain" }
In this example, A,B1,C is the result set and a set in the table Enterprise.
Find Names of Enterprise crewmembers who are in Stellar Cartography:
- {<B1> | ∃ A,C ( <A,B1,C> in Enterprise ∧ ∃ D,E,F(<D,E,F> in Departments ∧ F = C ∧ E = "Stellar Cartography" ))}
In this example, we're only looking for the name, so <B1> denotes the column Name. F = C is a requirement, because we need to find Enterprise Crewmembers AND they are in the Stellar Cartography Department.