Graphical and Spreadsheet Reasoning for Sets of Functional Dependendies

Reasoning on constraint sets is a difficult task. Classical database design is based on a step-wise extension of the constraint set and on a consideration of constraint sets through generation by tools. Since the database developer must master semantics acquisition, tools and approaches are still sought that support reasoning on sets of constraints. We propose novel approaches for presentation of sets of functional dependencies based on specific graphs and spreadsheets. These approaches may be used for the elicitation of the full knowledge on validity of functional dependencies in relational schemata.