Projection

Synonyms

Projection (Relational Algebra)

Definition

Given a relation instance R over set of attributes U, and given a subset X of U, the projection of R on X – denoted by π_X(R) – is defined as a relation over set of attributes X whose tuples are the restriction of tuples of R to attributes X. That is, t ∈ π_X(R) if and only if t = t′(X) for some tuple t′ of R (here t′(X) denotes the restriction of t′ to attributes X).

Key Points

The projection is one of the basic operators of the relational algebra. It operates by “restricting” the input relation to some of its columns.

The arity of the output relation is bounded by the arity of the input relation. Moreover the number of tuples in π_X(R) is bounded by the number of tuples in R. In particular, the size of π_X(R) can be strictly smaller than the size of R since different tuples of R may have the same values on attributes X.

As an example, consider a relation Goods over attributes (code, price, quantity), containing tuples {(001, 5.00, 10),...