Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Consistent Query Answering

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

  • 20 Accesses

Definition

Consistent query answering (CQA) is the problem of querying a database that is inconsistent, i.e., that fails to satisfy certain integrity constraints, in such a way that the answers returned by the database are consistent with those integrity constraints. This problem involves a characterization of the semantically correct or consistent answers to queries in an inconsistent database.

Key Points

Databases may be inconsistent in the sense that certain desirable integrity constraints (ICs) are not satisfied. However, it may be necessary to still use the database, because it contains useful information, and, most likely, most of the data is still consistent, in some sense. CQA, as introduced in [1], deals with two problems. First, with the logical characterization of the portions of data that are consistent in the inconsistent database. Secondly, with developing computational mechanisms for retrieving the consistent data. In particular, when queries are posed to the database,...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 4,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Arenas M, Bertossi L, Chomicki J. Consistent query answers in inconsistent databases. In: Proceedings of the 18th ACM SIGACT-SIGMOD-SIGART Symposium on Principles of Database Systems; 1999. p. 68–79.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bertossi L. Consistent query answering in databases. ACM SIGMOD Rec. 2006;35(2):68–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chomicki J. Consistent query answering: five easy pieces. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Database Theory; 2007. p. 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Leopoldo Bertossi

Authors
  1. Leopoldo Bertossi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leopoldo Bertossi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bertossi, L. (2018). Consistent Query Answering. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_5021

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation