Uncertainty in a nested relational database model

Some database models have already been developed to deal with complex values but they have constrains that data stored is precise and queries are crisp. However, as many researchers have pointed out, there is a need to present, manipulate, and query complex and uncertain data of various non-traditional database applications such as oceanography, multimedia, meteorology, office automation systems, engineering designs, expert database systems and geographic information systems. In this paper, we present a logical database model, which is an extension of a nested relational data model (also known as an NF2 data model), for representing and manipulating complex and uncertain data in databases. We also introduce a possible physical representation of such complex and uncertain values in databases and describe the query processing of the model that we discuss here. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.