Accomodating Integrity Constraints During Database Design

We address the problem of maintaining the integrity of large knowledge bases using a compile-time transaction modiication technique. The novelty of the approach lies in the adaptation of ideas from Artiicial Intelligence (AI) planning research. Starting with the observation that solutions to the frame and ramiication problems can be used during database transaction design time, we propose an integrity maintenance technique that modiies transaction speciications by incorporating into them conditions necessary of the constraints' satisfaction. Additions to the transactions' postconditions whose eeect is to maintain the integrity constraints, are generated from a set of transaction speciications. Thus, the implications of constraints are realized by the transaction speciier and the eeort of having to prove transaction safety is saved, since it is guaranteed by the correctness of the generation process. We envision the development of a tool that, given a set of determinate transaction spec-iications, automatically suggests additions to the transaction postconditions whose eeect is to maintain the integrity constraints.