Towards semantic integrity in relational databases

Abstract

The usefulness of data largely depends on its correctness, which is determined by the extent to which the data reflects the real-world and universe of discourse. Since the real world is constantly changing, it follows that data must constantly be changed. Since an integrity violation could occur when information is wrongfully changed, changes should only be entrusted to trustworthy users. The changes must, furthermore, occur according to business rules. This type of control falls within the domain of an access control service. This paper investigates activities involved to enforce semantic integrity in relational database environments, particularly those where access is controlled according to a role-based paradigm.