Preferred generalized answers for inconsistent databases

The aim of this paper consists in investigating the problem of managing inconsistent databases, i.e. databases violating integrity constraints. A flurry of research on this topic has shown that the presence of inconsistent data can be resolved by "repairing" the database, i.e. by providing a computational mechanism that ensures obtaining consistent "scenarios" of the information or by consistently answer to queries posed on an inconsistent set of data. This paper considers preferences among repairs and possible answers by introducing a partial order among them on the basis of some preference criteria. Moreover, the paper also extends the notion of preferred consistent answer by extracting from a set of preferred repaired database, the maximal consistent overlapping portion of the information, i.e. the information supported by each preferred repaired database. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.