VLDB FORMAT INSTRUCTIONS Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Very Large Databases Edinburgh, 7th - 10th September, 1999. All papers must be on 8 1/2 x 11 white bond paper (US Letter format). Format of the submission should follow the attached sample for layout, type sizes, and other details. However, there are variations among the many typesetting and wordprocessing packages in use. If you cannot replicate these specifications exactly, you may develop useable styles by approximating these guidelines where necessary. Opening page of paper: Top margin = 1" Title: Centered, initial caps, boldface drop 7/16" Author(s) Name(s): If only one author -- centered, initial caps, roman. If two authors -- first author should be flush left, and second author flush right. If there are more than two authors -- first author should flush left, second author should be centered, third author should be flush right, and so on. Affiliations should be centered under each author name. drop 7/16" to first line of text. Main text: Manuscripts must be printed two columns to a page. The dimensions of the columns are 3-1/4" wide, 7/8" margins in the right and left sides, and 1/4" gap between the two columns. The bottom margin in all cases is 1 1/8". Start text on all pages except the first page at 3/4" below the top of the page. Begin the first paragraph (page one, column one) with the abstract - indented 1/4" on both sides. For the body of the text, use 10-point type in a clear, readable font (Times-Roman or equivalent), with 1-point leading (i.e., 10 on 11). Headings should be in 12-point type, with 1 line of space above, and one-half line of space below. Table and figures should be centered in one-column, or centered at top of page if figure is larger than a column in width. Please do not include page numbers, headers or footers in your paper. Include a copyright notice at the bottom of the first column on page one. This notice must use the text containted in the file copyright_notice.txt.