diff --git a/src/relation.rs b/src/relation.rs
index b671fe0..78aa848 100644
--- a/src/relation.rs
+++ b/src/relation.rs
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ use crate::{
 /// A relation represents a fixed set of key-value pairs. In many places in a
 /// Datalog computation we want to be sure that certain relations are not able
 /// to vary (for example, in antijoins).
-#[derive(Clone)]
-pub struct Relation<Tuple: Ord> {
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct Relation<Tuple> {
     /// Sorted list of distinct tuples.
     pub elements: Vec<Tuple>,
 }
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ impl<Tuple: Ord> FromIterator<Tuple> for Relation<Tuple> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'tuple, Tuple: 'tuple + Copy + Ord> FromIterator<&'tuple Tuple> for Relation<Tuple> {
+impl<'tuple, Tuple: 'tuple + Clone + Ord> FromIterator<&'tuple Tuple> for Relation<Tuple> {
     fn from_iter<I>(iterator: I) -> Self
     where
         I: IntoIterator<Item = &'tuple Tuple>,
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ impl<'tuple, Tuple: 'tuple + Copy + Ord> FromIterator<&'tuple Tuple> for Relatio
     }
 }
 
-impl<Tuple: Ord> std::ops::Deref for Relation<Tuple> {
+impl<Tuple> std::ops::Deref for Relation<Tuple> {
     type Target = [Tuple];
     fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
         &self.elements[..]
diff --git a/src/variable.rs b/src/variable.rs
index 4950488..537822c 100644
--- a/src/variable.rs
+++ b/src/variable.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ pub(crate) trait VariableTrait {
 /// of performance. Such a variable cannot be relied on to terminate iterative computation,
 /// and it is important that any cycle of derivations have at least one de-duplicating
 /// variable on it.
-pub struct Variable<Tuple: Ord> {
+pub struct Variable<Tuple> {
     /// Should the variable be maintained distinctly.
     pub(crate) distinct: bool,
     /// A useful name for the variable.
@@ -49,6 +49,26 @@ pub struct Variable<Tuple: Ord> {
     pub(crate) to_add: Rc<RefCell<Vec<Relation<Tuple>>>>,
 }
 
+impl<Tuple> Variable<Tuple> {
+    /// Returns the name used to create this variable.
+    pub fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        self.name.as_str()
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the total number of "stable" tuples in this variable.
+    pub fn num_stable(&self) -> usize {
+        self.stable.borrow().iter().map(|x| x.len()).sum()
+    }
+
+    /// Returns `true` if this variable contains only "stable" tuples.
+    ///
+    /// Calling `Iteration::changed()` on such `Variables` will not change them unless new tuples
+    /// are added.
+    pub fn is_stable(&self) -> bool {
+        self.recent.borrow().is_empty() && self.to_add.borrow().is_empty()
+    }
+}
+
 // Operator implementations.
 impl<Tuple: Ord> Variable<Tuple> {
     /// Adds tuples that result from joining `input1` and `input2` --
@@ -251,7 +271,7 @@ impl<Tuple: Ord> Variable<Tuple> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<Tuple: Ord> Clone for Variable<Tuple> {
+impl<Tuple> Clone for Variable<Tuple> {
     fn clone(&self) -> Self {
         Variable {
             distinct: self.distinct,
@@ -304,8 +324,7 @@ impl<Tuple: Ord> Variable<Tuple> {
     /// asserts that iteration has completed, in that `self.recent` and
     /// `self.to_add` should both be empty.
     pub fn complete(self) -> Relation<Tuple> {
-        assert!(self.recent.borrow().is_empty());
-        assert!(self.to_add.borrow().is_empty());
+        assert!(self.is_stable());
         let mut result: Relation<Tuple> = Vec::new().into();
         while let Some(batch) = self.stable.borrow_mut().pop() {
             result = result.merge(batch);