LECTURE 3:

LOGICAL DATABASE DESIGN AND

THE RELATIONAL MODEL

Modern Database Management

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OBJECTIVES
 Define terms
 List five properties of relations
 State two properties of candidate keys
 Define first, second, and third normal form
 Describe problems from merging relations
 Transform E-R diagrams to relations
 Create tables with entity and relational
integrity constraints
 Use normalization to convert anomalous
tables to well-structured relations

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COMPONENTS OF
RELATIONAL MODEL
 Data structure
 Tables (relations), rows, columns
 Data manipulation
 Powerful SQL operations for retrieving
and modifying data
 Data integrity
 Mechanisms for implementing
business rules that maintain integrity
of manipulated data
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RELATION
 A relation is a named, two-dimensional table of
data.
 A table consists of rows (records) and columns
(attribute or field).
 Requirements for a table to qualify as
a relation:
 It must have a unique name.
 Every attribute value must be atomic (not multivalued, not
composite).
 Every row must be unique (can’t have two rows with
exactly the same values for all their fields).
 Attributes (columns) in tables must have unique names.
 The order of the columns must be irrelevant.
 The order of the rows must be irrelevant.
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CORRESPONDENCE WITH E-R
MODEL

 Relations (tables) correspond with entity

types and with many-to-many relationship
types.
 Rows correspond with entity instances and
with many-to-many relationship instances.
 Columns correspond with attributes.

 NOTE: The word relation (in a relational

database) is NOT the same as the word
relationship (in E-R model).
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KEY FIELDS
 Keys are special fields that serve two main
purposes:
 Primary keys are unique identifiers of the
relation. Examples include employee numbers,
social security numbers, etc. This guarantees
that all rows are unique.
 Foreign keys are identifiers that enable a
dependent relation (on the many side of a
relationship) to refer to its parent relation (on
the one side of the relationship).

 Keys can be simple (a single field) or

composite (more than one field).
 Keys usually are used as indexes to speed up
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Figure: Example Schema for four relations

Primary Key
Foreign Key
(implements 1:N relationship
between customer and order)

Combined, these are a composite

primary key (uniquely identifies the
order line)…individually they are
foreign keys (implement M:N
relationship between order and product)

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INTEGRITY CONSTRAINTS

 Domain Constraints
 Allowable values for an attribute
 Entity Integrity
 No primary key attribute may be null.
All primary key fields MUST have data.
 Action Assertions
 Business rules (Recall from Lecture 2)

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Domain definitions enforce domain integrity constrain
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INTEGRITY CONSTRAINTS
 Referential Integrity–rule states that any
foreign key value (on the relation of the many
side) MUST match a primary key value in the
relation of the one side. (Or the foreign key can
be null)
 For example: Delete Rules
 Restrict–don’t allow delete of “parent” side if
related rows exist in “dependent” side
 Cascade–automatically delete “dependent” side
rows that correspond with the “parent” side row to
be deleted
 Set-to-Null–set the foreign key in the dependent
side to null if deleting from the parent side  not10
Figure: Referential integrity constraints

Referential
integrity
constraints are
drawn via arrows
from dependent to
parent table

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TRANSFORMING E-R
DIAGRAMS INTO RELATIONS
Mapping Regular Entities to
Relations
 Simple attributes: E-R
attributes map directly onto the
relation
 Composite attributes: Use only
their simple, component
attributes
 Multivalued Attribute:
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Figure: Mapping a regular entity

(a) CUSTOMER
entity type with
simple
attributes

(b) CUSTOMER relation

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Figure: Mapping a composite attribute

(a) CUSTOMER
entity type with
composite
attribute

(b) CUSTOMER relation with address detail

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Figure: Mapping an entity with a multivalued attribute

(a)

Multivalued attribute becomes a separate relation with foreign key

(b)

One–to–many relationship between original entity and new relation

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TRANSFORMING E-R
DIAGRAMS INTO RELATIONS
(CONT.)
Mapping Weak Entities
 Becomes a separate relation with
a foreign key taken from the
superior entity
 Primary key composed of:
 Partial identifier of weak entity
 Primary key of identifying relation
(strong entity) 16
Figure: Example of mapping a weak entity

a) Weak entity DEPENDENT

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Figure: Example of mapping a weak entity (cont.)

b) Relations resulting from weak entity

NOTE: the domain

constraint for the foreign key
should NOT allow null value
if DEPENDENT is a weak
entity
Foreign key

Composite primary key

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TRANSFORMING E-R
DIAGRAMS INTO RELATIONS
(CONT.)
Mapping Binary Relationships
 One-to-Many–Primary key on the one
side becomes a foreign key on the
many side
 Many-to-Many–Create a new
relation with the primary keys of the
two entities as its primary key
 One-to-One–Primary key on
mandatory side becomes a foreign key
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Figure: Example of mapping a 1:M relationship
a) Relationship between customers and orders

Note the mandatory one

b) Mapping the relationship

Again, no null value in the

foreign key…this is because
of the mandatory minimum
cardinality.
Foreign key

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Figure: Example of mapping an M:N relationship
a) Completes relationship (M:N)

The Completes relationship will need to become a separate relation.

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Figure: Example of mapping an M:N relationship (cont.)
b) Three resulting relations

Composite primary key

Foreign key
new
Foreign key
intersection
relation

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Figure: Example of mapping a binary 1:1 relationship
a) In charge relationship (1:1)

Often in 1:1 relationships, one direction is optional

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Figure: Example of mapping a binary 1:1 relationship (cont.)
b) Resulting relations

Foreign key goes in the relation on the optional side,

matching the primary key on the mandatory side

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TRANSFORMING E-R
DIAGRAMS INTO RELATIONS
(CONT.)
Mapping Associative Entities
 Identifier Not Assigned
 Default primary key for the
association relation is composed of
the primary keys of the two entities
(as in M:N relationship)
 Identifier Assigned
 It is natural and familiar to end-
users
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Figure: Example of mapping an associative entity
a) An associative entity

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Figure: Example of mapping an associative entity (cont.)
b) Three resulting relations

Composite primary key formed from the two foreign keys

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Figure: Example of mapping an associative entity with
an identifier
a) SHIPMENT associative entity

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Figure: Example of mapping an associative entity with
an identifier (cont.)
b) Three resulting relations

Primary key differs from foreign keys

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TRANSFORMING E-R
DIAGRAMS INTO RELATIONS
(CONT.)
Mapping Unary Relationships
 One-to-Many–Recursive foreign key in
the same relation
 Many-to-Many–Two relations:
 One for the entity type
 One for an associative relation in
which the primary key has two
attributes, both taken from the
primary key of the entity 30
Figure: Mapping a unary 1:N relationship

(a) EMPLOYEE
entity with unary
relationship

(b)
EMPLOYEE
relation with
recursive
foreign key

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Figure: Mapping a unary M:N relationship

(a) Bill-of-materials
relationships (M:N)

(b) ITEM and

COMPONENT
relations

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TRANSFORMING E-R DIAGRAMS INTO
RELATIONS (CONT.)

Mapping Ternary (and n-ary)

Relationships
 One relation for each entity and
one for the associative entity
 Associative entity has foreign
keys to each entity in the
relationship
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Figure: Mapping a ternary relationship

a) PATIENT TREATMENT Ternary relationship with

associative entity

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Figure: Mapping a ternary relationship (cont.)

b) Mapping the ternary relationship PATIENT TREATMENT

Remember This is why But this makes a It would be

that the treatment date very better to create a
primary key and time are cumbersome surrogate key
MUST be included in the key… like Treatment#.
unique. composite
primary key.

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DATA NORMALIZATION
 Primarily a tool to validate and
improve a logical design so that
it satisfies certain constraints
that avoid unnecessary
duplication of data
 The process of decomposing
relations with anomalies to
produce smaller, well-
structured relations 36
WELL-STRUCTURED RELATIONS
 A relation that contains minimal data
redundancy and allows users to insert,
delete, and update rows without causing
data inconsistencies
 Goal is to avoid anomalies
 Insertion Anomaly–adding new rows forces
user to create duplicate data
 Deletion Anomaly–deleting rows may cause
a loss of data that would be needed for other
future rows
 Modification Anomaly–changing data in a
General rule of changes
row forces thumb: Ato
table should
other rowsnot pertain of
because to
duplication
more than one entity type.
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EXAMPLE

Question–Is this a relation? Answer–Yes: Unique rows and no

multivalued attributes

Question–What’s the primary key? Answer–Composite: EmpID, CourseTitle

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ANOMALIES IN THIS TABLE
 Insertion–can’t enter a new employee
without having the employee take a class (or
at least empty fields of class information)
 Deletion–if we remove employee 140, we
lose information about the existence of a Tax
Acc class
 Modification–giving a salary increase to
employee
Why do these100 forces
anomalies us to update multiple
exist?
records
Because there are two themes (entity types) in this
one relation. This results in data duplication and an
unnecessary dependency between the entities.
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Figure 4.22 Steps in normalization

3rd normal form is

generally considered
sufficient

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FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCIES AND
KEYS
 Functional Dependency: The value
of one attribute (the
determinant) determines the
value of another attribute
 Candidate Key:
 A unique identifier. One of the
candidate keys will become the
primary key
 E.g., perhaps there is both credit card
number and SS# in a table…in this case
both are candidate keys.
 Each non-key field is functionally
dependent on every candidate key. 41
FIRST NORMAL FORM
 No multivalued attributes
 Every attribute value is atomic

 All relations are in 1st

Normal Form.

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Table with multivalued attributes, not in 1st normal form

Note: This is NOT a relation.

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Table with no multivalued attributes and unique rows, in 1st
normal form

Note: This is a relation, but not a well-structured one.

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ANOMALIES IN THIS TABLE
 Insertion–if new product is ordered for order
1007 of existing customer, customer data
must be re-entered, causing duplication
 Deletion–if we delete the Dining Table from
Order 1006, we lose information concerning
this item’s finish and price
 Update–changing the price of product ID 4
requires update in multiple records
Why do these anomalies exist?
Because there are multiple themes (entity types) in
one relation. This results in duplication and an
unnecessary dependency between the entities.
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SECOND NORMAL FORM
 1NF PLUS every non-key
attribute is fully functionally
dependent on the ENTIRE
primary key
 Every non-key attribute must be
defined by the entire key, not by
only part of the key
 No partial functional dependencies

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Functional dependency diagram for INVOICE

OrderID  OrderDate, CustomerID, CustomerName, CustomerAddress

CustomerID  CustomerName, CustomerAddress
ProductID  ProductDescription, ProductFinish, ProductStandardPrice
OrderID, ProductID  OrderQuantity

Therefore, NOT in 2nd Normal Form

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Removing partial dependencies

Getting it into
Second Normal
Form

Partial dependencies are removed, but there

are still transitive dependencies

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THIRD NORMAL FORM
 2NF PLUS no transitive
dependencies (functional
dependencies on non-primary-key
attributes)
 Note: This is called transitive, because
the primary key is a determinant for
another attribute, which in turn is a
determinant for a third
 Solution: Non-key determinant with
transitive dependencies go into a new
table; non-key determinant becomes
primary key in the new table and stays
as foreign key in the old table 49
Removing partial dependencies

Getting it into
Third Normal
Form

Transitive dependencies are removed.

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