Entity Relationship Diagram – ER Diagram in DBMS
An Entity–relationship model (ER model) describes the structure of a database with the help
of a diagram, which is known as Entity Relationship Diagram (ER Diagram). An ER model
is a design or blueprint of a database that can later be implemented as a database.
What is an Entity Relationship Diagram (ER Diagram)?
An ER diagram shows the relationship among entity sets. An entity set is a group of similar
entities and these entities can have .relationship among them
Components of a ER Diagram
As shown in the above diagram, an ER diagram has three main components:
1. Entity
2. Attribute
3. Relationship
1. Entity
An entity is an object or component of data. An entity is represented as rectangle in an ER
diagram.
For example: In the following ER diagram we have two entities Student and College and
these two entities have many to one relationship as many students study in a single college.
Weak Entity:
An entity that cannot be uniquely identified by its own attributes and relies on the
relationship with other entity is called weak entity. The weak entity is represented by a
double rectangle. For example – a bank account cannot be uniquely identified without
knowing the bank to which the account belongs, so bank account is a weak entity.
Weak Entities
A weak entity is a type of entity which doesn't have its key attribute. It can be identified
uniquely by considering the primary key of another entity. For that, weak entity sets need to
have participation.
In above example, "Trans No" is a discriminator within a group of transactions in an
[Link]'s learn more about a weak entity by comparing it with a Strong Entity
Strong Entity Set Weak Entity Set
Strong entity set always has a primary key. It does not have enough attributes to build a
primary key.
It is represented by a rectangle symbol. It is represented by a double rectangle
symbol.
It contains a Primary key represented by It contains a Partial Key which is
the underline symbol. represented by a dashed underline symbol.
The member of a strong entity set is called The member of a weak entity set called as a
as dominant entity set. subordinate entity set.
Primary Key is one of its attributes which In a weak entity set, it is a combination of
helps to identify its member. primary key and partial key of the strong
entity set.
In the ER diagram the relationship The relationship between one strong and a
between two strong entity set shown by weak entity set shown by using the double
using a diamond symbol. diamond symbol.
The connecting line of the strong entity set The line connecting the weak entity set for
with the relationship is single. identifying relationship is double.
2. Attribute
An attribute describes the property of an entity. An attribute is represented as Oval in an ER
diagram. There are four types of attributes:
1. Key attribute
2. Composite attribute
3. Multivalued attribute
4. Derived attribute
1. Key attribute:
A key attribute can uniquely identify an entity from an entity set. For example, student roll
number can uniquely identify a student from a set of students. Key attribute is represented
by oval same as other attributes however the text of key attribute is underlined.
2. Composite attribute: An attribute that is a combination of other attributes is known as
composite attribute. For example, In student entity, the student address is a composite
attribute as an address is composed of other attributes such as pin code, state, country.
3. Multivalued attribute:
An attribute that can hold multiple values is known as multivalued attribute. It is
represented with double ovals in an ER Diagram. For example – A person can have more
than one phone numbers so the phone number attribute is multivalued.
4. Derived attribute:
A derived attribute is one whose value is dynamic and derived from another attribute. It is
represented by dashed oval in an ER Diagram. For example – Person age is a derived
attribute as it changes over time and can be derived from another attribute (Date of birth).
E-R diagram with multivalued and derived attributes:
3. Relationship
Cardinality: Defines the numerical attributes of the relationship between two entities or
entity sets.
A relationship is represented by diamond shape in ER diagram, it shows the relationship
among entities. There are four types of cardinal relationships:
1. One to One
2. One to Many
3. Many to One
4. Many to Many
1. One to One Relationship
When a single instance of an entity is associated with a single instance of another entity then
it is called one to one relationship. For example, a person has only one passport and a
passport is given to one person.
2. One to Many Relationship
When a single instance of an entity is associated with more than one instances of another
entity then it is called one to many relationship. For example – a customer can place many
orders but a order cannot be placed by many customers.
3. Many to One Relationship
When more than one instances of an entity is associated with a single instance of another
entity then it is called many to one relationship. For example – many students can study in a
single college but a student cannot study in many colleges at the same time.
4. Many to Many Relationship
When more than one instances of an entity is associated with more than one instances of
another entity then it is called many to many relationship. For example, a can be assigned to
many projects and a project can be assigned to many students.
Total Participation of an Entity set
A Total participation of an entity set represents that each entity in entity set must have at
least one relationship in a relationship set. For example: In the below diagram each college
must have at-least one associated Student.