CHAPTER 3:
THE ENHANCED E-R MODEL
Essentials of Database Management
Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Heikki Topi, V. Ramesh
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
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OBJECTIVES
Define terms
Understand use of supertype/subtype relationships
Understand use of specialization and generalization
techniques
Specify completeness and disjointness constraints
Develop supertype/subtype hierarchies for realistic
business situations
Explain universal (packaged) data model
Describe special features of data modeling project using
packaged data model
Chapter 3 Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
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SUPERTYPES AND SUBTYPES
Enhanced ER model: extends original ER model
with new modeling constructs
Subtype: A subgrouping of the entities in an entity
type that has attributes distinct from those in other
subgroupings
Supertype: A generic entity type that has a
relationship with one or more subtypes
Attribute Inheritance:
Subtype entities inherit values of all attributes of the
supertype
An instance of a subtype is also an instance of the
supertype
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Figure 3-1 Basic notation for supertype/subtype notation
a) EER
notation
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Figure 3-1 Basic notation for supertype/subtype notation (cont.)
b) Microsoft
Visio
Notation
Different modeling tools may have different notation for the same
modeling constructs
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Figure 3-2 Employee supertype with three subtypes
All employee subtypes
will have employee
number, name, address,
and date hired
Each employee subtype
will also have its own
attributes
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RELATIONSHIPS AND SUBTYPES
Relationships at the supertype level indicate
that all subtypes will participate in the
relationship
The instances of a subtype may participate in a
relationship unique to that subtype. In this
situation, the relationship is shown at the
subtype level
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Figure 3-3 Supertype/subtype relationships in a hospital
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GENERALIZATION AND SPECIALIZATION
Generalization: The process of defining
a more general entity type from a set of
more specialized entity types. BOTTOM-UP
Specialization: The process of defining
one or more subtypes of the supertype
and forming supertype/subtype
relationships. TOP-DOWN
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Figure 3-4 Example of generalization
a) Three entity types: CAR, TRUCK, and MOTORCYCLE
All these types of vehicles have common attributes
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Figure 3-4 Example of generalization (cont.)
b) Generalization to VEHICLE supertype
So we put
the shared
attributes in
a supertype
Note: no subtype for motorcycle, since it has no unique attributes
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Figure 3-5 Example of specialization
a) Entity type PART
Only applies to
manufactured parts
Applies only to purchased parts
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Figure 3-5 Example of specialization (cont.)
b) Specialization to MANUFACTURED PART and PURCHASED PART
Created 2
subtypes
Note: multivalued composite attribute was replaced
by an associative entity relationship to another entity
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CONSTRAINTS IN SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE
RELATIONSHIPS
Completeness Constraints: Whether
an instance of a supertype must also
be a member of at least one subtype
Total Specialization Rule: Yes (double
line)
Partial Specialization Rule: No (single
line)
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Figure 3-6 Examples of completeness constraints
a) Total specialization rule
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Figure 3-6 Examples of completeness constraints (cont.)
b) Partial specialization rule
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CONSTRAINTS IN SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE
RELATIONSHIPS
Disjointness Constraints: Whether an
instance of a supertype may
simultaneously be a member of two (or
more) subtypes
DisjointRule: An instance of the supertype
can be only ONE of the subtypes
Overlap Rule: An instance of the supertype
could be more than one of the subtypes
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Figure 3-7 Examples of disjointness constraints
a) Disjoint rule
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Figure 3-7 Examples of disjointness constraints (cont.)
b) Overlap rule
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CONSTRAINTS IN SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE
RELATIONSHIPS
Subtype Discriminator: An attribute of the
supertype whose values determine the target
subtype(s)
Disjoint – a simple attribute with alternative values to
indicate the possible subtypes
Overlapping – a composite attribute whose subparts
pertain to different subtypes. Each subpart contains
a Boolean value to indicate whether or not the
instance belongs to the associated subtype
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Figure 3-8 Introducing a subtype discriminator (disjoint rule)
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Figure 3-9 Subtype discriminator (overlap rule)
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Figure 3-10 Example of supertype/subtype hierarchy
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Questions about PVF E-R Model
Figure 3-11 E-R
1. Why do some customers not
diagram for Pine
do business in one or more sales
Valley Furniture
territories?
Company
2. Why do some employees not
supervise other employees, and
why are they not all supervised by
another employee? And why do
some employees not work in a
work center?
3. Why do some vendors not
supply raw materials to Pine
Valley Furniture?
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New business rules for PVF
1. There are two types of
customers: regular and national
account. Only regular customers
do business in sales territories.
National customers have an
account manager.
2. Two special types of employees
exist: management and union. Only
union employees
work in work centers, and a
management employee supervises
union employees.
3. PVF keeps track of many
different vendors; not all have
supplied raw materials. Vendors
who supplied raw materials have a
contract number.
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PACKAGED DATA MODELS
Predefined data models
Could be universal or industry-specific
Universal data model = a generic or
template data model that can be reused
as a starting point for a data modeling
project (also called a “pattern”)
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ADVANTAGES OF PACKAGED DATA
MODELS
Use proven model components
Save time and cost
Less likelihood of data model errors
Easier to evolve and modify over time
Aid in requirements determination
Easier to read
Supertype/subtype hierarchies promote reuse
Many-to-many relationships enhance model flexibility
Vendor-supplied data model fosters integration with vendor’s
applications
Universal models support inter-organizational systems
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