Chapter 6: Logical database design and the relational model
Translate the conceptual design into a logical database design that can be implemented on a chosen DBMS Input: conceptual model (ERD) Output: relational schema, normalized relations Resulting database must meet user needs for: Data sharing Ease of access Flexibility
Objectives of logical design...
Relational database components
Data structure
Data organized into tables
Data manipulation
Add, delete, modify, and retrieve using SQL
Data integrity
Maintained using business rules
Why do I need to know this? Mapping conceptual models to relational schema is
straight-forward CASE tools can perform many of the steps, but.. Often CASE cannot model complexity of data and relationship (e.G., Ternary relationships, supertype/subtypes) There are times when legitimate alternates must be evaluated You must be able to perform a quality check on CASE tool results
Some rules...
Every table has a unique name. Attributes in tables have unique names. Every attribute value is atomic.
Multi-valued and composite attributes?
Every row is unique. The order of the columns is irrelevant. The order of the rows is irrelevant.
Relational modeling uses primary keys and foreign keys to maintain relationships Primary keys are typically the unique identifier noted on the conceptual model Foreign keys are the primary key of another entity to which an entity has a relationship Composite keys are primary keys that are made of more than one attribute Weak entities Associative entities
The key...
Implementing it
Instance
Attribute
Field
Entity
What about relationships?
Constraints
Domain constraints Allowable values for an attribute as defined in the domain Entity integrity constraints No primary key attribute may be null Operational constraints Business rules Referential integrity constraints
Maintains consistency among rows of two entities
matching of primary and foreign keys
Referential integrity constraint
Enforcement options for deleting instances
Restrict Cascade Set-to-Null
Transforming the EER diagram into relations
The steps: Map regular entities Map weak entities Map binary relationships Map associative entities Map unary relationships Map ternary relationships Map supertype/subtype relationships
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
Mapping regular entities to relations Composite attributes: use only their simple, component attributes Multi-valued attributes: become a separate relation with a foreign key taken from the superior entity
Mapping a composite attribute
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
Mapping weak entities Becomes a separate relation with a foreign key taken from the superior entity
Example of mapping a weak entity
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
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 (associative entity) with the primary keys of the two entities as its primary key I like to call these intersection entities to distinguish them from associative entities created at the conceptual level One-to-one - primary key on the mandatory side becomes a foreign key on the optional side
Example of mapping a 1:M relationship
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Example of mapping an M:M relationship
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Mapping a binary 1:1 relationship
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
Mapping associative entities Identifier not assigned Default primary key for the association relation is the primary keys of the two entities Identifier assigned It is natural and familiar to end-users Default identifier may not be unique
Mapping an associative entity with an identifier
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
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
For example...
Emp_Num EMPLOYEE Emp-Name Emp_Address Supervises
Would look like...
references
Emp_Num Emp_Name Emp_Address
Boss_Num
And..
Num_Units
Comp_Num COMPONENT Description Unit_of-Measure BOM
Would look like...
COMPONENT
Comp_Num Desc
Unit_of_Measure
BOM
Num-of_Units Comp_Num Subassembly_Num
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
Mapping ternary (and n-ary) relationships One relation for each entity and one for the associative entity
Mapping a ternary relationship
Looks like this using relational schema notation
Transforming E-R diagrams into relations
Mapping Supertype/subtype relationships Create a separate relation for the supertype and each of the subtypes Assign common attributes to supertype Assign primary key and unique attributes to each subtype
Mapping Supertype/subtype relationships
Would look like this...
Lets try a couple.
minimal redundancy and allow insertion, modification, and deletion without errors or inconsistencies Anomalies are errors or inconsistencies resulting from redundancy Insertion anomaly Deletion anomaly Modification anomaly
Well-structured relations Well-structured relations contain
Normalization is a formal process for deciding which attributes should be grouped together in a relation Objective: to validate and improve a logical design so that it satisfies certain constraints that avoid unnecessary duplication of data Definition: the process of decomposing relations with anomalies to produce smaller, well-structured relations
Data normalization
Steps in normalization
Functional dependencies and keys
Functional dependency: the value of one attribute (the determinant) determines the value of another attribute A -> B, for every valid instance of A, that value of A uniquely determines the value of B Candidate key: an attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies an instance Uniqueness: each non-key field is functionally dependent on every candidate key
First normal form
No multi-valued attributes. Every attribute value is atomic.
Second normal form
1NF and every non-key attribute is fully functionally dependent on the primary key. Every non-key attribute must be defined by the entire key, not by only part of the key. No partial functional dependencies.
Third normal form
2NF and no transitive dependencies (functional dependency between nonkey attributes.)
Relation with transitive dependency
Transitive dependency in SALES relation
Removing a transitive dependency
Relations in 3NF
Lets practice...
Other considerations...
Synonyms: different names, same meaning. Homonyms: same name, different meanings.