Faloutsos

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The Relational Model

CMU SCS 15-415
C. Faloutsos
Lecture #3
R & G, Chap. 3

Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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Why Study the Relational Model?

Most widely used model.
Vendors: IBM/Informix, Microsoft, Oracle,
Sybase, etc.
Legacy systems in older models
e.g., IBMs IMS
Object-oriented concepts have recently
merged in
object-relational model
Informix->IBM DB2, Oracle 8i
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Relational Database: Definitions

Relational database: a set of relations
(relation = table)
specifically

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Relational Database: Definitions

Relation: made up of 2 parts:
Schema : specifies name of relation,
plus name and type of each column.
Instance : a table, with rows and
columns.
#rows = cardinality
#fields = degree / arity

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Relational Database: Definitions

relation: a set of rows or tuples.
all rows are distinct
no order among rows (why?)

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Ex: Instance of Students Relation

Cardinality = 3, arity = 5 ,
all rows distinct
Q: do values in a column need to be
distinct?
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SQL - A language for Relational DBs

SQL* (a.k.a. Sequel), standard language
Data Definition Language (DDL)
create, modify, delete relations
specify constraints
administer users, security, etc.

* Structured Query Language

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SQL - A language for Relational DBs

Data Manipulation Language (DML)
Specify queries to find tuples that satisfy
criteria
add, modify, remove tuples

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SQL Overview
CREATE TABLE <name> ( <field>
<domain>, )
INSERT INTO <name> (<field
names>)
VALUES (<field values>)
DELETE FROM <name>
WHERE <condition>

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SQL Overview
UPDATE <name>
SET <field name> =
<value>
WHERE <condition>
SELECT <fields>
FROM <name>
WHERE <condition>

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Creating Relations in SQL

Creates the Students relation.
CREATE TABLE Students
(sid CHAR(20),
name CHAR(20),
login CHAR(10),
age INTEGER,
gpa FLOAT)
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Creating Relations in SQL

Creates the Students relation.
Note: the type (domain) of each
field is specified, and enforced by the
DBMS whenever tuples are added or
modified.

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Table Creation (continued)

Another example:
CREATE TABLE Enrolled
(sid CHAR(20),
cid CHAR(20),
grade CHAR(2))

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Adding and Deleting Tuples

Can insert a single tuple using:
INSERT INTO Students
(sid, name, login, age, gpa)
VALUES
(53688, Smith, smith@cs,
18, 3.2)

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Adding and Deleting Tuples

Can delete all tuples satisfying

some condition (e.g., name =
Smith):
DELETE
FROM Students S
WHERE S.name = Smith

Powerful variants of these commands:

more later!
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Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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Keys
Keys help associate tuples in different
relations
Keys are one form of integrity constraint
(IC)
Enrolled

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Students

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Keys
Keys help associate tuples in different
relations
Keys are one form of integrity constraint
(IC)
Enrolled

FOREIGN Key

Students

PRIMARY Key

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Primary Keys
A set of fields is a superkey if:
No two distinct tuples can have same
values in all key fields
A set of fields is a key for a relation if :
minimal superkey

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Primary Keys
what if >1 key for a relation?

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Primary Keys
what if >1 key for a relation?
one of the keys is chosen (by DBA) to be
the primary key. Other keys are
called candidate keys..
Q: example?

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Primary Keys
E.g.
sid is a key for Students.
What about name?
The set {sid, gpa} is a superkey.

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Primary and Candidate Keys in SQL

Possibly many candidate keys (specified using
UNIQUE), one of which is chosen as the primary key.
Keys must be used carefully!
For a given student and course, there is a single
grade.

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Primary and Candidate Keys in SQL

CREATE TABLE Enrolled
CREATE TABLE Enrolled
(sid CHAR(20)
(sid CHAR(20)
cid CHAR(20),
cid CHAR(20),
vs.
grade CHAR(2),
grade CHAR(2),
PRIMARY KEY (sid),
PRIMARY KEY (sid,cid))
UNIQUE (cid, grade))

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Primary and Candidate Keys in SQL

CREATE TABLE Enrolled
CREATE TABLE Enrolled
(sid CHAR(20)
(sid CHAR(20)
cid CHAR(20),
cid CHAR(20),
vs.
grade CHAR(2),
grade CHAR(2),
PRIMARY KEY (sid),
PRIMARY KEY (sid,cid))
UNIQUE (cid, grade))
Q: what does this mean?

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Primary and Candidate Keys in SQL

CREATE TABLE Enrolled
CREATE TABLE Enrolled
(sid CHAR(20)
(sid CHAR(20)
cid CHAR(20),
cid CHAR(20),
vs.
grade CHAR(2),
grade CHAR(2),
PRIMARY KEY (sid),
PRIMARY KEY (sid,cid))
UNIQUE (cid, grade))
Students can take only
one course, and no two
students in a course
receive the same grade.
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Foreign Keys

Enrolled

Students

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Foreign Keys, Referential Integrity

Foreign key : Set of fields `refering to
a tuple in another relation.
Must correspond to the primary key of the
other relation.
Like a `logical pointer.
foreign key constraints enforce
referential integrity (i.e., no dangling
references.)

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Foreign Keys in SQL

Example: Only existing students may enroll for
courses.
sid is a foreign key referring to Students:

Enrolled

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Students

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Foreign Keys in SQL

CREATE TABLE Enrolled
(sid CHAR(20),cid CHAR(20),grade CHAR(2),
PRIMARY KEY (sid,cid),
FOREIGN KEY (sid) REFERENCES Students )

Enrolled

Students

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Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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Enforcing Referential Integrity

Subtle issues:
What should be done if an Enrolled tuple with a
non-existent student id is inserted?

Enrolled

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Enforcing Referential Integrity

Subtle issues:
What should be done if an Enrolled tuple with a
non-existent student id is inserted? (Reject it!)

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Enforcing Referential Integrity

Subtle issues, contd:
What should be done if a Students tuple is
deleted?

Enrolled

Students

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Enforcing Referential Integrity

Subtle issues, contd:
What should be done if a Students tuple is
deleted?
Also delete all Enrolled tuples that refer to it?
Disallow deletion of a Students tuple that is
referred to?
Set sid in Enrolled tuples that refer to it to a default
sid?
(In SQL, also: Set sid in Enrolled tuples that refer
to it to a special value null, denoting `unknown or
`inapplicable.)
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Enforcing Referential Integrity

Similar issues arise if primary key of Students
tuple is updated.

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Integrity Constraints (ICs)

IC: condition that must be true for
any instance of the database; e.g.,
domain constraints.
ICs are specified when schema is
defined.
ICs are checked when relations are
modified.

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Integrity Constraints (ICs)

A legal instance of a relation:
satisfies all specified ICs.
DBMS should not allow illegal
instances.
we prefer that ICs are enforced by
DBMS (as opposed to ?)
Blocks data entry errors, too!

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Where do ICs Come From?

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Where do ICs Come From?

the application!

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Where do ICs Come From?

Subtle point:
We can check a database instance to see if
an IC is violated, but we can NEVER infer
that an IC is true by looking at an instance.
An IC is a statement about all possible instances!
From example, we know name is not a key, but
the assertion that sid is a key is given to us.

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Where do ICs Come From?

Key and foreign key ICs are the most
common; more general ICs supported too.

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Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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ER to tables outline:
strong entities
weak entities
(binary) relationships
1-to-1, 1-to-many, etc
total/partial participation
ternary relationships
ISA-hierarchies
aggregation

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Logical DB Design: ER to Relational

(strong) entity sets to
tables.
ssn

name

lot

Employees

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Logical DB Design: ER to Relational

(strong) entity sets to
tables.
ssn

name

lot

Employees

CREATE TABLE Employees

(ssn CHAR(11),
name CHAR(20),
lot INTEGER,
PRIMARY KEY (ssn))
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Relationship Sets to Tables

Many-to-many:
since
name
ssn

dname
lot

Employees

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did

Works_In

budget

Departments

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Relationship Sets to Tables

Many-to-many:
since
name
ssn

dname
lot

Employees

budget

did

Works_In

Departments

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Relationship Sets to Tables

CREATE TABLE Works_In(
ssn CHAR(11),
did INTEGER,
since DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (ssn, did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
REFERENCES Employees,
FOREIGN KEY (did)
REFERENCES Departments)

key of many-to-many
relationships:
Keys from participating
entity sets (as foreign
keys).

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Review: Key Constraints in ER

1-to-many:

since
name
ssn

dname
lot

Employees

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did

Manages

budget

Departments

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Review: Key Constraints in ER

1-to-1

Many-to-1

1-to Many

Many-to-Many
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ER to tables - summary of basics

strong entities:
key -> primary key
(binary) relationships:
get keys from all participating entities - pr.
key:
1-to-1 -> either key (other: cand. key)
1-to-N -> the key of the N part
M-to-N -> both keys
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A subtle point (1-to-many)

since

name
ssn

dname

Employees

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did

lot
Manages

budget

Departments

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Translating ER with Key Constraints

since

name
ssn

dname

Employees

budget

did

lot
Manages

CREATE TABLE Manages(

ssn
CHAR(11),
did
INTEGER,
since DATE,

PRIMARY KEY (did),

FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
REFERENCES Employees,
FOREIGN KEY (did)
REFERENCES Departments)

Departments

CREATE TABLE
Departments(
did
INTEGER),
dname
CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
)

Two-table-solution
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Translating ER with Key Constraints

since

name
ssn

dname

Employees

budget

did

lot
Manages

Departments

CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(

ssn
CHAR(11),
did
INTEGER,
since DATE,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
REFERENCES Employees)

Single-table-solution
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Translating ER with Key Constraints

since

name
ssn

dname
did

lot
Employees

Manages

budget

Departments

CREATE
ssn
did
since

TABLE Manages(
CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(
CHAR(11),
ssn
CHAR(11),
INTEGER,
did
INTEGER,
Vs. since DATE,
DATE,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
REFERENCES Employees,
REFERENCES Employees)
FOREIGN KEY (did)
REFERENCES Departments)
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Pros and cons?

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Drill:
What if the toy department has no
manager (yet) ?

CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(

did
INTEGER,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11),
since DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn)
REFERENCES Employees)
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ER to tables outline:
strong entities
weak entities
(binary) relationships
1-to-1, 1-to-many, etc
total/partial participation
ternary relationships
ISA-hierarchies
aggregation

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Review: Participation Constraints

Does every department have a manager?
If so, this is a participation constraint: the participation of
Departments in Manages is said to be total (vs. partial).
Every did value in Departments table must appear in a
row of the Manages table (with a non-null ssn value!)
since

name
ssn
Employees

dname
did

lot
Manages

budget
Departments

Works_In

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since

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Participation Constraints in SQL

We can capture participation constraints involving one
entity set in a binary relationship, but little else
(without resorting to CHECK constraints).
CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(
did
INTEGER,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11) NOT NULL,
since DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn) REFERENCES Employees,
ON DELETE NO ACTION)
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Participation Constraints in SQL

Total participation (no action -> do NOT do the
delete)
Ie, a department MUST have a nanager
CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(
did
INTEGER,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11) NOT NULL,
since DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn) REFERENCES Employees,
ON DELETE NO ACTION)
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Participation Constraints in SQL

Partial partipation, ie, a department may be headless

CREATE TABLE Dept_Mgr(

did
INTEGER,
dname CHAR(20),
budget REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11) NOT NULL,
since DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (did),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn) REFERENCES Employees,
ON DELETE SET NULL)
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ER to tables outline:
strong entities
weak entities
(binary) relationships
1-to-1, 1-to-many, etc
total/partial participation
ternary relationships
ISA-hierarchies
aggregation

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Review: Weak Entities

A weak entity can be identified uniquely only by
considering the primary key of another (owner) entity.
Owner entity set and weak entity set must participate in a
one-to-many relationship set (1 owner, many weak
entities).
Weak entity set must have total participation in this
identifying relationship set.
name
ssn

lot

Employees

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cost

Policy

dname

age

Dependents
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Review: Weak Entities

How to turn Dependents into a table?

name
ssn

lot

Employees

cost

Policy

dname

age

Dependents

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Translating Weak Entity Sets

Weak entity set and identifying relationship
set are translated into a single table.

CREATE TABLE Dep_Policy (

dname CHAR(20),
age
INTEGER,
cost
REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (dname, ssn),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn) REFERENCES Employees,
ON DELETE CASCADE)
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Translating Weak Entity Sets

Weak entity set and identifying relationship
set are translated into a single table.
When the owner entity is deleted, all owned weak
entities must also be deleted (-> CASCADE)
CREATE TABLE Dep_Policy (
dname CHAR(20),
age
INTEGER,
cost
REAL,
ssn
CHAR(11) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (dname, ssn),
FOREIGN KEY (ssn) REFERENCES Employees,
ON DELETE CASCADE)
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ER to tables outline:
strong entities
weak entities
(binary) relationships
1-to-1, 1-to-many, etc
total/partial participation
ternary relationships
ISA-hierarchies
aggregation

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name
ssn

Review: ISA Hierarchies

hourly_wages

lot

Employees

hours_worked
ISA

Hourly_Emps

contractid

Contract_Emps

Overlap constraints: Can Joe be an Hourly_Emps as well as a

Contract_Emps entity? (Allowed/disallowed)
Covering constraints: Does every Employees entity also have
to be an Hourly_Emps or a Contract_Emps entity? (Yes/no)

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Drill:
What would you do?
name
ssn

lot

Employees
hourly_wages

hours_worked
ISA

Hourly_Emps

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contractid

Contract_Emps

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Translating ISA Hierarchies to Relations

General approach: 3 relations: Employees,
Hourly_Emps and Contract_Emps.
how many times do we record an employee?
what to do on deletion?
how to retrieve all info about an employee?
EMP (ssn, name, lot)

H_EMP(ssn,

h_wg, h_wk)

CONTR(ssn, cid)

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Translating ISA Hierarchies to Relations

Alternative: Just Hourly_Emps and
Contract_Emps.
Hourly_Emps: ssn, name, lot, hourly_wages,
hours_worked.
Each employee must be in one of these two
subclasses.EMP (ssn, name, lot)

H_EMP(ssn, h_wg, h_wk, name, lot) CONTR(ssn, cid, name, lot)

Notice: black is gone!

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ER to tables outline:
strong entities
weak entities
(binary) relationships
1-to-1, 1-to-many, etc
total/partial participation
ternary relationships
ISA-hierarchies
aggregation

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Ternary relationships; aggregation

rare
keep keys of all participating entity sets
(or: avoid such situations:
break into 2-way relationships or
add an auto-generated key
)

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Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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Views
Virtual tables
CREATE VIEW YoungActiveStudents
(name,grade)
AS SELECT S.name, E.grade
FROM Students S, Enrolled E
WHERE S.sid=E.sid and S.age<21
DROP VIEW

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Views and Security

DBA: grants authorization to a view for a user
user can only see the view - nothing else

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Outline

Introduction
Integrity constraints (IC)
Enforcing IC
Querying Relational Data
ER to tables
Intro to Views
Destroying/altering tables

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Table changes
DROP TABLE
ALTER TABLE, e.g.
ALTER TABLE students
ADD COLUMN maiden-name CHAR(10)

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Relational Model: Summary

A tabular representation of data.
Simple and intuitive, currently the most widely used
Object-relational variant gaining ground
Integrity constraints can be specified by the DBA, based
on application semantics. DBMS checks for violations.
Two important ICs: primary and foreign keys
also: not null, unique
In addition, we always have domain constraints.
Mapping from ER to Relational is (fairly) straightforward:

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ER to tables - summary of basics

strong entities:
key -> primary key
(binary) relationships:
get keys from all participating entities - pr. key:
1:1 -> either key
1:N -> the key of the N part
M:N -> both keys
weak entities:
strong key + partial key -> primary key
..... ON DELETE CASCADE
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ER to tables - summary of advanced

total/partial participation:
NOT NULL; ON DELETE NO ACTION
ternary relationships:
get keys from all; decide which one(s) -> prim.
key
aggregation: like relationships
ISA:
2 tables (total coverage)
3 tables (most general)
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