PhilCST

PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

OLD NALSIAN ROAD, BRGY. NALSIAN, CALASIAO, PANGASINAN

INFORMATION
MANAGEMEN
MODULE 3, LESSON T
3: NORMALIZATION OF
DATABASE TABLES

By: MS.RACHELLE N. CAMACHO, MIT

PhilCST
PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
OLD NALSIAN ROAD, BRGY. NALSIAN, CALASIAO,
PANGASINAN

In this module you will learn:

• What normalization is and what role it plays in the
database design process
• About the normal forms 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF,
and 4NF
• How normal forms can be transformed from lower
normal forms to higher normal forms
• That normalization and ER modeling are used
concurrently to produce a good database design
• That some situations require denormalization to
generate information efficiently
Database Tables and Normalization
• Normalization
– Process for evaluating and correcting table
structures to minimize data redundancies
• Reduces data anomalies
– Series of stages called normal forms:
• First normal form (1NF)
• Second normal form (2NF)
• Third normal form (3NF)
Database Tables and Normalization

• Normalization (continued)
– 2NF is better than 1NF; 3NF is better than 2NF
– For most business database design purposes,
3NF is as high as needed in normalization
– Highest level of normalization is not always most
desirable
• Denormalization produces a lower normal form
– Increased performance but greater data
redundancy
The Need for Normalization
• Example: company that manages building projects (Figure 6.1)
– Each project has its own project number, name, assigned
employees, etc.
– Each employee has an employee number, name, job class
– Charges its clients by billing hours spent on each contract
– Hourly billing rate is dependent on employee’s position
– Total charge is a derived attribute and not stored in the
table
– Periodically, report is generated that contains information
such as displayed in Table 6.1
Tabular representation of the report format
A Sample Report Layout
The Need for Normalization
• Structure of data set in Figure 6.1 does not handle data
very well
• Table structure appears to work; report is generated
with ease
• Report may yield different results depending on what
data anomaly has occurred
– Employee can be assigned to more than one project
but each project includes only a single occurrence of
any one employee
• Relational database environment is suited to help
designer avoid data integrity problems
The Need for Normalization
• PROJECT_NUM, either a PK or part of a PK, contains NULLS
• JOB_CLASS values could be abbreviated differently
• Each time an employee is assigned to a project, all employee
information is duplicated
• Update anomalies – Modifying JOB_CLASS for employee
105 requires alterations in two records
• Insertion anomalies – to insert a new employee who has not
been assigned to a project requires a phantom project
• Deletion anomalies – If a project has only one employee
associated with it and that employee leaves, a phantom
employee must be created
The Normalization Process
Each table represents a single subject
No data item will be unnecessarily stored in more than
one table
All nonprime attributes in a table are dependent on the
primary key
Each table is void of insertion, update, and deletion
anomalies
 The Normalization Process
sure that•all tables are in at least 3NF Higher forms are not likely to be encountered in business environment Normaliza
w set of relations
• based on identified dependencies
•
•
The Normalization Process
• Partial dependency
– Exists when there is a functional dependence in which the
determinant is only part of the primary key
– If (A,B)(C,D); BC and (A,B) is the PK
• BC is a partial dependency because only part of the PK, B, is needed
to determine the value of C
• Transitive dependency
– Exists when there are functional dependencies such that X → Y, Y →
Z, and X is the primary key
• XZ is a transitive dependency because X determines the value of Z via
Y
• The existence of a functional dependence among non-prime attributes is
a sign of transitive dependency
 Conversion to First Normal Form
• Repeating group
– Group of multiple entries of same type can exist
for any single key attribute occurrence
• Relational table must not contain repeating
groups
• Normalizing table structure will reduce data
redundancies
• Normalization is three-step procedure
 Conversion to First Normal Form
• Step 1: Eliminate the Repeating Groups
– Eliminate nulls: each repeating group attribute
contains an appropriate data value
• Step 2: Identify the Primary Key
– Must uniquely identify attribute value
– New key must be composed
• Step 3: Identify All Dependencies
– Dependencies are depicted with a diagram
Conversion to First Normal Form
 Conversion to First Normal Form
• Dependency diagram:
– Depicts all dependencies found within given table
structure
– Helpful in getting bird’s-eye view of all relationships
among table’s attributes
– Makes it less likely that you will overlook an important
dependency
– The arrows above the attributes indicate desirable
dependencies (i.e., based on the PK)
– The arrows below the attributes indicate less
desirable dependencies (partial and transitive)
Conversion to First Normal Form
 Conversion to First Normal Form

• First normal form describes tabular format:

– All key attributes are defined
– No repeating groups in the table
– All attributes are dependent on primary key
• All relational tables satisfy 1NF requirements
• Some tables contain partial dependencies
– Dependencies are based on part of the primary key
– Should be used with caution
 Conversion to Second Normal Form
• Conversion to 2NF occurs only when the 1NF has a composite key
– If the 1NF key is a single attribute, then the table is automatically in 2NF
• Step 1: Make New Tables to Eliminate Partial Dependencies
– For each component of the PK that acts as a determinant in a partial
dependency, create a new table with a copy of that component as the PK
– These components also remain in the original table in order to serve as
FKs to the original table
– Write each key component on a separate line; then write the original
composite key on the last line. Each component will become the key in
a new table
PROJ_NUM
EMP_NUM
PROJ_NUM EMP_NUM
 Conversion to Second Normal Form
• Step 2: Reassign Corresponding Dependent Attributes
– The dependencies for the original key components are found by
examining the arrows below the dependency diagram in Fig 6.3
– The attributes in a partial dependency are removed from the original
table and placed in the new table with the dependency’s determinant
– Any attributes that are not dependent in a partial dependency remain in
the original table
– At this point, most anomalies have been eliminated
PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME)
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR)
ASSIGNMENT(PROJ_NUM , EMP_NUM, ASSIGN_HOURS)
Conversion to Second Normal Form
Conversion to Second Normal Form

• Table is in second normal form (2NF) when:

– It is in 1NF and
– It includes no partial dependencies:
• No attribute is dependent on only portion of
primary key
 Conversion to Third Normal Form
• Step 1: Make New Tables to
Eliminate Transitive Dependencies
– For every transitive dependency, write its
determinant as PK for new table (JOB_CLASS)
• Determinant: any attribute whose value
determines other values within a row
– The determinant should remain in the original
table to serve as a FK
Conversion to Third Normal Form
• Step 2: Reassign Corresponding Dependent Attributes
– Identify attributes dependent on each determinant
identified in Step 1
• Identify dependency
– Name table to reflect its contents and function
PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME)
ASSIGNMENT(PROJ_NUM , EMP_NUM, ASSIGN_HOURS)
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS)
JOB(JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR)
Conversion to Third Normal Form
Conversion to Third Normal Form

• A table is in third normal form

(3NF) when both of the following
are true:
– It is in 2NF
– It contains no transitive dependencies
Conversion to Third Normal Form
1NF->2NF – remove partial dependencies
2NF->3NF – remove transitive dependencies
• In both cases, the answer is create a new table
– The determinant of the problem dependency remains
in the original table and is placed as the PK of the
new table
– The dependents of the problem dependency are
removed from the original table and placed as
nonprime attributes in the new table
Improving the Design
• Table structures should be cleaned up to eliminate
initial partial and transitive dependencies
• Normalization cannot, by itself, be relied on to make
good designs
• Valuable because it helps eliminate data redundancies
• If a table has multiple candidate keys and one is a
composite key, there can be partial dependencies
even when the PK is a single attribute
– Resolve in 3NF as a transitive dependency
Improving the Design
• Issues to address, in order, to produce a good
normalized set of tables:
– Evaluate PK Assignments
• Use JOB_CODE as PK for JOB table rather than
JOB_CLASS to avoid data-entry errors when used as a FK
in EMPLOYEE (DB Designer /Database Designer)
• JOB (JOB_CODE, JOB_CLASS,CHG_HOUR)
• Why is JOB_CLASS-->CHG_HOUR not a transitive
dependency? (Because JOB_CLASS is a candidate key)
Improving the Design
– Evaluate Naming Conventions
• CHG_HOUR should be JOB_CHG_HOUR
• JOB_DESCRIPTION is a better than JOB_CLASS
– Refine Attribute Atomicity
• Atomic attribute – one that can not be further
subdivided
– EMP_NAME is not atomic
– Identify New Attributes
• YTD gross salary, social security payments, hire
date
Improving the Design
– Identify New Relationships
• To track the manager of each project, put
EMP_NUM as a FK in PROJECT
– Refine Primary Keys as Required for Data
Granularity
• What does ASSIGN_HOURS represent ? Yearly
total hours, weekly, daily?
• If need multiple daily entries for project and emp
number, then use a surrogate key ASSIGN_NUM
to avoid duplication of the PK key EMP_NUM,
PROJ_NUM, ASSIGN_DATE
Improving the Design
– Maintain Historical Accuracy
• An employee’s job charge could change over the
lifetime of a project. In order to reconstruct the
charges to a project, another field with the job
charge and date active is required
– Evaluate Using Derived Attributes
• Store rather than derive the charge if it will speed up
reporting
The Completed Database
Surrogate Key Considerations

• When primary key is considered to be

unsuitable, designers use surrogate keys
• Data entries in Table 6.4 are
inappropriate because they duplicate
existing records
– No violation of entity or referential integrity
Normalization and Database Design
• Normalization should be part of the design
process
• Make sure that proposed entities meet required
normal form before table structures are created
• Many real-world databases have been
improperly designed or burdened with
anomalies
• You may be asked to redesign and modify
existing databases
Normalization and Database Design
• ER diagram
– Identify relevant entities, their attributes, and
their relationships
– Identify additional entities and attributes
• Normalization procedures
– Focus on characteristics of specific entities
– Micro view of entities within ER diagram
• Difficult to separate normalization process from
ER modeling process
Normalization and Database Design
• Given the following business rules:
– The company manages many projects
– Each project requires the services of many employees
– An employee may be assigned to several projects
– Some employees are not assigned to a project and
perform non-project related duties. Some employees are
part of a labor pool and shared by all project teams
– Each employee has a single primary job classification
which determines the hourly billing rate]
– Many employees can have the same job classification.
 Normalization and Database Design
• We initially define the following
entities PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME)
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM,EMP_LNAME,
EMP_FNAME, EMP_INITIAL, JOB_DESCRIPTION,
JOB_CHG_HOUR)
• PROJECT is in 3NF and needs no modification
• EMPLOYEE contains a transitive dependency so we
now have
PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME)
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM,EMP_LNAME,
EMP_FNAME, EMP_INITIAL, JOB_CODE)
JOB(JOB_CODE, JOB_DESCRIPTION,
JOB_CHG_HOUR)
Normalization and Database Design
• EMPLOYEE contains a transitive dependency so we now have
PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME)
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM,EMP_LNAME, EMP_FNAME, EMP_INITIAL,
JOB_CODE)
JOB(JOB_CODE, JOB_DESCRIPTION, JOB_CHG_HOUR)
 Normalization and Database Design
• To represent the M:N relationship between EMPLOYEE and
PROJECT, we could try two 1:M relationships
— An employee can be assigned to many projects
— Each project can have many employees assigned to it
Normalization and Database Design
• As this M:N can not be implemented, we include the ASSIGNMENT entity to
track the assignment of employees in projects
Normalization and Database Design
• ASSIGN_HOURS is assigned to ASSIGNMENT
• A “manages” relationship is added to in order to keep detailed information about
each project’s manager
• Some additional attributes are added to maintain additional information

PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME,EMP_NUM)

EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM,EMP_LNAME, EMP_FNAME, EMP_INITIAL, EMP_HIREDATE,

JOB_CODE)

JOB(JOB_CODE, JOB_DESCRIPTION, JOB_CHG_HOUR)

ASSIGNMENT(ASSIGN_NUM, ASSIGN_DATE, PROJ_NUM, EMP_NUM,

ASSIGN_HOURS, ASSIGN_CHG_HOUR, ASSIGN_CHARGE)
The Implemented Database
Denormalization
• Creation of normalized relations is important database
design goal
• Processing requirements should also be a goal
• If tables are decomposed to conform to normalization
requirements:
– Number of database tables expands
Denormalization
• Joining the larger number of tables reduces system speed
• Conflicts are often resolved through compromises that
may include denormalization
• Defects of unnormalized tables:
– Data updates are less efficient because tables are larger
– Indexing is more cumbersome as there are more fields per
table
– No simple strategies for creating virtual tables known as
views
Denormalization
Denormalization
• In order to generate the report below, a temporary denormalized
table is used since the last four semesters of each faculty member
could be different due to sabbatical, leave, start date, etc
 Denormalization
• EVALDATA is the master data table which is normalized
• FACHIST is created via a series of queries in order to produce the desired report
Data-Modeling Checklist
• Data modeling translates specific real-world environment
into data model
– Represents real-world data, users, processes, interactions
• Data-modeling checklist helps ensure that data-modeling
tasks are successfully performed
• Based on concepts and tools learned in Part II
Data-Modeling Checklist
PhilCST
PHILIPPINE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
OLD NALSIAN ROAD, BRGY. NALSIAN, CALASIAO, PANGASINAN

END OF MODULE 3, LESSON 3