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Chapter 3 The Relational Database Model

The document discusses keys, relationships, and indexes in relational databases. It covers primary keys, foreign keys, one-to-many relationships, and how to implement many-to-many relationships using composite entities. The document also discusses data redundancy and how indexes can help access rows in tables.

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imannurumairah
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
19 views

Chapter 3 The Relational Database Model

The document discusses keys, relationships, and indexes in relational databases. It covers primary keys, foreign keys, one-to-many relationships, and how to implement many-to-many relationships using composite entities. The document also discusses data redundancy and how indexes can help access rows in tables.

Uploaded by

imannurumairah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 37

ICT200

INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

By :
Miss Noorfadzilah Arifin

Chapter 3 The Relational Database Model


Tables and Their Characteristics
2

 Table: two-dimensional structure


composed of rows and columns

 Contains group of related entities = an


entity set
✓ Terms entity set and table are often used
interchangeably
Tables and Their Characteristics
3

 Table also called a relation because the


relational model’s creator, Codd, used the
term relation as a synonym for table

 Think of a table as a persistent relation:


✓ A relation whose contents can be permanently
saved for future use
Tables and Their Characteristics
4
Tables and Their Characteristics
5
Keys
6

 Consists of one or more attributes that


determine other attributes

 Primary key (PK) is an attribute (or a


combination of attributes) that uniquely
identifies any given entity (row)

 Key’s role is based on a concept known as


determination
✓ If you know the value of attribute A, you can look
up (determine) the value of attribute B
Keys
7

 A ➔B
✓ A determines B
✓ B is functionally dependent on A

 A ➔ B,C,D
✓ attribute A determines attributes B,C,D
✓ B,C,D are functionally dependent on A

 A,B ➔ C
✓ attributes A,B determine attribute C
✓ attributes C is fully functionally dependent on A,B
Keys
8

 Composite key
✓ Composed of more than one attribute OR multi-
attribute key
 Key attribute
✓ Any attribute that is part of a key
 Superkey
✓ Any key that uniquely identifies each row
 Candidate key
✓ A superkey without redundancies OR a minimal
superkey
Keys
9

 Foreign key (FK)


✓ An attribute whose values match primary key
values in the related table

 Referential integrity
✓ FK contains a value that refers to an existing
valid row in another relation

 Secondary key
✓ Key used strictly for data retrieval purposes
Keys
10

 Nulls:
✓ No data entry
✓ Not permitted in primary key
✓ Should be avoided in other attributes
✓ If used improperly, can create problems because they
have many different meanings. For example, can
represent
◼ An unknown attribute value
◼ A known, but missing, attribute value
◼ A “not applicable” condition
✓ Can create problems when functions such as COUNT,
AVERAGE, and SUM are used
✓ Can create logical problems when relational tables are
linked
Keys
11

✓ Controlled redundancy make the relational db work


✓ Referential integrity means that if the foreign key contains
value that refers to an existing row in another relation
Keys
12
Keys
13
Integrity Rules
14
Integrity Rules
15
Integrity Rules
16

✓ To avoid nulls, some designers are used special codes,


known as flags which is to indicate the absence of some
value/does not yet assigned

✓ Ex: If such a flag is used, the AGENT table must contain


a dummy row with an AGENT_CODE value of -99.

✓ The AGENT table’s first record might contain the values.


The Data Dictionary and
System Catalog
17

 Data dictionary

✓ Provides detailed accounting of all tables found


within the user/designer-created database

✓ Contains (at least) all the attribute names and


characteristics for each table in the system

✓ Contains metadata—data about data

✓ Sometimes described as “the database designer’s


database” because it records the design decisions
about tables and their structures
The Data Dictionary and
System Catalog
18

A Sample Data Dictionary


The Data Dictionary and
System Catalog
19

 System catalog

✓ Contains metadata

✓ Detailed system data dictionary that describes all


objects within the database (ex: data about tables
name, the table’s creator and creation date, the
number of columns in each table and etc)

✓ Terms “system catalog” and “data dictionary” are


often used interchangeably

✓ Can be queried just like any user/designer-created


table
Relationships within the Relational
Database
20

 1:M relationship
✓ Relational modeling ideal
✓ Should be the norm in any relational database
design
 1:1 relationship
✓ Should be rare in any relational database design
 M:N relationships
✓ Cannot be implemented as such in the relational
model
✓ M:N relationships can be changed into two set of
1:M relationships
Relationships within the Relational
Database
21

The 1:M Relationship

 Relational database norm


 Found in any database environment
Relationships within the Relational
Database
22

The 1:M Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
23

The 1:M Relationship

✓ 1:M relationship is easily implemented in the relational model by putting the


primary key of the “1” side in the table of the “many” side as a foreign key
Relationships within the Relational
Database
24

The 1:1 Relationship

 One entity can be related to only one other


entity, and vice versa

 Sometimes means that entity components were


not defined properly

 As rare as 1:1 relationships should be, certain


conditions absolutely require their use
Relationships within the Relational
Database
25

The 1:1 Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
26

The M:N Relationship


 More troublesome proposition in the relational
environment

 Can be implemented by breaking it up to produce a


set of 1:M relationships

 Can avoid problems inherent to M:N relationship


by creating a composite entity or bridge entity
Relationships within the Relational
Database
27

The M:N Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
28

The M:N Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
29

The M:N Relationship


 Implementation of a composite entity

 Yields required M:N to 1:M conversion

 Composite entity table must contain at least the


primary keys of original tables

 Linking table contains multiple occurrences of


the foreign key values

 Additional attributes may be assigned as


needed
Relationships within the Relational
Database
30

The M:N Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
31

The M:N Relationship


Relationships within the Relational
Database
32

The M:N Relationship


Data Redundancy Revisited
33

 Data redundancy leads to data anomalies


✓ Such anomalies can destroy the
effectiveness of the database

 Foreign keys
✓ Control data redundancies by using common
attributes shared by tables

 Sometimes, data redundancy is necessary


Data Redundancy Revisited

34
Data Redundancy Revisited

35
Indexes
36

 Arrangement used to logically access rows


in a table
 Index key
✓ Index’s reference point

✓ Points to data location identified by the key

 Unique index
✓ Index in which the index key can have only one pointer
value (row) associated with it

 A table can have many indexes, but each


index is associated with only one table
Indexes
37

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