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Data Modeling Using The Entity-Relationship Model

The document discusses entity-relationship (ER) modeling. It defines key concepts in ER modeling including entities, attributes, relationships, and structural constraints. Entities can have single-valued or multi-valued attributes. Relationships associate entities and can specify cardinality ratios like one-to-one or one-to-many. Weak entities lack a key and are identified through a relationship to another entity. The document provides examples of ER diagrams and explores using relationships to model complex associations between multiple entity types.

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Vineet Gupta
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109 views

Data Modeling Using The Entity-Relationship Model

The document discusses entity-relationship (ER) modeling. It defines key concepts in ER modeling including entities, attributes, relationships, and structural constraints. Entities can have single-valued or multi-valued attributes. Relationships associate entities and can specify cardinality ratios like one-to-one or one-to-many. Weak entities lack a key and are identified through a relationship to another entity. The document provides examples of ER diagrams and explores using relationships to model complex associations between multiple entity types.

Uploaded by

Vineet Gupta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 3 1

Chapter 3

Data Modeling Using the
Entity-Relationship Model
Chapter 3 2
Chapter 3 3
Entity-Relationship(ER) Model
The ER model is a high-level conceptual
data model. It has not been implemented in
any commercial DBMS (?), but is a
powerful short hand often used in database
design for a first rendition of the miniworld.
The ER model was introduced by Peter
Chen in 1976, and is now the most widely
used conceptual data model.
Chapter 3 4
Entity-Relationship(ER) Model
(cont)
Much work has been done on the ER model,
and various extensions and enhancements
have been proposed (see Ch. 21 and the text
Conceptual Database Design by
Batini/Ceri/Navathe, Benjamin Commings).
Chapter 3 5
Definitions
An entity is an object in the miniworld.
An attribute of an entity can have a value
from a value set (domain)
Each entity belongs to some one entity type
s.t. entities in one entity type have the same
attributes (so each entity type is a set of
similar entities).
Chapter 3 6
Definitions (cont)
A key attribute of an entity type is one
whose value uniquely identifies an entity of
that type.
A combination of attributes may form a
composite key.
If there is no applicable value for an
attribute that attribute is set to a null value.
Chapter 3 7
Entity Type / Entity Set
Entity Type (Intension): EMPLOYEE
Attributes: Name, Age, Salary
Entity Set (Extension):
e
1
= (John Smith, 55, 80000)
e
2
= (Joe Doe, 40, 20000)
e
3
= (Jane Doe, 27, 30000)
.
.
.
Chapter 3 8
Attributes
Attributes can be
composite / simple (atomic)
single-valued / multivalued
stored / derived
key / nonkey.
Chapter 3 9
Attribute Examples
Name = John Doe
Birthdate = May 10, 1989
Age = 9
Degree = null
SSN = 123456789

Name = John Doe
Birthdate = May 10
Birthyear = 1989
Age = 9
Degree = null
SSN = 123456789
Name = Jane Doe
Birthdate = July 11, 1960
Age = 38
Degree = B.S., M.S.
SSN = 987654321
Chapter 3 10
Chapter 3 11
EMPLOYEE
Name, SSN, Sex, Address, Salary, Birthdate, Department,
Supervisor, {Works on ( Project, Hours)}
WORKS_FOR
EMPLOYEE DEPARTMENT
1 N
Name SSN . . .
Relationship instances of WORKS_FOR:
{(KV, CS), (Pan, EE), . . .}
Chapter 3 12
ER Diagram for COMPANY Database
Chapter 3 13
Relationship Type
A relationship type R among n entity types
E
1
,,E
n
is a set of relationship instances r
i
,
where each r
i
associates n entities (e
1
,,e
n
),
s.t. each e
j
E
j
. Informally, a relationship
instance is an association of entities, with
exactly one entity from each participating
entity type.
Chapter 3 14
Relationship Type (cont)
The degree n of a relationship type is the
number of participating entity types.
In the ER model relationships are explicitly
represented.
Chapter 3 15
Entity Roles
Each entity type in a relationship type plays a
particular role that is described by a role
name. Role names are especially important in
recursive relationship types where the same
entity participates in more than one role:
Employee
Supervision
Supervisor 1 N Supervisee
Chapter 3 16
Weak Entity Type
A weak entity type is one without any key
attributes of its own. Entities belonging to a
weak entity type are identified by being related
to another entity type ( called identifying
owner) through a relationship type ( called
identifying relationship), in combination with
values of a set of its own attributes (called
partial key). A weak entity type has total
participation constraint w.r.t. its identifying
relationship.
Chapter 3 17
Relationship Attributes
Relationship types can have attributes as
well. in case of 1:1 or 1:N relationships,
attributes can be migrated to one of the
participating entity types.
Chapter 3 18
Relationship
Chapter 3 19
Relationship (cont)
Chapter 3 20
Relationship (cont)
Chapter 3 21
Fig 3.12
Chapter 3 22
Fig 3.13
Chapter 3 23
Structural Constraints
Structural constraints of a relationship type:
Cardinality ratio: Limits the number of
relationship instances an entity can participate
in, eg. 1:1, 1:N, M:N
Participation constraint: If each entity of an
entity type is required to participate in some
instance of a relationship type, then that
participation is total; otherwise, it is partial.
Chapter 3 24
Structural Constraint Min, Max
A more complete specification of the
structural constraint on a relationship type
can be given by the integer pair (min, max),
which means an entity must participate in at
least min and at most max relationship
instances.
Chapter 3 25
Chapter 3 26
A ternary relationship generally represents
more information than 3 binary relationships
Chapter 3 27
Chapter 3 28
A Weak Entity with a Terary
Identifying Relationship

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