Relational

Model
 Chapter 3 - Objectives
• Terminology of relational model.
• How tables are used to represent data.
• Connection between mathematical relations
and relations in the relational model.
• Properties of database relations.
• How to identify candidate, primary, and foreign
keys.
• Meaning of entity integrity and referential
integrity.
• Purpose and advantages of views.

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 Relational Model Terminology
• A relation is a table with columns and rows.
– Only applies to logical structure of the database, not
the physical structure.

• Attribute is a named column of a relation.

• Domain is the set of allowable values for one or

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 Relational Model Terminology
• Tuple is a row of a relation.

• Degree is the number of attributes in a relation.

• Cardinality is the number of tuples in a relation.

• Relational Database is a collection of normalized

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Instances of Branch and Staff (part)
Relations

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Examples of Attribute Domains

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Alternative Terminology for Relational
Model

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 Database Relations
• Relation schema
– Named relation defined by a set of attribute
and domain name pairs.

• Relational database schema

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 Properties of Relations
• Relation name is distinct from all other relation
names in relational schema.

• Each cell of relation contains exactly one atomic

• Each attribute has a distinct name.

• Values of an attribute are all from the same

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 Properties of Relations
• Each tuple is distinct; there are no duplicate
tuples.

• Order of attributes has no significance.

• Order of tuples has no significance,

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 Relational Keys
• Superkey
– An attribute, or a set of attributes, that uniquely
identifies a tuple within a relation.

• Candidate Key
– Superkey (K) such that no proper subset is a superkey
within the relation.
– In each tuple of R, values of K uniquely identify that tuple
(uniqueness).
– No proper subset of K has the uniqueness property
(irreducibility).

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 Relational Keys
• Primary Key
• Candidate key selected to identify tuples
uniquely within relation.
• Alternate Keys
• Candidate keys that are not selected to be
primary key.
• Foreign Key
• Attribute, or set of attributes, within one
relation that matches candidate key of some
(possibly same) relation.

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 Relational Integrity
• Null
– Represents value for an attribute that is
currently unknown or not applicable for tuple.
– Deals with incomplete or exceptional data.
– Represents the absence of a value and is not the
same as zero or spaces, which are values.

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 Relational Integrity
• Entity Integrity
– In a base relation, no attribute of a primary key can
be null.

• Referential Integrity
– If foreign key exists in a relation, either foreign key
value must match a candidate key value of some
tuple in its home relation or foreign key value must
be wholly null.

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 Relational Integrity
• Enterprise Constraints
– Additional rules specified by users or
database administrators.

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 Views
• Base Relation
– Named relation corresponding to an entity in
conceptual schema, whose tuples are physically
stored in database.

• View
– Dynamic result of one or more relational operations
operating on base relations to produce another
relation.

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 Views
• A virtual relation that does not necessarily
actually exist in the database but is produced
upon request, at time of request.

• Contents of a view are defined as a query on one

• Views are dynamic, meaning that changes made

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 Purpose of Views
• Provides powerful and flexible security
mechanism by hiding parts of database from
certain users.

• Permits users to access data in a customized

• Can simplify complex operations on base

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 Updating Views
• All updates to a base relation should be
immediately reflected in all views that
reference that base relation.

• If view is updated, underlying base

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 Updating Views
• There are restrictions on types of modifications
that can be made through views:
- Updates are allowed if query involves a single base
relation and contains a candidate key of base
relation.
- Updates are not allowed involving multiple base
relations.
- Updates are not allowed involving aggregation or
grouping operations.

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