Chapter Two: Data Models - Data modeling is an iterative,

progressive process. You start with a

- Communication among database
simple understanding of the problem
designers, programmers, and end users
domain, and as your understanding
should be frequent and clear.
increases, so does the level of detail of
- Data modeling clarifies such
the data model.
communication by reducing the
- When done properly, the final data
complexities of database design to more
model effectively is a “blueprint” with all
easily understood abstractions.
the instructions to build a database.
- Data modeling is the first step in the
 The Importance of Data Models
database design journey. One of the
- Data models are a communication tool.
most vexing problems of database
- Give an overall view of the database.
design is that designers, programmers,
- Organize data for various users.
and end users see data in different ways.
- Data models are an abstraction for the
- Consequently, different views of the
creation of good database.
same data can lead to database designs
that do not reflect an organization’s Data Model Basic Building Blocks
actual operation, thus failing to meet
- The basic building blocks of all data
end-user needs and data efficiency
models are entities, attributes,
requirements.
relationships, and constraints.
 Data Modeling and Data Models
 Entities
- Data modelling refers to the process of
- An entity is a person, place, thing, or
creating a specific data model for a
event about which data will be collected.
determined problem domain. A problem
An entity represents a particular type of
domain is a clearly defined area within
object in the real world.
the real-world environment.
- Entities may be physical objects,
- A data model is a representation, usually
such as customers or products, but
graphic, of a complex “real-world” data
entities may also be abstractions, such
structure.
as flight routes
- A model’s main function is to help you
or musical concerts.
understand the complexities of the real-
 Attributes
world environment.

Prepared by A Kasulo - MAGU Faculty of Commerce

 - An attribute is a characteristic of an students, thus yielding the
entity. A CUSTOMER entity would be M:N label for the
described by attributes such as relationship expressed by
customer last name, customer first “STUDENT takes CLASS.”
name, customer phone number and o One-to-one (1:1 or 1..1)
customer address. relationship. A store can be
- Attributes are the equivalent of fields in managed by a single
file systems. employee. In turn, each
 Relationships store manager, who is an
- A relationship describes an association employee, manages only a
among entities. For example, an agent single store. Therefore, the
can serve many customers, and each relationship “EMPLOYEE
customer may be served by one agent. manages STORE” is labeled
- Data models use three types of 1:1.
relationships: one-to-many, many-to- - Relationships are bidirectional.
many, and one-to-one. Shorthand  Constraints
notations 1:M or 1..*, M:N or *..*, and - A constraint is a restriction placed on the
1:1 or 1..1, respectively. data. Constraints are important because
o One-to-many (1:M or 1..*) they help to ensure data integrity.
relationship. A painter o An employee’s salary must
creates many different have values that are
paintings, but each is between 6,000 and 350,000.
painted by only one painter. o A student’s GPA must be
Thus, the painter (the between 0.00 and 4.00.
“one”) is related to the o Each class must have one
paintings (the “many”). and only one teacher.
relationship “PAINTER
Business Rules
paints PAINTING” as 1:M.
o Many-to-many (M:N or *..*) - A business rule is a description of a

relationship. A student can policy, procedure, or principle within an

take many classes and each organization. For example, a pilot cannot

class can be taken by many be on duty for more than 10 hours

Prepared by A Kasulo - MAGU Faculty of Commerce

 during a 24-hour period, or a professor - It allows the designer to develop
may teach up to four classes during a appropriate relationships participation
semester. Other examples of business rules and constraints and to create an
rules are a customer may generate many accurate data model.
invoices and an invoice is generated by  Translating Business Rules into Data Model
only one customer. Components
- Properly written business rules are used - As a general rule, a noun in a business
to define entities, attributes, rule will translate into an entity in the
relationships, and constraints. model, and a verb (active or passive)
- Any time you see relationship that associates the nouns will translate
statements business rules are at work. into a relationship among the entities.
 Discovering Business Rules - As a general rule, to properly identify the
- The main sources of business rules are relationship type, you should ask two
company managers, policy makers, questions: -
department managers, and written o How many instances of B
documentation. are related to one instance
- A faster and more direct source of of A?
business rules is direct interviews with o How many instances of A
end users. However always remember are related to one instance
that it pays to verify end-user of B?
perceptions.  Naming Conventions
 The process of identifying and documenting - Entity names should be descriptive of
business rules is essential to database the objects in the business environment
design for several reasons: - and use terminology that is familiar to
- It helps to standardize the company’s the users.
view of data. - An attribute name should also be
- It can be a communication tool between descriptive of the data represented by
users and designers. that attribute.
- It allows the designer to understand the - It is also a good practice to prefix the
nature, role, and scope of the data. name of an attribute with the name or
- It allows the designer to understand abbreviation of the entity in which it
business processes. occurs.

Prepared by A Kasulo - MAGU Faculty of Commerce

o For example, in the
CUSTOMER entity, the
customer’s credit limit may
be called
CUS_CREDIT_LIMIT.

Prepared by A Kasulo - MAGU Faculty of Commerce