The Relational Model

A Data Model for Relational Databases

©Anne Haxthausen and Flemming Schmidt

These slides have been prepared by Anne Haxthausen, partly reusing some slides by Flemming Schmidt, which again
partly reused some slides by Silberschatz, Korth. Sudarshan, 2010.

1. The Relational Model 02170 Database Systems 1

 Contents
 Basic Concepts
• database, DBMS
• data model
• the Relational Model: relations/tables, relation schema, relation
instance, domains, NULL values, keys, database schema diagram.
 Database Languages (based on relational model)
• Basic concepts and SQL
 Demo Exercises
 Exercises

1. The Relational Model Contents 2

 Databases and Data Models
 A database is a collection of structured, interrelated data.
• Example: A university database could contain info about (1) entities
like students and courses and (2) relations between the entities like
which courses students take.
 A database management system (DBMS) is a collection of programs used
to access and manipulate data in a database.
 Each database system has an underlying logical data model.
 A data model is a way to organise the data in a database.
Examples of data models:
• relational model: the most commonly used, the one we use in 02170
• object-based data models
• network model (old)
• hierarchical model (old)
• …

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 3

 The Relational Model
 Founders of the Relational Model turned the IT world upside down
• They started making a great effort to use mathematics as a foundation for the
Relational Model. Then they used best practice for implementation.
 The Relational Model is simple and based on set theory
• All the data is logically structured in relations (tables) representing entities and
their relationships.
• A database is considered as a set of relations.
• Relational Algebra offers simple operations on data.
 Databases based on the relational model are called relational databases.

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 4

 Relations - Mathematical Definition
Mathematical Definition
• Let D1, D2, …, Dn be sets of values.
• The Cartesian Product D1 x D2 x … x Dn is the set of Tuples (a1, a2, …, an)
where each value ai  Di .
• A relation r over D1 x D2 x … x Dn is a subset of D1 x D2 x … x Dn i.e. a relation
is a set of tuples (a1, a2, …, an), where each ai  Di .
Each tuple represents a relationship between the elements a1, a2, …, an
• A relation can be represented by a table with a row for each tuple.
Example:
The relation { (apple, 5), (banana, 4) } can be represented by apple 5
banana 4

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 5

 Relational Database Terminology
 A Relation is seen as a Table Instructor
• with a name
• with named Attributes (columns) of data
• the rows are called Tuples
• each Tuple (row) represents
an entity or a relationship

 Example:
Relation Instructor has the Attributes:
InstID, InstName, DeptName and Salary,
and the first Tuple represents instructor
Srinivasan, who works in the Computing
Science Department, has an Instructor
4 Attributes/columns
ID 10101, and a Salary of 65000.00.
12 Tuples/rows

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 6

 Terminology: Tables and Relations
 Three ways of saying almost the same thing
• A Table of Cells stored in Rows and Columns
• A Relation of Atoms stored in Tuples and Attributes
• A Table of Data Elements stored in Rows and Attributes

Data in a … with … and …

Table Rows Columns
Relation Tuples Attributes

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 7

 Relation Schema and Relation Instance
Instructor
 A Relation Schema R(A1, …., An)
• Defines the overall design of a relation.
• Consists of
• the name R of the relation, e.g. Instructor
• the attribute names, A1, …., An , e.g. InstID
• a domain Di for each attribute Ai
• attributes constituting primary key are underlined
• Example:
Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary)
• Is changed infrequently, if at all!
 A Relation Instance r of a relation R
• r  D1 x D2 x … x Dn
• Is the data stored in the relation
at a particular moment in time.
• Over time the relation instance
may change frequently!
1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 8
 Domains
 A Domain (similar to type) Instructor
• Is a Set of allowed Attribute Values

 Domain Examples
• InstID: Integers from [10000, 99999]
• DeptName: Elements from the set
{Biology, Comp. Sci., Elec. Eng.,
Finance, History, Music, Physics}
• Attribute Values must be atomic

 All Domains have a NULL value

• A NULL value signifies a not existing value or a unknown value
• To insert instructor Hansen with ID 79797 into the relation Instructor without
knowing his department and salary, in MySQL simply insert the tuple:
INSERT Instructor VALUES (‘79797’, ‘Hansen’, NULL, NULL);

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 9

 Keys
 Relation Schemas Instructor
Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary)
Department(DeptName, Building, Budget)

 What makes Tuples unique?

• In Instructor each tuple has a unique InstID
• In Department the DeptName value makes
each tuple unique.

 A Key
• Is the Attribute, or set of Attributes,
that makes relation tuples unique. Department
• No two tuples have the same Key
• Sometimes it takes more than one attribute
to make a Key. For example:
Classroom(Building, Room, Capacity)

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 10

 Keys
Let R(A1, A2, …, An) be a relation schema and K  {A1, A2, …, An}, e.g. K = {A2 , A5}.
 (Super)key:
• K is a superkey of R, if values for K are sufficient to identify a unique tuple of
each permissible relation instance r of R. In other terms: no two rows have
the same superkey.
• Example: {InstID} and {InstID, InstName} are both superkeys of Instructor.
 Candidate Key:
• A Superkey K is a candidate key if K is minimal.
• Example: {InstID} is a candidate key for Instructor.
 Primary Key (Constraints):
• One of the candidate keys is selected by the DB designer to be the primary
key.
• In the relational schema, attributes constituting the primary key are
underlined, like in Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary).
• This implies a constraint on the allowed relation instances:
(1) no two rows may have the same value for the primary key,
(2) the primary key value must not be NULL.
 Foreign Key (Constraints): see next page.

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 11

 Foreign Keys, Example Instructor
Let R(A1, A2, …, An) be a relation schema, K  {A1, A2, …, An}
 K can be specified to be a foreign key referencing
another relation R’, if K is a primary key of R’.
 This implies a referential integrity constraint
on the allowed relation instances r of R and r’ of R’:
for any tuple in r, there must exist a tuple in r’
having the same values for K.
Example:
 Given Relation Schemas
Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary)
Department(DeptName, Building, Budget )
 Attribute DeptName in relation Instructor is a
foreign key referencing the Department relation.
 This implies a referential integrity constraint Department
on the allowed relation instances of Instructor and
Department: for any tuple in Instructor, there must
exist a tuple in Department having the same values for
DeptName.
 Insert and delete violations: Deleting the last tuple
of Department or inserting a tuple having DeptName
Mathematics in Instructor would break the constraint.

1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 12

 Relational Database Schemas and Diagrams
 A Database Schema consists of the relation schemas of all database tables.
 A Database Schema Diagram depicts the relation schemas + primary keys
+ foreign keys of all database tables.

1. Relational Model Basic Concepts 13

 Database Schema Diagram for a University
Textbook

Table Names are shown in blue boxes. Primary Key Attributes are underlined.
Foreign Keys are shown with arrows.
1. The Relational Model Basic Concepts 14
 Database Languages
 A query language is a language used to extract data from a database.
For relational query languages, the output is a table/relation.
 SQL – Structured Query Language: most widely used query language
• Example of a query to find physics instructors with a salary < 80000:
SELECT InstID, InstName FROM Instructor
WHERE DeptName = ‘Physics’ AND Salary < 80000;
 Formal Query Languages based on Mathematics:
• Relational Algebra with Relations as variables, for example:
InstID, InstName (DeptName = ‘Physics’ ˄ Salary < 80000 (Instructor))

• Tuple Calculus with Tuple Variables (t and s), for example:

{t |  s  Instructor( t[InstID] = s[InstID]  t[InstName] = s[InstName]
 s[DeptName] = ‘Physics’  s[Salary] < 80000)}

• Domain Calculus with Domain Variables (id, in, dn and sa):

{< id, in > | dn, sa (< id, in, dn, sa >Instructor
 dn = ‘Physics’  sa < 80000)}

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 15

 SQL – Structured Query Language
• SQL is a special-purpose programming language designed for managing data
stored in a relational database.
• Originally SQL was based upon relational algebra and tuple calculus.
• SQL was one of the first commercial languages for Edgar F. Codd's relational
model, as described in his influential 1970 paper, "A Relational Model of Data
for Large Shared Data Banks“.
• SQL quickly became the most widely used database language.
• SQL became a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in
1986, and of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1987.
• Since then, the standard has been revised to include a larger set of features.
Despite the existence of such standards, though, most SQL code is not
completely portable among different database systems without adjustments.

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 16

 SQL Command Categories
 Data Definition Language (DDL)
CREATE DATABASE, DROP DATABASE,
CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, DROP TABLE,
CREATE INDEX, ALTER INDEX, DROP INDEX,
CREATE VIEW and DROP VIEW

 Data Manipulation Language (DML)

INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE

 Data Query Language

SELECT (i.e. SELECT attributes FROM tables WHERE condition GROUP BY attributes)

 Data Control Language

CREATE USER, RENAME USER, DROP USER
ALTER PASSWORD, GRANT, REVOKE and CREATE SYNONYM

 Data Administration Commands

START AUDIT and STOP AUDIT

 Transactional Control Commands

SET TRANSACTION, COMMIT, ROLLBACK and SAVEPOINT

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 17

 Schema & Instance in SQL Context
 Relation Schema Instructor
Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary)

 Used for creating an SQL Table:

CREATE TABLE Instructor (
InstID VARCHAR(5) PRIMARY KEY,
InstName VARCHAR(20),
DeptName VARCHAR(20),
Salary DECIMAL(8,2));

 Relation Instance
• Content of a relation Instructor shown in SQL:
SELECT InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary FROM Instructor;

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 18

 SQL Data Definition Language
 Data Definition Language DDL
• Defines the Database Schema to the Data Dictionary. Example:
CREATE TABLE Instructor (
InstID VARCHAR(5),
InstName VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
DeptName VARCHAR(20),
Salary DECIMAL(8,2),
PRIMARY KEY(InstID),
FOREIGN KEY(DeptName) REFERENCES Department(DeptName)
ON DELETE SET NULL);

 Data Dictionary contains metadata (i.e. data about data)

• Database relation schemas, authorization permissions, and more …
• Integrity constraints
Primary Key: InstID uniquely identifies instructors, each row has unique InstID!
Foreign Key: DeptName value in any Instructor row must appear in
Department.

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 19

 SQL Data Manipulation Language
 Data Manipulation Language DML
• Language for manipulating data in the database

 Like for Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary):

• Insert a new instructor
INSERT Instructor VALUES (‘79797’, ‘Hansen’, ‘Finance’, NULL);

• Move ‘Wu’ to the Physics department and set salary to 95000

UPDATE Instructor SET DeptName = ‘Physics’, Salary = 95000.00 WHERE InstID = 12121;

• Wu has left, delete him from the table

DELETE FROM Instructor WHERE InstID = 12121;

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 20

 SQL Data Query Language
 Data Query Language DQL
• Given Instructor(InstID, InstName, DeptName, Salary)
• Find the name of the instructor with InstID equal to 22222:
SELECT InstName FROM Instructor WHERE InstID = ‘22222’;

• Find the InstID and Building of instructors in the Physics department:

SELECT InstID, Building FROM Instructor, Department
WHERE Department.DeptName = ‘Physics’ AND
Instructor.DeptName = Department.DeptName;
Long names when ambiguity
Short: AttributeName
Long: TableName.AttributeName

1. The Relational Model Language Concepts 21

 Summary
• Basic Concepts: database, DBMS, data model, relational model,
relations/tables, relation schema, relation instance, domains,
NULL values, keys, database schema diagram.
• Language Concepts in SQL.

Readings
• In Database Systems Concepts please read Chapters 1.1-1.6 & 2
• Pay special attention to the Summaries.

1. The Relational Model 02170 Database Systems 22

 Demo Exercises

Demo Exercises clarify ideas

and concepts from the Lecture
to provide you with good
Database Skills.

Discuss and do the

Demo Examples.

1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 23

 Relational Model Terminology
1.1 Terminology
Make assumptions and describe the data
below using Relational Terminology.

Student

Instructor

Advisor

Department

1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 24

 Database Scheme Diagram
1.2 Database Schema Diagram .
Draw a Database Schema Diagram showing
Relations, Attributes, Primary Keys and
Foreign Keys using the Relation Schemas:

Student(StudID, StudName, Birth,

DeptName, TotCredits)

Instructor(InstID, InstName,
DeptName, Salary)

Advisor(StudID, InstID)

Department(DeptName, Building,
Budget)

1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 25

 Solutions to Demo Exercises

1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 26

 Relational Model Terminology
1.1 Terminology 1. A Relational Database Instance!
Make assumptions and describe the data 2. With 4 Relations (tables) named Student,
below using Relational Terminology. Instructor, Advisor and Department.
3. Relation Student has the Schema:
Student Student(StudID, StudName, Birth,
DeptName, TotCredits)
defining the 5 Attributes (columns).
4. Relation Student has 3 Tuples (rows).
5. The Student Primary Key Attribute named
Instructor StudID makes all Tuples in Student unique.
6. The Student Foreign Key called DeptName
references the Department Relation.
7. Domain for TotCredits is Integers.
8. The Advisor Primary Key makes all Tuples
unique. It is either <StudID> alone,
meaning a student has just one instructor,
Advisor or <StudID, InstID>, meaning that a
student can have many advisors.
9. The Relation Advisor has two Foreign
Department Keys: StudID referencing Student and
InstID referencing Instructor.

1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 27

 Database Scheme Diagram
1.2 Database Schema Diagram Database Schema Diagram
Draw a Database Schema Diagram showing Write Relation Names in blue boxes.
Relations, Attributes, Primary Keys and Write Attribute Names below the relation
Foreign Keys using the Relation Schemas: name with Primary Key Attributes underlined.
Depict Foreign Keys by arrows.
Student(StudID, StudName, Birth,
DeptName, TotCredits) Department
DeptName
Instructor(InstID, InstName, Building
DeptName, Salary) Budget

Advisor(StudID, InstID)
Student Instructor
StudID InstID
Department(DeptName, Building,
Budget) StudName InstName
Birth DeptName
DeptName Salary
TotCredits

Advisor
StudID
InstID
1. The Relational Model Demo Exercises 28
 Exercises

Please answer all exercises

to demonstrate your
Database Skills.

Pencil and Paper Exercises

Solutions are available at 11:00

1. The Relational Model Exercises 29

 Primary Keys and Foreign Keys
1.4 Primary Keys
Underline potential Primary Key attributes in
the Relation Schemas:
Employee (FullName, Street, City)
Works (FullName, CompanyName, Salary)
Company (CompanyName, City)

1.5 Insert and Delete Violations

Give examples of insert and delete violations
of the Foreign Key constraint.
Instructor
InstID InstName DeptName Salary
12121 Wu Finance 90000
15151 Mozart Music 40000
22222 Einstein Physics 95000

Department
DeptName Building Budget
Finance Painter 120000
Music Packard 80000
Physics Watson 70000

1. The Relational Model Exercises 30

 Foreign Keys and Schema Diagrams
1.6 Foreign Keys 1.7 Database Schema Diagram
Banking Database Relation Schemas: Draw a Database Schema Diagram for the
Branch(BName, BCity, Assets) Banking Database.
Customer(CName, CStreet, CCity)
Loan(LNumber, BName, Amount)
Borrower(CName, LNumber)
Account(ANumber, BName, Balance)
Depositor(CName, ANumber)

Check the table below and write the Foreign

Keys and Referenced Relations.
Relation Primary Keys Foreign Keys Referencing
Branch BName
Customer CName
Loan LNumber
Borrower CName
LNumber
Account ANumber
Depositor CName
ANumber

1. The Relational Model Exercises 31