Data Model
Chapter 2
In this chapter, you will
learn:
Why data models are important
About the basic data-modeling building
blocks
What business rules are and how they affect
database design
How the major data models evolved, and
their advantages and disadvantages
How data models can be classified by level of
abstraction
The Importance of Data
Models
Data model
Relatively simple representation, usually
graphical, of complex real-world data
structures
Communication tool to facilitate interaction
among the designer, the applications
programmer, and the end user
Good database design uses an appropriate
data model as its foundation
Importance of Data
Modeling
End-users have different views and
needs for data
Data model organizes data for
various users
Data Model Basic
Building Blocks
Entity is anything about which data are to be
collected and stored
Attribute is a characteristic of an entity
Relationship describes an association among
(two or more) entities
One-to-one (1:1) relationship
One-to-many (1:M) relationship
Many-to-many (M:N or M:M) relationship
Business Rules
Brief, precise, and unambiguous description
of a policy, procedure, or principle within a
specific organization’s environment
Apply to any organization that stores and
uses data to generate information
Description of operations that help to create
and enforce actions within that organization’s
environment
Business Rules
(continued)
Must be rendered in writing
Must be kept up to date
Sometimes are external to the organization
Must be easy to understand and widely
disseminated
Describe characteristics of the data as viewed
by the company
Sources of Business
Rules
Company managers
Policy makers
Department managers
Written documentation
Procedures
Standards
Operations manuals
Direct interviews with end users
Importance of Business
Rules
Promote creation of an accurate data model
Standardize company’s view of data
Constitute a communications tool between users
and designers
Allow designer to understand the nature, role,
and scope of data
Allow designer to understand business
processes
Allow designer to develop appropriate
relationship participation rules and constraints
The Evolution of Data
Models
Hierarchical
Network
Relational
Entity relationship
Object oriented
The Hierarchical
Model—Characteristics
Basic concepts form the basis for subsequent
database development
Limitations lead to a different way of looking
at database design
Basic concepts show up in current data
models
Best understood by examining manufacturing
process
A Hierarchical Structure
Hierarchical Structure—
Characteristics
Each parent can have many children
Each child has only one parent
Tree is defined by path that traces parent
segments to child segments, beginning from
the left
Hierarchical path
Ordered sequencing of segments tracing
hierarchical structure
Preorder traversal or hierarchic sequence
“Left-list” path
The Hierarchical Model
Advantages
Conceptual simplicity
Database security can be achieved
Data independence can be achieved
Database integrity can be maintained
An efficient model
The Hierarchical Model
(continued)
Disadvantages
Unable to handle M:N relationship
Complex implementation
Difficult to manage
Lacks structural independence
Complex applications programming and use
Implementation limitations
Child with Multiple Parents
The Network Model
Created to
Represent complex data relationships more
effectively
Improve database performance
Impose a database standard
Supported by Conference on Data Systems
Languages (CODASYL) and American
National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Crucial Database Components
Schema
Conceptual organization of entire database as
viewed by the database administrator
Subschema
Defines database portion “seen” by the
application programs that actually produce the
desired information from data contained within
the database
Data Manipulation Language (DML)
Define data characteristics and data structure
in order to manipulate the data
Data Management
Language Components
Schema Data Definition Language
(DDL)
Enables database administrator to
define schema components
Subschema DDL
Allows application programs to
define database components that
will be used
DML
Manipulates database contents
Network Model—Basic
Structure
Resembles hierarchical model
Collection of records in 1:M relationships
Set
Relationship
Composed of at least two record types
Owner
• Equivalent to the hierarchical model’s parent
Member
• Equivalent to the hierarchical model’s child
A Network Data Model
The Network Data Model
Advantages
Conceptual simplicity
Handles more relationship types
Data access flexibility
Promotes database integrity
Data independence can be achieved
The Network Data Model
(continued)
Disadvantages
System complexity
Lack of structural independence
The Relational Model
Developed by Codd (IBM) in 1970
Conceptually simple
Computers lacked power to implement the
relational model
Today, microcomputers can run sophisticated
relational database software
The Relational Model—
Basic Structure
Relational Database Management System
(RDBMS)
Performs same basic functions provided by
hierarchical and network DBMS systems, plus
other functions
Most important advantage of the RDBMS is
its ability to let the user/designer operate in a
human logical environment
The Relational Model—
Basic Structure
(continued)
Table (relations)
Matrixconsisting of a series of
row/column intersections
Related to each other by sharing a
common entity characteristic
Relational schema
Visual representation of relational
database’s entities, attributes, and
relationships between those
entities
Relational Table
Stores a collection of related entities
Resembles a file
Relational table is purely logical structure
How data are physically stored in the
database is of no concern to the user or the
designer
Thisproperty became the source of a real
database revolution
A Relational Schema
Linking Relational Tables
The Relational Model
Advantages
Structural independence
Improved conceptual simplicity
Easier
database design, implementation,
management, and use
Ad hoc query capability
Powerful database management system
The Relational Model
(continued)
Disadvantages
Substantial hardware and system software
overhead
Can facilitate poor design and implementation
May promote “islands of information” problems
The Entity Relationship
Model
Widely accepted and adapted
graphical tool for data modeling
Introduced by Chen in 1976
Graphical representation of entities
and their relationships in a
database structure
The Entity Relationship
Model— Basic Structure
Entity relationship diagram (ERD)
Uses graphic representations to model
database components
Entity is mapped to a relational table
Entity instance (or occurrence) is row in table
Entity set is collection of similar entities
Connectivity labels types of relationships
Diamond connected to related entities through
a relationship line
Relationships: The
Basic Chen ERD
Relationships:
The Basic Crow’s Foot ERD
The Entity Relationship
Model
Advantages
Exceptional conceptual simplicity
Visual representation
Effective communication tool
Integrated with the relational data model
The Entity Relationship
Model (continued)
Disadvantages
Limited constraint representation
Limited relationship representation
No data manipulation language
Loss of information content
The Object Oriented
Model
Semantic data model (SDM) developed by
Hammer and McLeod in 1981
Modeled both data and their relationships in a
single structure known as an object
Basis of object oriented data model (OODM)
OODM becomes the basis for the object
oriented database management system
(OODBMS)
The Object Oriented Model
(continued)
Object is described by its factual content
Like relational model’s entity
Includes information about relationships
between facts within object and relationships
with other objects
Unlike relational model’s entity
Subsequent OODM development allowed an
object to contain operations/methods
Object becomes basic building block for
autonomous structures
Developments that
Boosted OODM’s Popularity
Growing costs put a premium on code
reusability
Complex data types and system requirements
became difficult to manage with a traditional
RDBMS
Became possible to support increasingly
sophisticated transaction & information
requirements
Ever-increasing computing power made it
possible to support the large computing
overhead required
Object Oriented Data
Model—
Basic Structure
Object: abstraction of a real-world entity
Attributes describe the properties of an object
Objects that share similar characteristics are
grouped in classes
Classes are organized in a class hierarchy
Inheritance is the ability of an object within
the class hierarchy to inherit the attributes
and methods of classes above it
A Comparison of the OO
Model
and the ER Model
The Object Oriented
Model
Advantages
Adds semantic content
Visual presentation includes semantic content
Database integrity
Both structural and data independence
The Object Oriented
Model (continued)
Disadvantages
Slow pace of OODM standards development
Complex navigational data access
Steep learning curve
High system overhead slows transactions
Lack of market penetration
Other Models
Extended Relational Data Model (ERDM)
Semantic data model developed in response
to increasing complexity of applications
DBMS based on the ERDM often described as
an object/relational database management
system (O/RDBMS)
Primarily geared to business applications
Other Models (continued)
Date’s objections to ERDM label
Given proper support for domains, relational
data models are quite capable of handling
complex data
Therefore,capability that is supposedly being
extended is already there
O/RDM label is not accurate because the
relational data model’s domain is not an object
model structure
Data Models: A
Summary
Each new data model capitalized on the
shortcomings of previous models
Common characteristics:
Conceptual simplicity without compromising the
semantic completeness of the database
Represent the real world as closely as possible
Representation of real-world transformations
(behavior) must be in compliance with
consistency and integrity characteristics of any
data model
The Development of
Data Models
Database Models and
the Internet
Characteristics of successful “Internet age”
databases
Flexible, efficient, and secure Internet access
that is easily used, developed, and supported
Support for complex data types and
relationships
Seamless interfacing with multiple data
sources and structures
Database Models and
the Internet (continued)
Relative
conceptual simplicity to
make database design and
implementation less cumbersome
Anabundance of available
database design, implementation,
and application development tools
A powerful DBMS graphical user
interface (GUI) to help make the
DBA’s job easier
Degrees of Data
Abstraction
Way of classifying data models
Many processes begin at high level of
abstraction and proceed to an ever-
increasing level of detail
Designing a usable database follows the
same basic process
Degrees of Data
Abstraction (continued)
American National Standards
Institute/Standards Planning and
Requirements Committee (ANSI/SPARC)
Classifieddata models according to their
degree of abstraction (1970s):
Conceptual
External
Internal
Data Abstraction Levels
The Conceptual Model
Represents global view of the database
Enterprise-wide representation of data as
viewed by high-level managers
Basis for identification and description of
main data objects, avoiding details
Most widely used conceptual model is the
entity relationship (ER) model
A Conceptual Model for
Tiny College
Advantages of
Conceptual Model
Provides a relatively easily understood macro
level view of data environment
Independent of both software and hardware
Does not depend on the DBMS software used
to implement the model
Does not depend on the hardware used in the
implementation of the model
Changes in either the hardware or the DBMS
software have no effect on the database
design at the conceptual level
The Internal Model
Representation of the database as “seen” by
the DBMS
Adapts the conceptual model to the DBMS
Software dependent
Hardware independent
The External Model
End users’ view of the data environment
Requires that the modeler subdivide set of
requirements and constraints into functional
modules that can be examined within the
framework of their external models
Good design should:
Consider such relationships between views
Provide programmers with a set of restrictions
that govern common entities
A Division of an Internal Model
into External Models
Advantages of External
Models
Use of database subsets makes application
program development much simpler
Facilitates designer’s task by making it easier
to identify specific data required to support
each business unit’s operations
Provides feedback about the conceptual
model’s adequacy
Creation of external models helps to ensure
security constraints in the database design
The External Model
DBMS dependent
Hardware independent
The External Models for
Tiny College
The Physical Model
Operates at lowest level of abstraction,
describing the way data are saved on storage
media such as disks or tapes
Software and hardware dependent
Requires that database designers have a
detailed knowledge of the hardware and
software used to implement database design
Levels of Data
Abstraction
Summary
A good DBMS will perform poorly with a
poorly designed database
A data model is a (relatively) simple
abstraction of a complex real-world
data-gathering environment
Basic data modeling components are:
Entities
Attributes
Relationships
Summary (continued)
Hierarchical model
Based on a tree structure composed of a
root segment, parent segments, and child
segments
Depicts a set of one-to-many (l:M)
relationships between a parent and its
children
Does not include ad hoc querying
capability
Summary (continued)
Network model attempts to deal with many
of the hierarchical model’s limitations
Relational model:
Current database implementation standard
Much simpler than hierarchical or network
design
Object is basic modeling structure of
object oriented model
Data modeling requirements are a
function of different data views (global
vs. local) and level of data abstraction