DBMS UNIT 3-SYLLABUS

Database Design: Dependencies and Normal forms, Functional

Dependencies, 1NF,2NF,3NF, and BCNF, Higher normal forms-
4NF,5NF, Transaction management: ACID properties, Serializability ,
Concurrency Control (2PL, Timestamp Protocol), Database Recovery
Management- Log based recovery, checkpoints
TOPIC: Functional Dependency

Functional dependency (FD) is a set of constraints between two attributes in a relation.

Functional dependency says that if two tuples have same values for attributes A1, A2,..., An,
then those two tuples must have to have same values for attributes B1, B2, ..., Bn.
Functional dependency is represented by an arrow sign (→) that is, X→Y, where X
functionally determines Y. The left-hand side attributes determine the values of attributes on
the right-hand side.
In a relational database management, functional dependency is a concept that specifies the
relationship between two sets of attributes where one attribute determines the value of another
attribute. It is denoted as X → Y, where the attribute set on the left side of the arrow, X is
called Determinant, and Y is called the Dependent.

Functional dependencies are used to mathematically express relations among database entities
and are very important to understand advanced concepts in Relational Database System and
understanding problems in competitive exams like Gate. Example:

roll_no name dept_name dept_building

42 abc CO A4

43 pqr IT A3

44 xyz CO A4

45 xyz IT A3

46 mno EC B2

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 roll_no name dept_name dept_building

47 jkl ME B2

From the above table we can conclude some valid functional dependencies:

• roll_no → { name, dept_name, dept_building },→ Here, roll_no can determine values
of fields name, dept_name and dept_building, hence a valid Functional dependency
• roll_no → dept_name , Since, roll_no can determine whole set of {name, dept_name,
dept_building}, it can determine its subset dept_name also.
• dept_name → dept_building , Dept_name can identify the dept_building accurately,
since departments with different dept_name will also have a different dept_building
• More valid functional dependencies: roll_no → name, {roll_no, name} ⇢ {dept_name,
dept_building}, etc.

Here are some invalid functional dependencies:

• name → dept_name Students with the same name can have different dept_name, hence
this is not a valid functional dependency.
• dept_building → dept_name There can be multiple departments in the same building.
Example, in the above table departments ME and EC are in the same building B2, hence
dept_building → dept_name is an invalid functional dependency.
• More invalid functional dependencies: name → roll_no, {name, dept_name} →
roll_no, dept_building → roll_no, etc.

Armstrong’s axioms/properties of functional dependencies:

1. Reflexivity: If Y is a subset of X, then X→Y holds by reflexivity rule

Example, {roll_no, name} → name is valid.
2. Augmentation: If X → Y is a valid dependency, then XZ → YZ is also valid by the
augmentation rule.
Example, {roll_no, name} → dept_building is valid, hence {roll_no, name,
dept_name} → {dept_building, dept_name} is also valid.
3. Transitivity: If X → Y and Y → Z are both valid dependencies, then X→Z is also
valid by the Transitivity rule.
Example, roll_no → dept_name & dept_name → dept_building, then roll_no →
dept_building is also valid.

Types of Functional Dependencies in DBMS

1. Trivial functional dependency

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia
 2. Non-Trivial functional dependency
3. Multivalued functional dependency
4. Transitive functional dependency

1. Trivial Functional Dependency

In Trivial Functional Dependency, a dependent is always a subset of the determinant. i.e. If X

→ Y and Y is the subset of X, then it is called trivial functional dependency

Example:

roll_no name age

42 abc 17

43 pqr 18

44 xyz 18

Here, {roll_no, name} → name is a trivial functional dependency, since the

dependent name is a subset of determinant set {roll_no, name}. Similarly, roll_no →
roll_no is also an example of trivial functional dependency.

2. Non-trivial Functional Dependency

In Non-trivial functional dependency, the dependent is strictly not a subset of the

determinant. i.e. If X → Y and Y is not a subset of X, then it is called Non-trivial functional
dependency.

Example:

roll_no name age

42 abc 17

43 pqr 18

44 xyz 18

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

Here, roll_no → name is a non-trivial functional dependency, since the
dependent name is not a subset of determinant roll_no. Similarly, {roll_no, name} → age is
also a non-trivial functional dependency, since age is not a subset of {roll_no, name}

3. Multivalued Functional Dependency : In Multivalued functional dependency, entities

of the dependent set are not dependent on each other. i.e. If a → {b, c} and there exists no
functional dependency between b and c, then it is called a multivalued functional
dependency. For example,

roll_no name age

42 abc 17

43 pqr 18

44 xyz 18

45 abc 19

Here, roll_no → {name, age} is a multivalued functional dependency, since the

dependents name & age are not dependent on each other(i.e. name → age or age → name
doesn’t exist !)

4. Transitive Functional Dependency: in transitive functional dependency, dependent is

indirectly dependent on determinant. i.e. If a → b & b → c, then according to axiom of
transitivity, a → c. This is a transitive functional dependency. For example,

enrol_no name dept building_no

42 abc CO 4

43 pqr EC 2

44 xyz IT 1

45 abc EC 2

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

Here, enrol_no → dept and dept → building_no. Hence, according to the axiom of
transitivity, enrol_no → building_no is a valid functional dependency. This is an indirect
functional dependency, hence called Transitive functional dependency.

5. Fully Functional Dependency

In full functional dependency an attribute or a set of attributes uniquely determines another

attribute or set of attributes. If a relation R has attributes X, Y, Z with the dependencies X->Y
and X->Z which states that those dependencies are fully functional.

6. Partial Functional Dependency

In partial functional dependency a non key attribute depends on a part of the composite key,
rather than the whole key. If a relation R has attributes X, Y, Z where X and Y are the composite
key and Z is non key attribute. Then X->Z is a partial functional dependency in RBDMS.

TOPIC: Normalization

A large database defined as a single relation may result in data duplication. This repetition of
data may result in:

o Making relations very large.

o It isn't easy to maintain and update data as it would involve searching many records in
relation.
o Wastage and poor utilization of disk space and resources.
o The likelihood of errors and inconsistencies increases.

So to handle these problems, we should analyze and decompose the relations with redundant
data into smaller, simpler, and well-structured relations that are satisfy desirable properties.
Normalization is a process of decomposing the relations into relation s with fewer attributes.

What is Normalization?

o Normalization is the process of organizing the data in the database.

o Normalization is used to minimize the redundancy from a relation or set of relations. It
is also used to eliminate undesirable characteristics like Insertion, Update, and Deletion
Anomalies.
o Normalization divides the larger table into smaller and links them using relationships.
o The normal form is used to reduce redundancy from the database table.

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

Why do we need Normalization?

The main reason for normalizing the relations is removing these anomalies. Failure to eliminate
anomalies leads to data redundancy and can cause data integrity and other problems as the
database grows. Normalization consists of a series of guidelines that helps to guide you in
creating a good database structure.

Data modification anomalies can be categorized into three types:

o Insertion Anomaly: Insertion Anomaly refers to when one cannot insert a new tuple
into a relationship due to lack of data.
o Deletion Anomaly: The delete anomaly refers to the situation where the deletion of
data results in the unintended loss of some other important data.
o Updatation Anomaly: The update anomaly is when an update of a single data value
requires multiple rows of data to be updated.

Types of Normal Forms:

Normalization works through a series of stages called Normal forms. The normal forms apply
to individual relations. The relation is said to be in particular normal form if it satisfies
constraints.

Following are the various types of Normal forms:

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 Normal Description
Form

1NF A relation is in 1NF if it contains an atomic value.

2NF A relation will be in 2NF if it is in 1NF and all non-key attributes are fully functional
dependent on the primary key.

3NF A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and no transition dependency exists.

BCNF A stronger definition of 3NF is known as Boyce Codd's normal form.

4NF A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd's normal form and has no multi-
valued dependency.

5NF A relation is in 5NF. If it is in 4NF and does not contain any join dependency,
joining should be lossless.

Advantages of Normalization

o Normalization helps to minimize data redundancy.

o Greater overall database organization.
o Data consistency within the database.
o Much more flexible database design.
o Enforces the concept of relational integrity.

Disadvantages of Normalization

o You cannot start building the database before knowing what the user needs.
o The performance degrades when normalizing the relations to higher normal forms, i.e.,
4NF, 5NF.
o It is very time-consuming and difficult to normalize relations of a higher degree.
o Careless decomposition may lead to a bad database design, leading to serious problems.

First Normal Form (1NF)

o A relation will be 1NF if it contains an atomic value.
o It states that an attribute of a table cannot hold multiple values. It must hold only
single-valued attribute.
o First normal form disallows the multi-valued attribute, composite attribute, and their
combinations.
DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia
Example: Relation EMPLOYEE is not in 1NF because of multi-valued attribute
EMP_PHONE.
EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE

14 John 7272826385, UP
9064738238

20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar

12 Sam 7390372389, Punjab

8589830302

The decomposition of the EMPLOYEE table into 1NF has been shown below:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE

14 John 7272826385 UP

14 John 9064738238 UP

20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar

12 Sam 7390372389 Punjab

12 Sam 8589830302 Punjab

Second Normal Form (2NF)

o In the 2NF, relational must be in 1NF.
o In the second normal form, all non-key attributes are fully functional dependent on the
primary key
Example: Let's assume, a school can store the data of teachers and the subjects they teach. In
a school, a teacher can teach more than one subject.
TEACHER table

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 TEACHER_ID SUBJECT TEACHER_AGE

25 Chemistry 30

25 Biology 30

47 English 35

83 Math 38

83 Computer 38

In the given table, non-prime attribute TEACHER_AGE is dependent on TEACHER_ID

which is a proper subset of a candidate key. That's why it violates the rule for 2NF.
To convert the given table into 2NF, we decompose it into two tables:
TEACHER_DETAIL table:

TEACHER_ID TEACHER_AGE

25 30

47 35

83 38

TEACHER_SUBJECT table:

TEACHER_ID SUBJECT

25 Chemistry

25 Biology

47 English

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 83 Math

83 Computer

Third Normal Form (3NF)

o A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and not contain any transitive partial
dependency.
o 3NF is used to reduce the data duplication. It is also used to achieve the data integrity.
o If there is no transitive dependency for non-prime attributes, then the relation must be
in third normal form.
A relation is in third normal form if it holds atleast one of the following conditions for every
non-trivial function dependency X → Y.
1. X is a super key.
2. Y is a prime attribute, i.e., each element of Y is part of some candidate key.
Example:
EMPLOYEE_DETAIL table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY

222 Harry 201010 UP Noida

333 Stephan 02228 US Boston

444 Lan 60007 US Chicago

555 Katharine 06389 UK Norwich

666 John 462007 MP Bhopal

Super key in the table above:

1. {EMP_ID}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME, EMP_ZIP}.
...so on
Candidate key: {EMP_ID}
Non-prime attributes: In the given table, all attributes except EMP_ID are non-prime.

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

Here, EMP_STATE & EMP_CITY dependent on EMP_ZIP and EMP_ZIP dependent on
EMP_ID. The non-prime attributes (EMP_STATE, EMP_CITY) transitively dependent on
super key(EMP_ID). It violates the rule of third normal form.
That's why we need to move the EMP_CITY and EMP_STATE to the new
<EMPLOYEE_ZIP> table, with EMP_ZIP as a Primary key.
EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP

222 Harry 201010

333 Stephan 02228

444 Lan 60007

555 Katharine 06389

666 John 462007

EMPLOYEE_ZIP table:

EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY

201010 UP Noida

02228 US Boston

60007 US Chicago

06389 UK Norwich

462007 MP Bhopal

Boyce Codd normal form (BCNF)

o BCNF is the advance version of 3NF. It is stricter than 3NF.

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 o A table is in BCNF if every functional dependency X → Y, X is the super key of the
table.
o For BCNF, the table should be in 3NF, and for every FD, LHS is super key.
Example: Let's assume there is a company where employees work in more than one
department.
EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO

264 India Designing D394 283

264 India Testing D394 300

364 UK Stores D283 232

364 UK Developing D283 549

In the above table Functional dependencies are as follows:

1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}
Candidate key: {EMP-ID, EMP-DEPT}
The table is not in BCNF because neither EMP_DEPT nor EMP_ID alone are keys.
To convert the given table into BCNF, we decompose it into three tables:
EMP_COUNTRY table:

EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY

264 India

264 India

EMP_DEPT table:

EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 Designing D394 283

Testing D394 300

Stores D283 232

Developing D283 549

EMP_DEPT_MAPPING table:

EMP_ID EMP_DEPT

D394 283

D394 300

D283 232

D283 549

Functional dependencies:
1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}
Candidate keys:
For the first table: EMP_ID
For the second table: EMP_DEPT
For the third table: {EMP_ID, EMP_DEPT}
Now, this is in BCNF because left side part of both the functional dependencies is a key.

Fourth normal form (4NF)

o A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd normal form and has no multi-valued
dependency.
o For a dependency A → B, if for a single value of A, multiple values of B exists, then
the relation will be a multi-valued dependency.
Example
STUDENT
DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia
 STU_ID COURSE HOBBY

21 Computer Dancing

21 Math Singing

34 Chemistry Dancing

74 Biology Cricket

59 Physics Hockey

The given STUDENT table is in 3NF, but the COURSE and HOBBY are two independent
entity. Hence, there is no relationship between COURSE and HOBBY.
In the STUDENT relation, a student with STU_ID, 21 contains two
courses, Computer and Math and two hobbies, Dancing and Singing. So there is a Multi-
valued dependency on STU_ID, which leads to unnecessary repetition of data.
So to make the above table into 4NF, we can decompose it into two tables:
STUDENT_COURSE

STU_ID COURSE

21 Computer

21 Math

34 Chemistry

74 Biology

59 Physics

STUDENT_HOBBY

STU_ID HOBBY

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 21 Dancing

21 Singing

34 Dancing

74 Cricket

59 Hockey

Fifth normal form (5NF)

o A relation is in 5NF if it is in 4NF and not contains any join dependency and joining
should be lossless.
o 5NF is satisfied when all the tables are broken into as many tables as possible in order
to avoid redundancy.
o 5NF is also known as Project-join normal form (PJ/NF).
Example

SUBJECT LECTURER SEMESTER

Computer Anshika Semester 1

Computer John Semester 1

Math John Semester 1

Math Akash Semester 2

Chemistry Praveen Semester 1

In the above table, John takes both Computer and Math class for Semester 1 but he doesn't take
Math class for Semester 2. In this case, combination of all these fields required to identify a
valid data.
Suppose we add a new Semester as Semester 3 but do not know about the subject and who will
be taking that subject so we leave Lecturer and Subject as NULL. But all three columns
together acts as a primary key, so we can't leave other two columns blank.

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

So to make the above table into 5NF, we can decompose it into three relations P1, P2 & P3:
P1

SEMESTER SUBJECT

Semester 1 Computer

Semester 1 Math

Semester 1 Chemistry

Semester 2 Math

P2

SUBJECT LECTURER

Computer Anshika

Computer John

Math John

Math Akash

Chemistry Praveen

P3

SEMSTER LECTURER

Semester 1 Anshika

Semester 1 John

Semester 1 John

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 Semester 2 Akash

Semester 1 Praveen

Relational Decomposition
o When a relation in the relational model is not in appropriate normal form then the
decomposition of a relation is required.
o In a database, it breaks the table into multiple tables.
o If the relation has no proper decomposition, then it may lead to problems like loss of
information.
o Decomposition is used to eliminate some of the problems of bad design like
anomalies, inconsistencies, and redundancy.
Types of Decomposition

Lossless Decomposition
o If the information is not lost from the relation that is decomposed, then the
decomposition will be lossless.
o The lossless decomposition guarantees that the join of relations will result in the same
relation as it was decomposed.
o The relation is said to be lossless decomposition if natural joins of all the
decomposition give the original relation.
Example:
EMPLOYEE_DEPARTMENT table:

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_AGE EMP_CITY DEPT_ID DEPT_NAME

22 Denim 28 Mumbai 827 Sales

33 Alina 25 Delhi 438 Marketing

46 Stephan 30 Bangalore 869 Finance

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai 575 Production

60 Jack 40 Noida 678 Testing

The above relation is decomposed into two relations EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT
EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_AGE EMP_CITY

22 Denim 28 Mumbai

33 Alina 25 Delhi

46 Stephan 30 Bangalore

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai

60 Jack 40 Noida

DEPARTMENT table

DEPT_ID EMP_ID DEPT_NAME

827 22 Sales

438 33 Marketing

869 46 Finance

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia

 575 52 Production

678 60 Testing

Now, when these two relations are joined on the common column "EMP_ID", then the
resultant relation will look like:
Employee ⋈ Department

EMP_I EMP_NAM EMP_AG EMP_CIT DEPT_I DEPT_NAM

D E E Y D E

22 Denim 28 Mumbai 827 Sales

33 Alina 25 Delhi 438 Marketing

46 Stephan 30 Bangalore 869 Finance

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai 575 Production

60 Jack 40 Noida 678 Testing

Hence, the decomposition is Lossless join decomposition.

Dependency Preserving
o It is an important constraint of the database.
o In the dependency preservation, at least one decomposed table must satisfy every
dependency.
o If a relation R is decomposed into relation R1 and R2, then the dependencies of R
either must be a part of R1 or R2 or must be derivable from the combination of
functional dependencies of R1 and R2.
o For example, suppose there is a relation R (A, B, C, D) with functional dependency
set (A->BC). The relational R is decomposed into R1(ABC) and R2(AD) which is
dependency preserving because FD A->BC is a part of relation R1(ABC).
Multivalued Dependency
o Multivalued dependency occurs when two attributes in a table are independent of each
other but, both depend on a third attribute.
o A multivalued dependency consists of at least two attributes that are dependent on a
third attribute that's why it always requires at least three attributes.
DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia
Example: Suppose there is a bike manufacturer company which produces two colors(white
and black) of each model every year.

BIKE_MODEL MANUF_YEAR COLOR

M2011 2008 White

M2001 2008 Black

M3001 2013 White

M3001 2013 Black

M4006 2017 White

M4006 2017 Black

Here columns COLOR and MANUF_YEAR are dependent on BIKE_MODEL and

independent of each other.
In this case, these two columns can be called as multivalued dependent on BIKE_MODEL.
The representation of these dependencies is shown below:
1. BIKE_MODEL → → MANUF_YEAR
2. BIKE_MODEL → → COLOR
This can be read as "BIKE_MODEL multidetermined MANUF_YEAR" and
"BIKE_MODEL multidetermined COLOR".

DBMS Unit 3 by Dr. Deepika Bhatia