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Introduction To ER Diagrams: Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Tutorial

An Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) visually represents a database structure, showcasing entities, attributes, and relationships essential for designing relational databases. Key components include strong and weak entities, various types of attributes, and relationships categorized as one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. The document also provides an example of a library system ERD and concludes by emphasizing the importance of ERDs in ensuring database integrity and efficiency.

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Romeo Balcita
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16 views4 pages

Introduction To ER Diagrams: Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Tutorial

An Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) visually represents a database structure, showcasing entities, attributes, and relationships essential for designing relational databases. Key components include strong and weak entities, various types of attributes, and relationships categorized as one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. The document also provides an example of a library system ERD and concludes by emphasizing the importance of ERDs in ensuring database integrity and efficiency.

Uploaded by

Romeo Balcita
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Tutorial

R. Balcita

Introduction to ER Diagrams
An Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a visual representation of a database structure that
depicts entities, attributes, and relationships among data. ERDs are essential in designing
relational databases before implementation.

Key Components of an ER Diagram


1. Entities

An entity is a real-world object or concept that stores data. Entities can be:

 Strong Entity: Has a primary key (e.g., Student, Course, Employee).


 Weak Entity: Depends on another entity and lacks a primary key (e.g., Order Items in an
Invoice).

� Notation: Represented as rectangles in ERDs.

Example:
� Student
� Course

2. Attributes

Attributes describe the properties of an entity. They can be:

 Simple Attribute: Cannot be divided further (e.g., Name, Age).


 Composite Attribute: Can be broken down (e.g., Full Name → First Name, Last Name).
 Derived Attribute: Computed from other attributes (e.g., Age from Date of Birth).
 Multivalued Attribute: Can have multiple values (e.g., Phone Numbers).

� Notation: Represented as ovals connected to an entity.

Example:
� Student → (Student_ID, Name, DOB, Phone)
3. Relationships

Relationships define the association between entities. They are categorized into:

 One-to-One (1:1): Each entity instance is related to at most one instance of another entity.
 One-to-Many (1:M): One entity is related to multiple instances of another entity.
 Many-to-Many (M:N): Multiple instances of one entity relate to multiple instances of another.

� Notation: Represented as diamonds between entities.

Example:
� Student (1:M) � Enrolled In � Course

4. Keys in ERD

 Primary Key (PK): A unique identifier for an entity.


 Foreign Key (FK): Links one entity to another.
 Candidate Key: A possible PK, but only one is chosen.

� Notation: PK is underlined in entity tables.

Example:
� Student (Student_ID [PK], Name, DOB)
� Course (Course_ID [PK], Course_Name)

Example of an ERD
Scenario: A Library System

A library has Students who borrow Books. Books belong to different Categories.

ERD Representation

1. Entities:
o � Student (Student_ID, Name, Email)
o � Book (Book_ID, Title, Author, ISBN)
o � Category (Category_ID, Category_Name)
o � Borrow (Transaction_ID, Borrow_Date, Return_Date)
2. Relationships:
o Student (1:M) Borrow (M:1) Book
o Book (M:1) Category

� ER Diagram Sketch (Text-based Representation)

pgsql
CopyEdit
[STUDENT] -----< (BORROW) >----- [BOOK] -----< (CATEGORY)
|PK Student_ID |PK Transaction_ID |PK Book_ID
| Name | Borrow_Date | Title
| Email | Return_Date | Author

Quiz: Test Your ERD Knowledge!


1. Which of the following is NOT a type of attribute in an ERD?
a) Composite Attribute
b) Derived Attribute
c) Logical Attribute
d) Multivalued Attribute
2. In an ER Diagram, what shape represents a relationship?
a) Rectangle
b) Oval
c) Diamond
d) Triangle
3. Which relationship type means that a single entity instance is associated with
multiple instances of another entity?
a) One-to-One (1:1)
b) One-to-Many (1:M)
c) Many-to-Many (M:N)
d) None of the above
4. What does a Foreign Key (FK) do in an ERD?
a) Ensures data redundancy
b) Links one entity to another
c) Acts as a unique identifier for a table
d) Represents a weak entity
5. In a Library ERD, if a Book can belong to multiple Categories and each Category
can contain multiple Books, what type of relationship is this?
a) One-to-One
b) One-to-Many
c) Many-to-Many
d) None of the above

Conclusion
An ER Diagram is crucial in designing a structured and efficient database. It helps in identifying
entities, attributes, relationships, and keys to avoid redundancy and improve database
integrity.

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