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Management Training

The document discusses the concept of relationships in data modeling, emphasizing their definition as associations between entities. It outlines three key properties of relationship statements: the relationship link phrase, cardinality, and participation. Additionally, it provides guidance on identifying relationship types through specific questions and highlights the importance of clarity in data model diagrams.

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9 views6 pages

Management Training

The document discusses the concept of relationships in data modeling, emphasizing their definition as associations between entities. It outlines three key properties of relationship statements: the relationship link phrase, cardinality, and participation. Additionally, it provides guidance on identifying relationship types through specific questions and highlights the importance of clarity in data model diagrams.

Uploaded by

YASSER
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Management Training.

Management Training Tips - Relationships

The relationship is the association between two entities


to which all of the occurrences of those entities must
conform. The diagram shown represents the beginnings
of a data model where the relationship between a
manager and a department needs to be defined.

The entities on data models are linked by relationship


lines and together these are the only two components
that make up a data model diagram. A relationship is an
association between two entities to which all of the
occurrences of those entities must conform.

Every relationship line shows two reciprocal


relationships:
That of the first entity with respect to the second and
that of the second entity with respect to the first. In this
example a manager is responsible for a department and
a department is the responsibility of a manager.

Each relationship line has three distinct properties:


Firstly the relationship link phrase, secondly the degree
or cardinality of the relationship and thirdly the
participation or optionality of the relationship. These
three properties combine to form the relationship
statement.

Business Management Skills - Business Analysis – Link


Phrase

The first property of the relationship statement is the


relationship link phrase. This should be a short
description of the nature of the relationship, typically
between three and five words long. It is always read
clockwise with respect to the entities that it links, so in
this example:

'Manager is responsible for department', and


'Department is responsibility of manager'

If the same relationship were to be drawn with


department on the left hand side then the positions of
the link phrases would have to be reversed.

Business Management Skills - Business Analysis –


Cardinality
The second property of the relationship statement is the
degree, or maximum cardinality, of the relationship. If an
entity has a crows foot symbol drawn against it, then
many occurrences of that entity may relate to the other
entity. Conversely if no crows foot is drawn against it, at
most one occurrence of that entity may relate to the
other entity.

In this example: Each company employs one or more


employees, but Each employee is employed by only one
company. This is called a one-to-many relationship.

Maximum cardinalities may be combined to give another


two relationship types, In this example:

Each manager is responsible for only one department


and each department is the responsibility of only one
manager. This is called a one-to-one relationship.

And in this example:


Each lecturer teaches one or more courses and each
course is taught by one or more lecturers. This is called
a many-to-many relationship.

To recap, three different relationship types have been


illustrated, one-to-many, one-to-one and many-to-many.

Business Management Skills - Business Analysis –


Participation
The third and final property of the relationship statement
is the participation or optionality. A solid line shows that
an entity occurrence must be associated with each
occurrence of the other entity. In this example:

Each passenger must possess a ticket, and Each ticket


must belong to a passenger. A dotted line shows that an
entity occurrence may be associated with each
occurrence of the other entity, In this example:

Each book may be borrowed by a borrower, and Each


borrower may borrow one or more books. Furthermore,
these symbols can be combined. In this example:

Each book may be recalled by a reservation, but Each


reservation must be recalling a book.

Remember, there are only two components to a data


model diagram, entities and relationships. A relationship
is an association between two entities to which all of the
occurrences of those two entities must conform.

There are three distinct properties of the relationship;


firstly the relationship link phrase, secondly the degree
or cardinality of the relationship and thirdly the
participation or optionality of the relationship. These
three properties are collectively termed the relationship
statement.

Business Management Skills - Business Analysis –


Identifying Relationships
There are just two questions that need to be asked, in
order to establish the degree of the relationship that
exists between any two entities.

In order to identify the degree of the relationship


between the entities X and Y the following two questions
need to be asked.

Question 1
Can an occurrence of X to be associated with more than
one occurrence of Y?

Question 2
Can an occurrence of Y to be associated with more than
one occurrence of X?

Each of these questions can be answered 'Yes' or 'No'


and both questions must be answered. This means that
there are four possible outcomes as shown in the table.

The nature of the relationship associated with each


outcome is as follows:

Option 1, Question1 equals Yes, Question2 equals No.


In this case a one-to-many relationship has been
identified, represented by the relationship line shown.
Option 2, Question1 equals No, Question2 equals Yes
As in the first case a one-to-many relationship has been
identified, represented by the relationship line shown.

Option 3, Question1 equals Yes, Question2 equals Yes


In this case a many-to-many relationship has been
identified.

Many-to-many relationships may be shown in the early


'preliminary' data model in order to aid the clarity of
these early diagrams. However, such relationships are
invalid and are therefore always re-modelled using 'link
entities' in later diagrams. This process is explained later
in the course.

Option 4, Question1 equals No, Question2 equals No


In this case a one-to-one link has been identified.

Legitimate one-to-one relationships are rare and it is


likely that this relationship is one that needs to be
rationalized. The methods used to investigate one-to-one
relationships and to re-model them where necessary are
explained later in the course.

In a one-to-many relationship the entity at the 'one' end


is normally referred to as the master, and the entity at
the 'many' end referred to as the detail entity. Some
analysts adopt the 'no dead crows' rule and avoid
drawing crowsfeet pointing upwards. This ensures that
detail entities are shown below the master entities to
which they belong.

This makes the diagram clearer, although congestion


may make this rule difficult to enforce throughout the
data model.

Business Management Skills - Business Analysis –


Relationship Statements
The relationship statement is a formal description that
encompasses the three properties of the relationship.
The relationship statement encompasses the three
properties of the relationship. The first property is the
relationship link phrase, the second the degree or
cardinality of the relationship and the third the
participation or optionality of the relationship.

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