Enhanced ER-Model

Chittaranjan Pradhan

Database Management Specialization

Generalization

System 8 Constraints on
Generalization/Specia-
lization

Enhanced ER-Model Aggregation

Chittaranjan Pradhan
School of Computer Engineering,
KIIT University
8.1
 Enhanced ER-Model
Specialization
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Specialization

Generalization
Specialization
Constraints on
Generalization/Specia-
The process of designating sub groupings within an entity set is lization

called Specialization. An entity set may be specialized by more Aggregation

than one distinguishing features. In ER-design, specialization

is depicted by a Triangle component labeled ISA (is a)

8.2
 Enhanced ER-Model
Specialization...
Chittaranjan Pradhan

We can apply specialization repeatedly to refine a design

Specialization
scheme
Generalization

Constraints on
Generalization/Specia-
lization

Aggregation

8.3
 Enhanced ER-Model
Generalization
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Generalization Specialization

Generalization
The commonality can be expressed by Generalization, which is
Constraints on
a containment relationship that exists between a higher-level Generalization/Specia-
lization
entity set and one or more low-level entity sets Aggregation
• To create a generalization, the attributes must given a
common name and represented with the higher-level entity
• Generalization is a simple inversion of specialization
• Specialization adopts top-down approach, while
Generalization adopts bottom-up approach
• A crucial property of the higher-level and lower-level
entities created by specialization and generalization is
attribute inheritance
• A lower-level entity set (or subclass) also inherits
participation in the relationship sets in which its
higher-level entity (or superclass) participates

8.4
 Enhanced ER-Model
Generalization...
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Specialization

Generalization

Constraints on
Generalization/Specia-
lization

Aggregation

8.5
 Enhanced ER-Model
Constraints on Generalization/Specialization
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Specialization

Generalization

a. Condition defined or not Constraints on

Generalization/Specia-
lization
• Condition-defined: In condition defined lower-level entity Aggregation

sets, membership is evaluated on the basis of whether or

not an entity satisfies an explicit condition or predicate.
Since all the lower-level entities are evaluated on the basis
of the same attribute, this type of generalization is also
said to be attribute-defined

• User-defined: User-defined lower-level entity sets are not

constrained by a membership condition; rather, the
database user assigns entities to a given entity set

8.6
 Enhanced ER-Model
Constraints on Generalization/Specialization...
Chittaranjan Pradhan

b. Disjoint or Overlapping
Specialization

• Disjoint: A Disjointness constraint requires that an entity Generalization

Constraints on
belong to only one lower-level entity set Generalization/Specia-
lization
• Overlapping: In overlapping generalizations, the same Aggregation
entity may belong to more than one lower-level entity set
within a single generalization
• Lower-level entity overlap is the default case. A
disjointness constraint must be placed explicitly on a
generalization. This is done by adding the word disjoint
next to the ISA symbol

8.7
 Enhanced ER-Model
Constraints on Generalization/Specialization...
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Specialization

c. Completeness Constraint Generalization

Constraints on
Completeness constraint on a generalization/specialization Generalization/Specia-
lization
specifies whether or not an entity in the higher-level entity set Aggregation
must belong to at least one of the lower-level entity sets within
the generalization/specialization
• Total generalization/specialization: Each higher-level
entity must belong to a lower-level entity set
• Partial generalization/specialization: Some higher-level
entities may not belong to any lower-level entity set
• Partial generalization is the default. Total generalization in
an ER diagram can be specified by using a double line to
connect the box representing the higher-level entity set to
the triangle symbols

8.8
 Enhanced ER-Model
Aggregation
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Specialization
Aggregation
Generalization

One limitation of the ER model is that it can not express Constraints on

Generalization/Specia-
relationship among relationships lization

Aggregation

8.9
 Enhanced ER-Model
Aggregation...
Chittaranjan Pradhan

Aggregation
Specialization

Aggregation is an abstraction through which relationships are Generalization

treated as higher-level entities. Thus, aggregation allows us to Constraints on

Generalization/Specia-
treat a relationship set as an entity set for the purposes of lization

participation in (other) relationships Aggregation

8.10