Chapter 7: Normalization

Database System Concepts, 7th Ed.

©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
See www.db-book.com for conditions on re-use
 Outline

▪ Features of Good Relational Design

▪ Functional Dependencies
▪ Decomposition Using Functional Dependencies
▪ Normal Forms
▪ Functional Dependency Theory
▪ Algorithms for Decomposition using Functional Dependencies
▪ Decomposition Using Multivalued Dependencies
▪ More Normal Form
▪ Atomic Domains and First Normal Form
▪ Database-Design Process
▪ Modeling Temporal Data

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.2 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Overview of Normalization

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.3 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Features of Good Relational Designs

▪ Suppose we combine instructor and department into in_dep, which represents the
natural join on the relations instructor and department

▪ There is repetition of information

▪ Need to use null values (if we add a new department with no instructors)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.4 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 A Combined Schema Without Repetition

Not all combined schemas result in repetition of information

▪ Consider combining relations

• sec_class(sec_id, building, room_number) and
• section(course_id, sec_id, semester, year)
into one relation
• section(course_id, sec_id, semester, year,
building, room_number)
▪ No repetition in this case

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.5 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Decomposition

▪ The only way to avoid the repetition-of-information problem in the in_dep

schema is to decompose it into two schemas – instructor and department
schemas.
▪ Not all decompositions are good. Suppose we decompose

employee(ID, name, street, city, salary)

into
employee1 (ID, name)
employee2 (name, street, city, salary)

The problem arises when we have two employees with the same name
▪ The next slide shows how we lose information -- we cannot reconstruct the
original employee relation -- and so, this is a lossy decomposition.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.6 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 A Lossy Decomposition

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.7 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Lossless Decomposition

▪ Let R be a relation schema and let R1 and R2 form a decomposition of R . That is

R = R1 U R2
▪ We say that the decomposition is a lossless decomposition if there is no loss of
information by replacing R with the two relation schemas R1 U R2
▪ Formally,
∏ R1 (r) ∏ R2 (r) = r
▪ And, conversely a decomposition is lossy if
r ⊂ ∏ R1 (r) ∏ R2 (r) = r

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.8 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example of Lossless Decomposition

▪ Decomposition of R = (A, B, C)
R1 = (A, B) R2 = (B, C)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.9 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Normalization Theory

▪ Decide whether a particular relation R is in “good” form.

▪ In the case that a relation R is not in “good” form, decompose it into set of
relations {R1, R2, ..., Rn} such that
• Each relation is in good form
• The decomposition is a lossless decomposition
▪ Our theory is based on:
• Functional dependencies
• Multivalued dependencies

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.10 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Functional Dependencies

▪ There are usually a variety of constraints (rules) on the data in the real world.
▪ For example, some of the constraints that are expected to hold in a university
database are:
• Students and instructors are uniquely identified by their ID.
• Each student and instructor has only one name.
• Each instructor and student is (primarily) associated with only one
department.
• Each department has only one value for its budget, and only one associated
building.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.11 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Functional Dependencies (Cont.)

▪ An instance of a relation that satisfies all such real-world constraints is called a

legal instance of the relation;
▪ A legal instance of a database is one where all the relation instances are legal
instances
▪ Constraints on the set of legal relations.
▪ Require that the value for a certain set of attributes determines uniquely the value
for another set of attributes.
▪ A functional dependency is a generalization of the notion of a key.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.12 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Functional Dependencies Definition
▪ Let R be a relation schema
α ⊆ R and β ⊆ R
▪ The functional dependency
α→β

holds on R if and only if for any legal relations r(R), whenever any two tuples t1 and
t2 of r agree on the attributes α, they also agree on the attributes β. That is,

t1[α] = t2 [α] ⇒ t1[β ] = t2 [β ]

▪ Example: Consider r(A,B ) with the following instance of r.

1 4
1 5
3 7
▪ On this instance, B → A hold; A → B does NOT hold,

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.13 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Closure of a Set of Functional Dependencies

▪ Given a set F set of functional dependencies, there are certain other functional
dependencies that are logically implied by F.
• If A → B and B → C, then we can infer that A → C
• etc.
▪ The set of all functional dependencies logically implied by F is the closure of F.
▪ We denote the closure of F by F+.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.14 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Keys and Functional Dependencies

▪ K is a superkey for relation schema R if and only if K → R

▪ K is a candidate key for R if and only if
• K → R, and
• for no α ⊂ K, α → R
▪ Functional dependencies allow us to express constraints that cannot be expressed
using superkeys. Consider the schema:
in_dep (ID, name, salary, dept_name, building, budget ).
We expect these functional dependencies to hold:
dept_name→ building
ID building
but would not expect the following to hold:
dept_name → salary

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.15 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Use of Functional Dependencies

▪ We use functional dependencies to:

• To test relations to see if they are legal under a given set of functional
dependencies.
▪ If a relation r is legal under a set F of functional dependencies, we say
that r satisfies F.
• To specify constraints on the set of legal relations
▪ We say that F holds on R if all legal relations on R satisfy the set of
functional dependencies F.
▪ Note: A specific instance of a relation schema may satisfy a functional
dependency even if the functional dependency does not hold on all legal
instances.
• For example, a specific instance of instructor may, by chance, satisfy
name → ID.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.16 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Trivial Functional Dependencies

▪ A functional dependency is trivial if it is satisfied by all instances of a relation

▪ Example:
• ID, name → ID
• name → name
▪ In general, α → β is trivial if β ⊆ α

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.17 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Lossless Decomposition

▪ We can use functional dependencies to show when certain decomposition are

lossless.
▪ For the case of R = (R1, R2), we require that for all possible relations r on schema
R
r = ∏R1 (r ) ∏R2 (r )
▪ A decomposition of R into R1 and R2 is lossless decomposition if at least one of
the following dependencies is in F+:
• R1 ∩ R2 → R1
• R1 ∩ R2 → R2
▪ The above functional dependencies are a sufficient condition for lossless join
decomposition; the dependencies are a necessary condition only if all constraints
are functional dependencies

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.18 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example

▪ R = (A, B, C)
F = {A → B, B → C)
▪ R1 = (A, B), R2 = (B, C)
• Lossless decomposition:
R1 ∩ R2 = {B} and B → BC
▪ R1 = (A, B), R2 = (A, C)
• Lossless decomposition:
R1 ∩ R2 = {A} and A → AB
▪ Note:
• B → BC
is a shorthand notation for
• B → {B, C}

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.19 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Dependency Preservation

▪ Testing functional dependency constraints each time the database is updated

can be costly
▪ It is useful to design the database in a way that constraints can be tested
efficiently.
▪ If testing a functional dependency can be done by considering just one relation,
then the cost of testing this constraint is low
▪ When decomposing a relation it is possible that it is no longer possible to do
the testing without having to perform a Cartesian Produced.
▪ A decomposition that makes it computationally hard to enforce functional
dependency is said to be NOT dependency preserving.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.20 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Dependency Preservation Example

▪ Consider a schema:
dept_advisor(s_ID, i_ID, department_name)
▪ With function dependencies:
i_ID → dept_name
s_ID, dept_name → i_ID
▪ In the above design we are forced to repeat the department name once for each
time an instructor participates in a dept_advisor relationship.
▪ To fix this, we need to decompose dept_advisor
▪ Any decomposition will not include all the attributes in
s_ID, dept_name → i_ID
▪ Thus, the composition NOT be dependency preserving

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.21 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Normal Forms

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.22 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Boyce-Codd Normal Form

▪ A relation schema R is in BCNF with respect to a set F of functional

dependencies if for all functional dependencies in F+ of the form
α→β
where α ⊆ R and β ⊆ R, at least one of the following holds:
• α → β is trivial (i.e., β ⊆ α)
• α is a superkey for R

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.23 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Boyce-Codd Normal Form (Cont.)

▪ Example schema that is not in BCNF:

in_dep (ID, name, salary, dept_name, building, budget )
because :
• dept_name→ building, budget
▪ holds on in_dep
▪ but
• dept_name is not a superkey
▪ When decompose in_dept into instructor and department
• instructor is in BCNF
• department is in BCNF

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.24 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Decomposing a Schema into BCNF

▪ Let R be a schema R that is not in BCNF. Let α →β be the FD that causes a

violation of BCNF.
▪ We decompose R into:
• (α U β )
• (R-(β-α))
▪ In our example of in_dep,
• α = dept_name
• β = building, budget
and in_dep is replaced by
• (α U β ) = ( dept_name, building, budget )
• ( R - ( β - α ) ) = ( ID, name, dept_name, salary )

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.25 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example

▪ R = (A, B, C)
F = {A → B, B → C)
▪ R1 = (A, B), R2 = (B, C)
• Lossless-join decomposition:
R1 ∩ R2 = {B} and B → BC
• Dependency preserving
▪ R1 = (A, B), R2 = (A, C)
• Lossless-join decomposition:
R1 ∩ R2 = {A} and A → AB
• Not dependency preserving
(cannot check B → C without computing R1 R2)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.26 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 BCNF and Dependency Preservation

▪ It is not always possible to achieve both BCNF and dependency preservation

▪ Consider a schema:
dept_advisor(s_ID, i_ID, department_name)
▪ With function dependencies:
i_ID → dept_name
s_ID, dept_name → i_ID
▪ dept_advisor is not in BCNF
• i_ID is not a superkey.
▪ Any decomposition of dept_advisor will not include all the attributes in
s_ID, dept_name → i_ID
▪ Thus, the composition is NOT be dependency preserving

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.27 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Third Normal Form

▪ A relation schema R is in third normal form (3NF) if for all:

α → β in F+

at least one of the following holds:

• α → β is trivial (i.e., β ∈ α)
• α is a superkey for R
• Each attribute A in β – α is contained in a candidate key for R.
(NOTE: each attribute may be in a different candidate key)
▪ If a relation is in BCNF it is in 3NF (since in BCNF one of the first two
conditions above must hold).
▪ Third condition is a minimal relaxation of BCNF to ensure dependency
preservation (will see why later).

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.28 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Example

▪ Consider a schema:
dept_advisor(s_ID, i_ID, dept_name)
▪ With function dependencies:
i_ID → dept_name
s_ID, dept_name → i_ID
▪ Two candidate keys = {s_ID, dept_name}, {s_ID, i_ID }
▪ We have seen before that dept_advisor is not in BCNF
▪ R, however, is in 3NF
• s_ID, dept_name is a superkey
• i_ID → dept_name and i_ID is NOT a superkey, but:
▪ { dept_name} – {i_ID } = {dept_name } and
▪ dept_name is contained in a candidate key

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.29 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Redundancy in 3NF

▪ Consider the schema R below, which is in 3NF

• R = (J, K, L )
• F = {JK → L, L → K }
• And an instance table:

▪ What is wrong with the table?

• Repetition of information
• Need to use null values (e.g., to represent the relationship l2, k2
where there is no corresponding value for J)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.30 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Comparison of BCNF and 3NF

▪ Advantages to 3NF over BCNF. It is always possible to obtain a 3NF design

without sacrificing losslessness or dependency preservation.
▪ Disadvantages to 3NF.
• We may have to use null values to represent some of the possible meaningful
relationships among data items.
• There is the problem of repetition of information.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.31 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Goals of Normalization

▪ Let R be a relation scheme with a set F of functional dependencies.

▪ Decide whether a relation scheme R is in “good” form.
▪ In the case that a relation scheme R is not in “good” form, need to decompose it
into a set of relation scheme {R1, R2, ..., Rn} such that:
• Each relation scheme is in good form
• The decomposition is a lossless decomposition
• Preferably, the decomposition should be dependency preserving.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.32 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 How good is BCNF?

▪ There are database schemas in BCNF that do not seem to be sufficiently

normalized
▪ Consider a relation
inst_info (ID, child_name, phone)
• where an instructor may have more than one phone and can have multiple
children
• Instance of inst_info

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.33 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 How good is BCNF? (Cont.)

▪ There are no non-trivial functional dependencies and therefore the relation is in

BCNF
▪ Insertion anomalies – i.e., if we add a phone 981-992-3443 to 99999, we need to
add two tuples
(99999, David, 981-992-3443)
(99999, William, 981-992-3443)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.34 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Higher Normal Forms

▪ It is better to decompose inst_info into:

• inst_child:

• inst_phone:

▪ This suggests the need for higher normal forms, such as Fourth Normal Form
(4NF), which we shall see later

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.35 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Functional-Dependency Theory

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.36 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Functional-Dependency Theory Roadmap

▪ We now consider the formal theory that tells us which functional dependencies
are implied logically by a given set of functional dependencies.
▪ We then develop algorithms to generate lossless decompositions into BCNF and
3NF
▪ We then develop algorithms to test if a decomposition is dependency-preserving

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.37 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Closure of a Set of Functional Dependencies

▪ Given a set F set of functional dependencies, there are certain other functional
dependencies that are logically implied by F.
• If A → B and B → C, then we can infer that A → C
• etc.
▪ The set of all functional dependencies logically implied by F is the closure of F.
▪ We denote the closure of F by F+.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.38 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Closure of a Set of Functional Dependencies

▪ We can compute F+, the closure of F, by repeatedly applying Armstrong’s

Axioms:
• Reflexive rule: if β ⊆ α, then α → β
• Augmentation rule: if α → β, then γ α → γ β
• Transitivity rule: if α → β, and β → γ, then α → γ
▪ These rules are
• Sound -- generate only functional dependencies that actually hold, and
• Complete -- generate all functional dependencies that hold.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.39 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example of F+

▪ R = (A, B, C, G, H, I)
F={A→B
A→C
CG → H
CG → I
B → H}
▪ Some members of F+
• A→H
▪ by transitivity from A → B and B → H
• AG → I
▪ by augmenting A → C with G, to get AG → CG
and then transitivity with CG → I
• CG → HI
▪ by augmenting CG → I to infer CG → CGI,
and augmenting of CG → H to infer CGI → HI,
and then transitivity

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.40 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Closure of Functional Dependencies (Cont.)

▪ Additional rules:
• Union rule: If α → β holds and α → γ holds, then α → β γ holds.
• Decomposition rule: If α → β γ holds, then α → β holds and α → γ
holds.
• Pseudotransitivity rule:If α → β holds and γ β → δ holds, then α γ → δ
holds.
▪ The above rules can be inferred from Armstrong’s axioms.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.41 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Procedure for Computing F+

▪ To compute the closure of a set of functional dependencies F:

F+=F
repeat
for each functional dependency f in F+
apply reflexivity and augmentation rules on f
add the resulting functional dependencies to F +
for each pair of functional dependencies f1and f2 in F +
if f1 and f2 can be combined using transitivity
then add the resulting functional dependency to F +
until F + does not change any further

▪ NOTE: We shall see an alternative procedure for this task later

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.42 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Closure of Attribute Sets

▪ Given a set of attributes α, define the closure of α under F (denoted by α+) as the
set of attributes that are functionally determined by α under F
▪ Algorithm to compute α+, the closure of α under F
result := α;
while (changes to result) do
for each β → γ in F do
begin
if β ⊆ result then result := result ∪ γ
end

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.43 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example of Attribute Set Closure
▪ R = (A, B, C, G, H, I)
▪ F = {A → B
A→C
CG → H
CG → I
B → H}
▪ (AG)+
1. result = AG
2. result = ABCG (A → C and A → B)
3. result = ABCGH (CG → H and CG ⊆ AGBC)
4. result = ABCGHI (CG → I and CG ⊆ AGBCH)
▪ Is AG a candidate key?
1. Is AG a super key?
1. Does AG → R? == Is R ⊇ (AG)+
2. Is any subset of AG a superkey?
1. Does A → R? == Is R ⊇ (A)+
2. Does G → R? == Is R ⊇ (G)+
3. In general: check for each subset of size n-1

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.44 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Uses of Attribute Closure
There are several uses of the attribute closure algorithm:
▪ Testing for superkey:
• To test if α is a superkey, we compute α+, and check if α+ contains all
attributes of R.
▪ Testing functional dependencies
• To check if a functional dependency α → β holds (or, in other words, is in
F+), just check if β ⊆ α+.
• That is, we compute α+ by using attribute closure, and then check if it
contains β.
• Is a simple and cheap test, and very useful
▪ Computing closure of F
• For each γ ⊆ R, we find the closure γ+, and for each S ⊆ γ+, we output a
functional dependency γ → S.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.45 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Canonical Cover

▪ Suppose that we have a set of functional dependencies F on a relation schema.

Whenever a user performs an update on the relation, the database system must
ensure that the update does not violate any functional dependencies; that is, all the
functional dependencies in F are satisfied in the new database state.
▪ If an update violates any functional dependencies in the set F, the system must
roll back the update.
▪ We can reduce the effort spent in checking for violations by testing a simplified
set of functional dependencies that has the same closure as the given set.
▪ This simplified set is termed the canonical cover
▪ To define canonical cover we must first define extraneous attributes.
• An attribute of a functional dependency in F is extraneous if we can remove
it without changing F +

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.46 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Extraneous Attributes

▪ Removing an attribute from the left side of a functional dependency could make
it a stronger constraint.
• For example, if we have AB → C and remove B, we get the possibly
stronger result A → C. It may be stronger because A → C logically
implies AB → C, but AB → C does not, on its own, logically imply A → C
▪ But, depending on what our set F of functional dependencies happens to be, we
may be able to remove B from AB → C safely.
• For example, suppose that
• F = {AB → C, A → D, D → C}
• Then we can show that F logically implies A → C, making extraneous in AB
→ C.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.47 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Extraneous Attributes (Cont.)

▪ Removing an attribute from the right side of a functional dependency could make
it a weaker constraint.
• For example, if we have AB → CD and remove C, we get the possibly
weaker result AB → D. It may be weaker because using just AB → D, we
can no longer infer AB → C.
▪ But, depending on what our set F of functional dependencies happens to be, we
may be able to remove C from AB → CD safely.
• For example, suppose that
F = { AB → CD, A → C.
• Then we can show that even after replacing AB → CD by AB → D, we can
still infer $AB → C and thus AB → CD.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.48 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Extraneous Attributes

▪ An attribute of a functional dependency in F is extraneous if we can remove it

without changing F +
▪ Consider a set F of functional dependencies and the functional dependency α → β
in F.
• Remove from the left side: Attribute A is extraneous in α if
▪ A ∈ α and
▪ F logically implies (F – {α → β}) ∪ {(α – A) → β}.
• Remove from the right side: Attribute A is extraneous in β if
▪ A ∈ β and
▪ The set of functional dependencies
(F – {α → β}) ∪ {α →(β – A)} logically implies F.
▪ Note: implication in the opposite direction is trivial in each of the cases above,
since a “stronger” functional dependency always implies a weaker one

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.49 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Testing if an Attribute is Extraneous

▪ Let R be a relation schema and let F be a set of functional dependencies

that hold on R . Consider an attribute in the functional dependency α → β.
▪ To test if attribute A ∈ β is extraneous in β
• Consider the set:
F' = (F – {α → β}) ∪ {α →(β – A)},
• check that α+ contains A; if it does, A is extraneous in β
▪ To test if attribute A ∈ α is extraneous in α
• Let γ = α – {A}. Check if γ → β can be inferred from F.
▪ Compute γ+ using the dependencies in F
▪ If γ+ includes all attributes in β then , A is extraneous in α

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.50 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Examples of Extraneous Attributes

▪ Let F = {AB → CD, A → E, E → C }

▪ To check if C is extraneous in AB → CD, we:
• Compute the attribute closure of AB under F' = {AB → D, A → E, E → C}
• The closure is ABCDE, which includes CD
• This implies that C is extraneous

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.51 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Canonical Cover

A canonical cover for F is a set of dependencies Fc such that

▪ F logically implies all dependencies in Fc , and
▪ Fc logically implies all dependencies in F, and
▪ No functional dependency in Fc contains an extraneous attribute, and
▪ Each left side of functional dependency in Fc is unique. That is, there are no
two dependencies in Fc
• α1 → β1 and α2 → β2 such that
• α1 = α 2

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.52 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Canonical Cover

▪ To compute a canonical cover for F:

repeat
Use the union rule to replace any dependencies in F of the form
α1 → β1 and α1 → β2 with α1 → β1 β2
Find a functional dependency α → β in Fc with an extraneous
attribute either in α or in β
/* Note: test for extraneous attributes done using Fc, not F*/
If an extraneous attribute is found, delete it from α → β
until (Fc not change

▪ Note: Union rule may become applicable after some extraneous attributes have
been deleted, so it has to be re-applied

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.53 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example: Computing a Canonical Cover

▪ R = (A, B, C)
F = {A → BC
B→C
A→B
AB → C}
▪ Combine A → BC and A → B into A → BC
• Set is now {A → BC, B → C, AB → C}
▪ A is extraneous in AB → C
• Check if the result of deleting A from AB → C is implied by the other
dependencies
▪ Yes: in fact, B → C is already present!
• Set is now {A → BC, B → C}
▪ C is extraneous in A → BC
• Check if A → C is logically implied by A → B and the other dependencies
▪ Yes: using transitivity on A → B and B → C.
• Can use attribute closure of A in more complex cases
▪ The canonical cover is: A → B
B→C
Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.54 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Dependency Preservation

▪ Let Fi be the set of dependencies F + that include only attributes in Ri.

• A decomposition is dependency preserving, if
(F1 ∪ F2 ∪ … ∪ Fn )+ = F +
▪ Using the above definition, testing for dependency preservation take exponential
time.
▪ Not that if a decomposition is NOT dependency preserving then checking updates
for violation of functional dependencies may require computing joins, which is
expensive.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.55 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Dependency Preservation (Cont.)

▪ Let F be the set of dependencies on schema R and let R1, R2 , .., Rn be a

decomposition of R.
▪ The restriction of F to Ri is the set Fi of all functional dependencies in F + that
include only attributes of Ri .
▪ Since all functional dependencies in a restriction involve attributes of only one
relation schema, it is possible to test such a dependency for satisfaction by
checking only one relation.
▪ Note that the definition of restriction uses all dependencies in in F +, not just those
in F.
▪ The set of restrictions F1, F2 , .. , Fn is the set of functional dependencies that can
be checked efficiently.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.56 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Testing for Dependency Preservation

▪ To check if a dependency α → β is preserved in a decomposition of R into R1, R2,

…, Rn , we apply the following test (with attribute closure done with respect to F)
• result = α
repeat
for each Ri in the decomposition
t = (result ∩ Ri)+ ∩ Ri
result = result ∪ t
until (result does not change)
• If result contains all attributes in β, then the functional dependency α → β is
preserved.
▪ We apply the test on all dependencies in F to check if a decomposition is
dependency preserving
▪ This procedure takes polynomial time, instead of the exponential time required to
compute F+ and (F1 ∪ F2 ∪ … ∪ Fn)+

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.57 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example

▪ R = (A, B, C )
F = {A → B
B → C}
Key = {A}
▪ R is not in BCNF
▪ Decomposition R1 = (A, B), R2 = (B, C)
• R1 and R2 in BCNF
• Lossless-join decomposition
• Dependency preserving

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.58 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Algorithm for Decomposition Using
Functional Dependencies

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.59 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Testing for BCNF

▪ To check if a non-trivial dependency α →β causes a violation of BCNF

1. compute α+ (the attribute closure of α), and
2. verify that it includes all attributes of R, that is, it is a superkey of R.
▪ Simplified test: To check if a relation schema R is in BCNF, it suffices to check
only the dependencies in the given set F for violation of BCNF, rather than
checking all dependencies in F+.
• If none of the dependencies in F causes a violation of BCNF, then none of the
dependencies in F+ will cause a violation of BCNF either.
▪ However, simplified test using only F is incorrect when testing a relation in a
decomposition of R
• Consider R = (A, B, C, D, E), with F = { A → B, BC → D}
▪ Decompose R into R1 = (A,B) and R2 = (A,C,D, E)
▪ Neither of the dependencies in F contain only attributes from
(A,C,D,E) so we might be mislead into thinking R2 satisfies BCNF.
▪ In fact, dependency AC → D in F+ shows R2 is not in BCNF.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.60 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Testing Decomposition for BCNF

To check if a relation Ri in a decomposition of R is in BCNF

▪ Either test Ri for BCNF with respect to the restriction of F+ to Ri (that is, all
FDs in F+ that contain only attributes from Ri)
▪ Or use the original set of dependencies F that hold on R, but with the
following test:
▪ for every set of attributes α ⊆ Ri, check that α+ (the attribute closure
of α) either includes no attribute of Ri- α, or includes all attributes of
Ri.
• If the condition is violated by some α → β in F+, the dependency
α → (α+ - α) ∩ Ri
can be shown to hold on Ri, and Ri violates BCNF.
• We use above dependency to decompose Ri

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.61 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 BCNF Decomposition Algorithm

result := {R };
done := false;
compute F +;
while (not done) do
if (there is a schema Ri in result that is not in BCNF)
then begin
let α → β be a nontrivial functional dependency that
holds on Ri such that α → Ri is not in F +,
and α ∩ β = ∅;
result := (result – Ri ) ∪ (Ri – β) ∪ (α, β );
end
else done := true;

Note: each Ri is in BCNF, and decomposition is lossless-join.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.62 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example of BCNF Decomposition

▪ class (course_id, title, dept_name, credits, sec_id, semester, year, building,

room_number, capacity, time_slot_id)
▪ Functional dependencies:
• course_id→ title, dept_name, credits
• building, room_number→capacity
• course_id, sec_id, semester, year→building, room_number, time_slot_id
▪ A candidate key {course_id, sec_id, semester, year}.
▪ BCNF Decomposition:
• course_id→ title, dept_name, credits holds
▪ but course_id is not a superkey.
• We replace class by:
▪ course(course_id, title, dept_name, credits)
▪ class-1 (course_id, sec_id, semester, year, building,
room_number, capacity, time_slot_id)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.63 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 BCNF Decomposition (Cont.)

▪ course is in BCNF
• How do we know this?
▪ building, room_number→capacity holds on class-1
• but {building, room_number} is not a superkey for class-1.
• We replace class-1 by:
▪ classroom (building, room_number, capacity)
▪ section (course_id, sec_id, semester, year, building, room_number,
time_slot_id)
▪ classroom and section are in BCNF.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.64 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Third Normal Form

▪ There are some situations where

• BCNF is not dependency preserving, and
• efficient checking for FD violation on updates is important
▪ Solution: define a weaker normal form, called Third Normal Form (3NF)
• Allows some redundancy (with resultant problems; we will see examples
later)
• But functional dependencies can be checked on individual relations without
computing a join.
• There is always a lossless-join, dependency-preserving decomposition into
3NF.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.65 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Example -- Relation dept_advisor

▪ dept_advisor (s_ID, i_ID, dept_name)

F = {s_ID, dept_name → i_ID, i_ID → dept_name}
▪ Two candidate keys: s_ID, dept_name, and i_ID, s_ID
▪ R is in 3NF
• s_ID, dept_name → i_ID s_ID
▪ dept_name is a superkey
• i_ID → dept_name
▪ dept_name is contained in a candidate key

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.66 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Testing for 3NF

▪ Need to check only FDs in F, need not check all FDs in F+.
▪ Use attribute closure to check for each dependency α → β, if α is a superkey.
▪ If α is not a superkey, we have to verify if each attribute in β is contained in a
candidate key of R
• This test is rather more expensive, since it involve finding candidate keys
• Testing for 3NF has been shown to be NP-hard
• Interestingly, decomposition into third normal form (described shortly) can
be done in polynomial time

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.67 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Decomposition Algorithm

Let Fc be a canonical cover for F;

i := 0;
for each functional dependency α → β in Fc do
if none of the schemas Rj, 1 ≤ j ≤ i contains α β
then begin
i := i + 1;
Ri := α β
end
if none of the schemas R , 1 ≤ j ≤ i contains a candidate key for R
j
then begin
i := i + 1;
R := any candidate key for R;
i
end
/* Optionally, remove redundant relations */
repeat
if any schema Rj is contained in another schema R
k
then /* delete Rj */
Rj = R;;
i=i-1;
return (R1, R2, ..., R )
i
th
Database System Concepts - 7 Edition 7.68 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Decomposition Algorithm (Cont.)

Above algorithm ensures

▪ Each relation schema Ri is in 3NF
▪ Decomposition is dependency preserving and lossless-join
▪ Proof of correctness is at end of this presentation (click here)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.69 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Decomposition: An Example

▪ Relation schema:
cust_banker_branch = (customer_id, employee_id, branch_name, type )
▪ The functional dependencies for this relation schema are:
• customer_id, employee_id → branch_name, type
• employee_id → branch_name
• customer_id, branch_name → employee_id
▪ We first compute a canonical cover
• branch_name is extraneous in the r.h.s. of the 1st dependency
• No other attribute is extraneous, so we get FC =
customer_id, employee_id → type
employee_id → branch_name
customer_id, branch_name → employee_id

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.70 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 3NF Decompsition Example (Cont.)

▪ The for loop generates following 3NF schema:

(customer_id, employee_id, type )
(employee_id, branch_name)
(customer_id, branch_name, employee_id)
• Observe that (customer_id, employee_id, type ) contains a candidate key of
the original schema, so no further relation schema needs be added
▪ At end of for loop, detect and delete schemas, such as (employee_id,
branch_name), which are subsets of other schemas
• result will not depend on the order in which FDs are considered
▪ The resultant simplified 3NF schema is:
(customer_id, employee_id, type)
(customer_id, branch_name, employee_id)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.71 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Comparison of BCNF and 3NF

▪ It is always possible to decompose a relation into a set of relations that are in

3NF such that:
• The decomposition is lossless
• The dependencies are preserved
▪ It is always possible to decompose a relation into a set of relations that are in
BCNF such that:
• The decomposition is lossless
• It may not be possible to preserve dependencies.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.72 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Design Goals

▪ Goal for a relational database design is:

• BCNF.
• Lossless join.
• Dependency preservation.
▪ If we cannot achieve this, we accept one of
• Lack of dependency preservation
• Redundancy due to use of 3NF
▪ Interestingly, SQL does not provide a direct way of specifying functional
dependencies other than superkeys.
Can specify FDs using assertions, but they are expensive to test, (and currently
not supported by any of the widely used databases!)
▪ Even if we had a dependency preserving decomposition, using SQL we would
not be able to efficiently test a functional dependency whose left hand side is not
a key.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.73 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Multivalued Dependencies

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.74 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Multivalued Dependencies (MVDs)

▪ Suppose we record names of children, and phone numbers for instructors:

• inst_child(ID, child_name)
• inst_phone(ID, phone_number)
▪ If we were to combine these schemas to get
• inst_info(ID, child_name, phone_number)
• Example data:
(99999, David, 512-555-1234)
(99999, David, 512-555-4321)
(99999, William, 512-555-1234)
(99999, William, 512-555-4321)
▪ This relation is in BCNF
• Why?

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.75 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Multivalued Dependencies

▪ Let R be a relation schema and let α ⊆ R and β ⊆ R. The multivalued

dependency
α →→ β
holds on R if in any legal relation r(R), for all pairs for tuples t1 and t2 in r such
that t1[α] = t2 [α], there exist tuples t3 and t4 in r such that:
t1[α] = t2 [α] = t3 [α] = t4 [α]
t3[β] = t1 [β]
t3[R – β] = t2[R – β]
t4 [β] = t2[β]
t4[R – β] = t1[R – β]

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.76 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 MVD -- Tabular representation

▪ Tabular representation of α →→ β

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.77 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 MVD (Cont.)

▪ Let R be a relation schema with a set of attributes that are partitioned into 3
nonempty subsets.
Y, Z, W
▪ We say that Y →→ Z (Y multidetermines Z )
if and only if for all possible relations r (R )
< y1, z1, w1 > ∈ r and < y1, z2, w2 > ∈ r
then
< y1, z1, w2 > ∈ r and < y1, z2, w1 > ∈ r
▪ Note that since the behavior of Z and W are identical it follows that
Y →→ Z if Y →→ W

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.78 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example

▪ In our example:
ID →→ child_name
ID →→ phone_number
▪ The above formal definition is supposed to formalize the notion that given a
particular value of Y (ID) it has associated with it a set of values of Z
(child_name) and a set of values of W (phone_number), and these two sets are in
some sense independent of each other.
▪ Note:
• If Y → Z then Y →→ Z
• Indeed we have (in above notation) Z1 = Z2
The claim follows.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.79 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Use of Multivalued Dependencies

▪ We use multivalued dependencies in two ways:

1. To test relations to determine whether they are legal under a given set of
functional and multivalued dependencies
2. To specify constraints on the set of legal relations. We shall concern
ourselves only with relations that satisfy a given set of functional and
multivalued dependencies.
▪ If a relation r fails to satisfy a given multivalued dependency, we can construct a
relations r′ that does satisfy the multivalued dependency by adding tuples to r.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.80 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Theory of MVDs

▪ From the definition of multivalued dependency, we can derive the following rule:
• If α → β, then α →→ β
That is, every functional dependency is also a multivalued dependency
▪ The closure D+ of D is the set of all functional and multivalued dependencies
logically implied by D.
• We can compute D+ from D, using the formal definitions of functional
dependencies and multivalued dependencies.
• We can manage with such reasoning for very simple multivalued
dependencies, which seem to be most common in practice
• For complex dependencies, it is better to reason about sets of dependencies
using a system of inference rules (Appendix C).

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.81 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Fourth Normal Form

▪ A relation schema R is in 4NF with respect to a set D of functional and

multivalued dependencies if for all multivalued dependencies in D+ of the form α
→→ β, where α ⊆ R and β ⊆ R, at least one of the following hold:
• α →→ β is trivial (i.e., β ⊆ α or α ∪ β = R)
• α is a superkey for schema R
▪ If a relation is in 4NF it is in BCNF

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.82 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Restriction of Multivalued Dependencies

▪ The restriction of D to Ri is the set Di consisting of

• All functional dependencies in D+ that include only attributes of Ri
• All multivalued dependencies of the form
α →→ (β ∩ Ri)
where α ⊆ Ri and α →→ β is in D+

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.83 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 4NF Decomposition Algorithm

result: = {R};
done := false;
compute D+;
Let Di denote the restriction of D+ to Ri
while (not done)
if (there is a schema Ri in result that is not in 4NF) then
begin
let α →→ β be a nontrivial multivalued dependency that holds
on Ri such that α → Ri is not in Di, and α∩β=φ;
result := (result - Ri) ∪ (Ri - β) ∪ (α, β);
end
else done:= true;
Note: each Ri is in 4NF, and decomposition is lossless-join

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.84 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Example

▪ R =(A, B, C, G, H, I)
F ={ A →→ B
B →→ HI
CG →→ H }
▪ R is not in 4NF since A →→ B and A is not a superkey for R
▪ Decomposition
a) R1 = (A, B) (R1 is in 4NF)
b) R2 = (A, C, G, H, I) (R2 is not in 4NF, decompose into R3 and R4)
c) R3 = (C, G, H) (R3 is in 4NF)
d) R4 = (A, C, G, I) (R4 is not in 4NF, decompose into R5 and R6)
• A →→ B and B →→ HI A →→ HI, (MVD transitivity), and
• and hence A →→ I (MVD restriction to R4)
e) R5 = (A, I) (R5 is in 4NF)
f)R6 = (A, C, G) (R6 is in 4NF)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.85 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Additional issues

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.86 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Further Normal Forms

▪ Join dependencies generalize multivalued dependencies

• lead to project-join normal form (PJNF) (also called fifth normal form)
▪ A class of even more general constraints, leads to a normal form called
domain-key normal form.
▪ Problem with these generalized constraints: are hard to reason with, and no set of
sound and complete set of inference rules exists.
▪ Hence rarely used

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.87 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Overall Database Design Process

We have assumed schema R is given

▪ R could have been generated when converting E-R diagram to a set of tables.
▪ R could have been a single relation containing all attributes that are of interest
(called universal relation).
▪ Normalization breaks R into smaller relations.
▪ R could have been the result of some ad hoc design of relations, which we
then test/convert to normal form.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.88 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 ER Model and Normalization

▪ When an E-R diagram is carefully designed, identifying all entities correctly, the
tables generated from the E-R diagram should not need further normalization.
▪ However, in a real (imperfect) design, there can be functional dependencies from
non-key attributes of an entity to other attributes of the entity
• Example: an employee entity with
▪ attributes
department_name and building,
▪ functional dependency
department_name→ building
▪ Good design would have made department an entity
▪ Functional dependencies from non-key attributes of a relationship set possible, but
rare --- most relationships are binary

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.89 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Denormalization for Performance

▪ May want to use non-normalized schema for performance

▪ For example, displaying prereqs along with course_id, and title requires join of
course with prereq
▪ Alternative 1: Use denormalized relation containing attributes of course as well
as prereq with all above attributes
• faster lookup
• extra space and extra execution time for updates
• extra coding work for programmer and possibility of error in extra code
▪ Alternative 2: use a materialized view defined a course prereq
• Benefits and drawbacks same as above, except no extra coding work for
programmer and avoids possible errors

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.90 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Other Design Issues

▪ Some aspects of database design are not caught by normalization

▪ Examples of bad database design, to be avoided:
Instead of earnings (company_id, year, amount ), use
• earnings_2004, earnings_2005, earnings_2006, etc., all on the schema
(company_id, earnings).
▪ Above are in BCNF, but make querying across years difficult and needs
new table each year
• company_year (company_id, earnings_2004, earnings_2005,
earnings_2006)
▪ Also in BCNF, but also makes querying across years difficult and requires
new attribute each year.
▪ Is an example of a crosstab, where values for one attribute become
column names
▪ Used in spreadsheets, and in data analysis tools

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.91 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Modeling Temporal Data

▪ Temporal data have an association time interval during which the data are valid.
▪ A snapshot is the value of the data at a particular point in time
▪ Several proposals to extend ER model by adding valid time to
• attributes, e.g., address of an instructor at different points in time
• entities, e.g., time duration when a student entity exists
• relationships, e.g., time during which an instructor was associated with a
student as an advisor.
▪ But no accepted standard
▪ Adding a temporal component results in functional dependencies like
ID → street, city
not holding, because the address varies over time
▪ A temporal functional dependency X → Y holds on schema R if the functional
dependency X Y holds on all snapshots for all legal instances r (R).

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.92 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Modeling Temporal Data (Cont.)

▪ In practice, database designers may add start and end time attributes to relations
• E.g., course(course_id, course_title) is replaced by
course(course_id, course_title, start, end)
• Constraint: no two tuples can have overlapping valid times
▪ Hard to enforce efficiently
▪ Foreign key references may be to current version of data, or to data at a point in
time
• E.g., student transcript should refer to course information at the time the
course was taken

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.93 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 End of Chapter 7

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.94 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Proof of Correctness of 3NF
Decomposition Algorithm

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.95 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Correctness of 3NF Decomposition Algorithm

▪ 3NF decomposition algorithm is dependency preserving (since there is a relation

for every FD in Fc)
▪ Decomposition is lossless
• A candidate key (C ) is in one of the relations Ri in decomposition
• Closure of candidate key under Fc must contain all attributes in R.
• Follow the steps of attribute closure algorithm to show there is only one
tuple in the join result for each tuple in Ri

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.96 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Correctness of 3NF Decomposition Algorithm (Cont.)

▪ Claim: if a relation Ri is in the decomposition generated by the above

algorithm, then Ri satisfies 3NF.
▪ Proof:
• Let Ri be generated from the dependency α → β
• Let γ → B be any non-trivial functional dependency on Ri. (We need
only consider FDs whose right-hand side is a single attribute.)
• Now, B can be in either β or α but not in both. Consider each case
separately.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.97 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Correctness of 3NF Decomposition (Cont.)

▪ Case 1: If B in β:
• If γ is a superkey, the 2nd condition of 3NF is satisfied
• Otherwise α must contain some attribute not in γ
• Since γ → B is in F+ it must be derivable from Fc, by using attribute closure
on γ.
• Attribute closure not have used α →β. If it had been used, α must be
contained in the attribute closure of γ, which is not possible, since we
assumed γ is not a superkey.
• Now, using α→ (β- {B}) and γ → B, we can derive α →B
(since γ ⊆ α β, and B ∉ γ since γ → B is non-trivial)
• Then, B is extraneous in the right-hand side of α →β; which is not possible
since α →β is in Fc.
• Thus, if B is in β then γ must be a superkey, and the second condition of
3NF must be satisfied.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.98 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 Correctness of 3NF Decomposition (Cont.)

▪ Case 2: B is in α.
• Since α is a candidate key, the third alternative in the definition of 3NF is
trivially satisfied.
• In fact, we cannot show that γ is a superkey.
• This shows exactly why the third alternative is present in the definition of
3NF.
Q.E.D.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.99 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 First Normal Form

▪ Domain is atomic if its elements are considered to be indivisible units

• Examples of non-atomic domains:
▪ Set of names, composite attributes
▪ Identification numbers like CS101 that can be broken up into parts
▪ A relational schema R is in first normal form if the domains of all attributes of R
are atomic
▪ Non-atomic values complicate storage and encourage redundant (repeated) storage
of data
• Example: Set of accounts stored with each customer, and set of owners stored
with each account
• We assume all relations are in first normal form (and revisit this in Chapter 22:
Object Based Databases)

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.10 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan
 First Normal Form (Cont.)

▪ Atomicity is actually a property of how the elements of the domain are used.
• Example: Strings would normally be considered indivisible
• Suppose that students are given roll numbers which are strings of the form
CS0012 or EE1127
• If the first two characters are extracted to find the department, the domain of
roll numbers is not atomic.
• Doing so is a bad idea: leads to encoding of information in application
program rather than in the database.

Database System Concepts - 7th Edition 7.10 ©Silberschatz, Korth and Sudarshan