Database Systems:

Design, Implementation, and

Management
Tenth Edition

Chapter 6
Normalization of Database Tables
 Objectives

• In this chapter, students will learn:

– What normalization is and what role it plays in
the database design process
– About the normal forms 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF,
and 4NF
– How normal forms can be transformed from
lower normal forms to higher normal forms
– That normalization and ER modeling are used
concurrently to produce a good database design
– That some situations require denormalization to
generate information efficiently
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 Database Tables and Normalization

• Normalization
– Process for evaluating and correcting table
structures to minimize data redundancies
• Reduces data anomalies
– Series of stages called normal forms:
• First normal form (1NF)
• Second normal form (2NF)
• Third normal form (3NF)

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 Database Tables and Normalization
(cont’d.)
• Normalization (continued)
– 2NF is better than 1NF; 3NF is better than 2NF
– For most business database design purposes,
3NF is as high as needed in normalization
– Highest level of normalization is not always most
desirable
• Denormalization produces a lower normal form
– Increased performance but greater data
redundancy

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 The Need for Normalization

• Example: company that manages building

projects
– Charges its clients by billing hours spent on
each contract
– Hourly billing rate is dependent on employee’s
position
– Periodically, report is generated that contains
information such as displayed in Table 6.1

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 The Normalization Process

• Each table represents a single subject

• No data item will be unnecessarily stored in
more than one table
• All nonprime attributes in a table are dependent
on the primary key
• Each table is void of insertion, update, and
deletion anomalies

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 The Normalization Process (cont’d.)

• Objective of normalization is to ensure that all

tables are in at least 3NF
• Higher forms are not likely to be encountered in
business environment
• Normalization works one relation at a time
• Progressively breaks table into new set of
relations based on identified dependencies

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 Conversion to First Normal Form

• Repeating group
– Group of multiple entries of same type can exist
for any single key attribute occurrence
• Relational table must not contain repeating
groups
• Normalizing table structure will reduce data
redundancies
• Normalization is three-step procedure

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 Conversion to First Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• Step 1: Eliminate the Repeating Groups
– Eliminate nulls: each repeating group attribute
contains an appropriate data value
• Step 2: Identify the Primary Key
– Must uniquely identify attribute value
– New key must be composed
• Step 3: Identify All Dependencies
– Dependencies are depicted with a diagram

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 Conversion to First Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• Dependency diagram:
– Depicts all dependencies found within given
table structure
– Helpful in getting bird’s-eye view of all
relationships among table’s attributes
– Makes it less likely that you will overlook an
important dependency

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 Conversion to First Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• First normal form describes tabular format:
– All key attributes are defined
– No repeating groups in the table
– All attributes are dependent on primary key
• All relational tables satisfy 1NF requirements
• Some tables contain partial dependencies
– Dependencies are based on part of the primary
key
– Should be used with caution
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 Conversion to Second Normal Form
• Step 1: Make New Tables to Eliminate Partial
Dependencies
– Write each key component on separate line, then
write original (composite) key on last line
– Each component will become key in new table
• Step 2: Reassign Corresponding Dependent
Attributes
– Determine attributes that are dependent on other
attributes
– At this point, most anomalies have been eliminated

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 Conversion to Second Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• Table is in second normal form (2NF) when:
– It is in 1NF and
– It includes no partial dependencies:
• No attribute is dependent on only portion of
primary key

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 Conversion to Third Normal Form

• Step 1: Make New Tables to Eliminate

Transitive Dependencies
– For every transitive dependency, write its
determinant as PK for new table
– Determinant: any attribute whose value
determines other values within a row

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 Conversion to Third Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• Step 2: Reassign Corresponding Dependent
Attributes
– Identify attributes dependent on each
determinant identified in Step 1
• Identify dependency
– Name table to reflect its contents and function

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 Conversion to Third Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• A table is in third normal form (3NF) when both
of the following are true:
– It is in 2NF
– It contains no transitive dependencies

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 Improving the Design

• Table structures should be cleaned up to

eliminate initial partial and transitive
dependencies
• Normalization cannot, by itself, be relied on to
make good designs
• Valuable because it helps eliminate data
redundancies

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 Improving the Design (cont’d.)

• Issues to address, in order, to produce a good

normalized set of tables:
– Evaluate PK Assignments
– Evaluate Naming Conventions
– Refine Attribute Atomicity
– Identify New Attributes

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 Improving the Design (cont’d.)
– Identify New Relationships
– Refine Primary Keys as Required for Data
Granularity
– Maintain Historical Accuracy
– Evaluate Using Derived Attributes

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 Surrogate Key Considerations

• When primary key is considered to be

unsuitable, designers use surrogate keys
• Data entries in Table 6.4 are inappropriate
because they duplicate existing records
– No violation of entity or referential integrity

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 Higher-Level Normal Forms

• Tables in 3NF perform suitably in business

transactional databases
• Higher-order normal forms are useful on
occasion
• Two special cases of 3NF:
– Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF)
– Fourth normal form (4NF)

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 The Boyce-Codd Normal Form

• Every determinant in table is a candidate key

– Has same characteristics as primary key, but for
some reason, not chosen to be primary key
• When table contains only one candidate key,
the 3NF and the BCNF are equivalent
• BCNF can be violated only when table contains
more than one candidate key

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 The Boyce-Codd Normal Form
(cont’d.)
• Most designers consider the BCNF as a special
case of 3NF
• Table is in 3NF when it is in 2NF and there are
no transitive dependencies
• Table can be in 3NF and fail to meet BCNF
– No partial dependencies, nor does it contain
transitive dependencies
– A nonkey attribute is the determinant of a key
attribute

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 Fourth Normal Form (4NF)

• Table is in fourth normal form (4NF) when both

of the following are true:
– It is in 3NF
– No multiple sets of multivalued dependencies
• 4NF is largely academic if tables conform to
following two rules:
– All attributes dependent on primary key,
independent of each other
– No row contains two or more multivalued facts
about an entity
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 Normalization and Database Design

• Normalization should be part of the design

process
• Make sure that proposed entities meet required
normal form before table structures are created
• Many real-world databases have been
improperly designed or burdened with
anomalies
• You may be asked to redesign and modify
existing databases

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 Normalization and Database Design
(cont’d.)
• ER diagram
– Identify relevant entities, their attributes, and
their relationships
– Identify additional entities and attributes
• Normalization procedures
– Focus on characteristics of specific entities
– Micro view of entities within ER diagram
• Difficult to separate normalization process from
ER modeling process
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 Denormalization

• Creation of normalized relations is important

database design goal
• Processing requirements should also be a goal
• If tables are decomposed to conform to
normalization requirements:
– Number of database tables expands

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 Denormalization (cont’d.)

• Joining the larger number of tables reduces

system speed
• Conflicts are often resolved through
compromises that may include denormalization
• Defects of unnormalized tables:
– Data updates are less efficient because tables
are larger
– Indexing is more cumbersome
– No simple strategies for creating virtual tables
known as views
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 Data-Modeling Checklist

• Data modeling translates specific real-world

environment into data model
– Represents real-world data, users, processes,
interactions
• Data-modeling checklist helps ensure that data-
modeling tasks are successfully performed
• Based on concepts and tools learned in Part II

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 Summary

• Normalization minimizes data redundancies

• First three normal forms (1NF, 2NF, and 3NF)
are most commonly encountered
• Table is in 1NF when:
– All key attributes are defined
– All remaining attributes are dependent on
primary key

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 Summary (cont’d.)

• Table is in 2NF when it is in 1NF and contains

no partial dependencies
• Table is in 3NF when it is in 2NF and contains
no transitive dependencies
• Table that is not in 3NF may be split into new
tables until all of the tables meet 3NF
requirements
• Normalization is important part—but only part—
of the design process

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 Summary (cont’d.)

• Table in 3NF may contain multivalued

dependencies
– Numerous null values or redundant data
• Convert 3NF table to 4NF by:
– Splitting table to remove multivalued
dependencies
• Tables are sometimes denormalized to yield
less I/O, which increases processing speed

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