CoSc 265

Fundamental of Database management

System

Instructor : Welde Janfa 1

 Chapter 3

Data Modeling Using the

Entity-Relationship (ER) Model
Chapter Outline
● Overview of Database Design Process
● Example Database Application (COMPANY)
● ER Model Concepts
○ Entities and Attributes
○ Entity Types, Value Sets, and Key Attributes
○ Relationships and Relationship Types
○ Weak Entity Types
○ Roles and Attributes in Relationship Types
● ER Diagrams - Notation
● ER Diagram for COMPANY Schema
● Alternative Notations – UML class diagrams, others
● Relationships of Higher Degree 3
Overview of Database Design Process
⚫ Two main activities:
◦ Database design
◦ Applications design
⚫ Focus in this chapter on conceptual database
design
◦ To design the conceptual schema for a database
application
⚫ Applications design focuses on the programs
and interfaces that access the database 4
Overview of Database Design Process

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Methodologies for Conceptual Design
● Entity Relationship (ER) Diagrams
● Enhanced Entity Relationship (EER)
Diagrams
● Use of Design Tools in industry for designing
and documenting large scale designs
● The UML (Unified Modeling Language)
Class Diagrams are popular in industry to
document conceptual database designs
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Example COMPANY Database
● We need to create a database schema design
based on the following (simplified)
requirements of the COMPANY Database:
○The company is organized into DEPARTMENTs.
Each department has a name, number and an
employee who manages the department. We keep
track of the start date of the department manager.
A department may have several locations.
○Each department controls a number of PROJECTs.
Each project has a unique name, unique number
and is located at a single location. 7
Example COMPANY Database (Continued)
○ The database will store each EMPLOYEE’s ID
number, address, salary, sex, and birthdate.
■ Each employee works for one department but may work on
several projects.
● The DB will keep track of the number of hours per week that
an employee currently works on each project.
● It is required to keep track of the direct supervisor of each
employee.
◦ Each employee may have a number of DEPENDENTs.
● For each dependent, the DB keeps a record of name, sex,
birthdate, and relationship to the employee. 8
ER Model Concepts
● Entities and Attributes
○ Entity is a basic concept for the ER model. Entities are specific
things or objects in the mini-world that are represented in the
database.
■ For example the EMPLOYEE John Smith, the Research
DEPARTMENT, the ProductX PROJECT
○ Attributes are properties used to describe an entity.
■ For example an EMPLOYEE entity may have the attributes
Name, ENo, Address, Sex, BirthDate
○ A specific entity will have a value for each of its attributes.
■ For example a specific employee entity may have Name='John
Smith', ENo='123456789', Address ='731, Fondren, Houston,
TX', Sex='M', BirthDate='09-JAN-55‘
○ Each attribute has a value set (or data type) associated with it –
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e.g. integer, string, date, enumerated type, …
Types of Attributes (1)
● Simple
○ Each entity has a single atomic value for the attribute. For example,
ENo or Sex.
● Composite
○ The attribute may be composed of several components. For
example:
■ Address(Apt#, House#, Street, City, State, ZipCode, Country), or
■ Name(FirstName, MiddleName, LastName).
■ Composition may form a hierarchy where some components are
themselves composite.
● Multi-valued
○ An entity may have multiple values for that attribute. For example,
Color of a CAR or PreviousDegrees of a STUDENT.
■ Denoted as {Color} or {PreviousDegrees}.
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Types of Attributes (2)
● In general, composite and multi-valued
attributes may be nested arbitrarily to any
number of levels, although this is rare.
○For example, PreviousDegrees of a STUDENT is
a composite multi-valued attribute denoted by
{PreviousDegrees (College, Year, Degree, Field)}
○Multiple PreviousDegrees values can exist
○Each has four subcomponent attributes:
■ College, Year, Degree, Field 11
Example of a composite attribute

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Types of Attributes (3)
● Stored
○ Attributes that there value are stored in the database.
■ Ex. Date of Birth
● Derived
○ Attributes that there values is derived from other related
attribute values
■ Ex. Age ( it is derived from Date of Birth)
● Null Value
○ When the value of the attribute either not know or is not
applicable 13
Value Sets (Domains) of Attributes
● Each simple attribute is associated with a
value set
○E.g., Lastname has a value which is a character
string of upto 15 characters, say
○Date has a value consisting of MM-DD-YYYY
where each letter is an integer
● A value set specifies the set of values
associated with an attribute
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Entity Types and Key Attributes (1)
● Entities with the same basic attributes are
grouped or typed into an entity type.
○For example, the entity type EMPLOYEE and
PROJECT.
● An attribute of an entity type for which each
entity must have a unique value is called a
key attribute of the entity type.
○For example, ENo of EMPLOYEE.
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Entity Types and Key Attributes (2)
● A key attribute may be composite.
○ VehicleTagNumber is a key of the CAR entity type with
components (Number, State).
● An entity type may have more than one key.
○ The CAR entity type may have two keys:
■ VehicleIdentificationNumber (popularly called VIN)
■ VehicleTagNumber (Number, State), aka license plate number.
● Each key is underlined (Note: this is different
from the relational schema where only one
“primary key is underlined). 16
Entity Type CAR with two keys and a corresponding Entity Set

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Entity Set
● Each entity type will have a collection of entities
stored in the database
○ Called the entity set or sometimes entity collection
● Previous slide shows three CAR entity instances in
the entity set for CAR
● Same name (CAR) used to refer to both the entity
type and the entity set
● However, entity type and entity set may be given
different names
● Entity set is the current state of the entities of that
type that are stored in the database 18
Attributes and Value Sets
● Value sets are similar to data types in most
programming languages – e.g., integer, character (n),
real, bit
● Mathematically, an attribute A for an entity type E
whose value set is V is defined as a function
A : E -> P(V)
Where P(V) indicates a power set (which means all
possible subsets) of V. The above definition covers
simple and multivalued attributes.
● We refer to the value of attribute A for entity e as A(e).
19
Displaying an Entity type
● In ER diagrams, an entity type is displayed in a
rectangular box
● Attributes are displayed in ovals
○Each attribute is connected to its entity type
○Components of a composite attribute are connected
to the oval representing the composite attribute
○Each key attribute is underlined
○Multivalued attributes displayed in double ovals
● See the full ER notation in advance on the next
slide 20
NOTATION for ER diagrams

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Initial Conceptual Design of Entity Types for the COMPANY Database Schema

● Based on the requirements, we can identify four

initial entity types in the COMPANY database:
○ DEPARTMENT
○ PROJECT
○ EMPLOYEE
○ DEPENDENT
● Their initial conceptual design is shown on the
following slide
● The initial attributes shown are derived from the
requirements description 22
Initial Design of Entity Types:
EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT, PROJECT, DEPENDENT

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Refining the initial design by introducing relationships
● The initial design is typically not complete
● Some aspects in the requirements will be
represented as relationships
● ER model has three main concepts:
○ Entities (and their entity types and entity sets)
○ Attributes (simple, composite, multivalued)
○ Relationships (and their relationship types and
relationship sets)
● We introduce relationship concepts next 24
Relationships and Relationship Types (1)
● A relationship relates two or more distinct entities with a
specific meaning.
○ For example, EMPLOYEE John Smith works on the
ProductX PROJECT, or EMPLOYEE Franklin Wong
manages the Research DEPARTMENT.
● Relationships of the same type are grouped or typed into a
relationship type.
○ For example, the WORKS_ON relationship type in which
EMPLOYEEs and PROJECTs participate, or the
MANAGES relationship type in which EMPLOYEEs and
DEPARTMENTs participate.
● The degree of a relationship type is the number of participating
entity types.
○ Both MANAGES and WORKS_ON are binary relationships.
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Relationship instances of the WORKS_FOR N:1 relationship between
EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT

26
Relationship instances of the M:N WORKS_ON relationship between
EMPLOYEE and PROJECT

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Relationship type vs. relationship set (1)
● Relationship Type:
○Is the schema description of a relationship
○Identifies the relationship name and the
participating entity types
○Also identifies certain relationship constraints
● Relationship Set:
○The current set of relationship instances
represented in the database
○The current state of a relationship type 28
Relationship type vs. relationship set (2)
● Previous figures displayed the relationship sets
● Each instance in the set relates individual participating
entities – one from each participating entity type
● In ER diagrams, we represent the relationship type as
follows:
○ Diamond-shaped box is used to display a relationship type
○ Connected to the participating entity types via straight
lines
○ Note that the relationship type is not shown with an arrow.
The name should be typically be readable from left to right
and top to bottom. 29
Refining the COMPANY database schema by introducing relationships

⚫ By examining the requirements, six relationship types are

identified
⚫ All are binary relationships( degree 2)
⚫ Listed below with their participating entity types:
◦ WORKS_FOR (between EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT)
◦ MANAGES (also between EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT)
◦ CONTROLS (between DEPARTMENT, PROJECT)
◦ WORKS_ON (between EMPLOYEE, PROJECT)
◦ SUPERVISION (between EMPLOYEE (as subordinate),
EMPLOYEE (as supervisor))
◦ DEPENDENTS_OF (between EMPLOYEE, DEPENDENT) 30
ER DIAGRAM – Relationship Types are:

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Discussion on Relationship Types
● In the refined design, some attributes from the initial entity
types are refined into relationships:
○ Manager of DEPARTMENT -> MANAGES
○ Works_on of EMPLOYEE -> WORKS_ON
○ Department of EMPLOYEE -> WORKS_FOR
○ etc
● In general, more than one relationship type can exist between
the same participating entity types
○ MANAGES and WORKS_FOR are distinct relationship types
between EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT
○ Different meanings and different relationship instances. 32
Constraints on Relationships
● Constraints specifies the participants of the entity in the corresponding
relationships set.
● If the participant entities are two we call that binary relationship . There are
two binary relationship constraints : cardinality ration and participation
○ Cardinality Ratio (specifies maximum participation)
■ One-to-one (1:1)
■ One-to-many (1:N) or Many-to-one (N:1)
■ Many-to-many (M:N)
○ Participation
■ Existence Dependency Constraint or total Participation (specifies minimum participation)
(also called minimum participation constraint)
■ Partial Dependency
● zero (optional participation, not existence-dependent)
● one or more (mandatory participation, existence-dependent)
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Many-to-one (N:1) Relationship

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Many-to-many (M:N) Relationship

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Recursive Relationship Type
● A relationship type between the same participating entity
type in distinct roles
● Also called a self-referencing relationship type.
● Example: the SUPERVISION relationship
● EMPLOYEE participates twice in two distinct roles:
○ supervisor (or boss) role
○ supervisee (or subordinate) role
● Each relationship instance relates two distinct EMPLOYEE
entities:
○ One employee in supervisor role
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○ One employee in supervisee role
Displaying a recursive relationship
● In a recursive relationship type.
○ Both participations are same entity type in different
roles.
○ For example, SUPERVISION relationships between
EMPLOYEE (in role of supervisor or boss) and
(another) EMPLOYEE (in role of subordinate or
worker).
● In following figure, first role participation
labeled with 1 and second role participation
labeled with 2.
● In ER diagram, need to display role names to
distinguish participations. 37
A Recursive Relationship Supervision

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Recursive Relationship Type is: SUPERVISION
(participation role names are shown)

Slid
e 3-
39
Weak Entity Types
⚫ An entity that does not have a key attribute and that is identification-
dependent on another entity type.
⚫ A weak entity must participate in an identifying relationship type with an
owner or identifying entity type
⚫ Entities are identified by the combination of:
◦ A partial key of the weak entity type
◦ The particular entity they are related to in the identifying relationship type
⚫ Example:
◦ A DEPENDENT entity is identified by the dependent’s first name, and the
specific EMPLOYEE with whom the dependent is related
◦ Name of DEPENDENT is the partial key
◦ DEPENDENT is a weak entity type
◦ EMPLOYEE is its identifying entity type via the identifying relationship
type DEPENDENT_OF 40
Attributes of Relationship types
● A relationship type can have attributes:
○For example, HoursPerWeek of WORKS_ON
○Its value for each relationship instance describes
the number of hours per week that an
EMPLOYEE works on a PROJECT.
■ A value of HoursPerWeek depends on a particular
(employee, project) combination
○Most relationship attributes are used with M:N
relationships
■ In 1:N relationships, they can be transferred to the entity
type on the N-side of the relationship 41
Example Attribute of a Relationship Type:
Hours of WORKS_ON

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Notation for Constraints on Relationships
● Cardinality ratio (of a binary relationship):
1:1, 1:N, N:1, or M:N
○Shown by placing appropriate numbers on the
relationship edges.
● Participation constraint (on each participating
entity type): total (called existence
dependency) or partial.
○Total shown by double line, partial by single line.
● NOTE: These are easy to specify for Binary
Relationship Types. 43
Alternative (min, max) notation for relationship structural constraints:

● Specified on each participation of an entity type E in a relationship type R

● Specifies that each entity e in E participates in at least min and at most max relationship
instances in R
● Default(no constraint): min=0, max=n (signifying no limit)
● Must have min≤max, min≥0, max ≥1
● Derived from the knowledge of mini-world constraints
● Examples:
○ A department has exactly one manager and an employee can manage at most one
department.
■ Specify (0,1) for participation of EMPLOYEE in MANAGES
■ Specify (1,1) for participation of DEPARTMENT in MANAGES
○ An employee can work for exactly one department but a department can have any
number of employees.
■ Specify (1,1) for participation of EMPLOYEE in WORKS_FOR
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The (min,max) notation for relationship constraints

Read the min,max numbers next to the entity

type and looking away from the entity type
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COMPANY ER Schema Diagram using (min, max) notation

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Alternative diagrammatic notation
● ER diagrams is one popular example for
displaying database schemas
● Many other notations exist in the literature and
in various database design and modeling tools
● In the Reference book, Appendix A illustrates
some of the alternative notations that have been
used
● UML class diagrams is representative of another
way of displaying ER concepts that is used in
several commercial design tools 47
Summary of notation for ER diagrams

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UML class diagrams
● Represent classes (similar to entity types) as large rounded
boxes with three sections:
○ Top section includes entity type (class) name
○ Second section includes attributes
○ Third section includes class operations (operations are not in
basic ER model)
● Relationships (called associations) represented as lines
connecting the classes
○ Other UML terminology also differs from ER terminology
● Used in database design and object-oriented software design
● UML has many other types of diagrams for software design

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UML class diagram for COMPANY database
schema

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Other alternative diagrammatic notations

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Relationships of Higher Degree
● Relationship types of degree 2 are called
binary
● Relationship types of degree 3 are called
ternary and of degree n are called n-ary
● In general, an n-ary relationship is not
equivalent to n binary relationships
● Constraints are harder to specify for higher-
degree relationships (n > 2) than for binary
relationships 52
Discussion of n-ary relationships (n > 2)
● In general, 3 binary relationships can represent different
information than a single ternary relationship (see Figure
3.17a and b on next slide)
● If needed, the binary and n-ary relationships can all be
included in the schema design (see Figure 3.17a and b, where
all relationships convey different meanings)
● In some cases, a ternary relationship can be represented as a
weak entity if the data model allows a weak entity type to
have multiple identifying relationships (and hence multiple
owner entity types) (see Figure 3.17c)
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Example of a ternary relationship

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Discussion of n-ary relationships (n > 2)
● If a particular binary relationship can be
derived from a higher-degree relationship at
all times, then it is redundant
● For example, the TAUGHT_DURING binary
relationship in Figure 3.18 (see next slide)
can be derived from the ternary relationship
OFFERS (based on the meaning of the
relationships)
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Another example of a ternary relationship

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Displaying constraints on higher-degree
relationships
● The (min, max) constraints can be displayed on the edges –
however, they do not fully describe the constraints
● Displaying a 1, M, or N indicates additional constraints
○ An M or N indicates no constraint
○ A 1 indicates that an entity can participate in at most one
relationship instance that has a particular combination of the other
participating entities
● In general, both (min, max) and 1, M, or N are needed to
describe fully the constraints
● Overall, the constraint specification is difficult and possibly
ambiguous when we consider relationships of a degree higher
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than two.
Another Example: A UNIVERSITY Database
● To keep track of the enrollments in classes and
student grades, another database is to be
designed.
● It keeps track of the COLLEGEs,
DEPARTMENTs within each college, the
COURSEs offered by departments, and
SECTIONs of courses, INSTRUCTORs who
teach the sections etc.
● These entity types and the relationships among
these entity types are shown on the next slide in.
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UNIVERSITY database conceptual schema

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Chapter Summary
● ER Model Concepts: Entities, attributes,
relationships
● Constraints in the ER model
● Using ER in step-by-step mode conceptual schema
design for the COMPANY database
● ER Diagrams - Notation
● Alternative Notations – UML class diagrams, others
● Binary Relationship types and those of higher
degree.
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Data Modeling Tools (Additional Material )
● A number of popular tools that cover conceptual modeling
and mapping into relational schema design.
○ Examples: ERWin, S- Designer (Enterprise Application Suite),
ER- Studio, etc.
● POSITIVES:
○ Serves as documentation of application requirements, easy user
interface - mostly graphics editor support
● NEGATIVES:
○ Most tools lack a proper distinct notation for relationships with
relationship attributes
○ Mostly represent a relational design in a diagrammatic form
rather than a conceptual ER-based design
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Some of the Automated Database Design Tools (Note: Not all
may be on the market now)
COMPANY TOOL FUNCTIONALITY
Embarcadero ER Studio Database Modeling in ER and IDEF1X
Technologies
DB Artisan Database administration, space and security management

Oracle Developer 2000/Designer 2000 Database modeling, application development

Popkin Software System Architect 2001 Data modeling, object modeling, process modeling, structured
analysis/design
Platinum (Computer Enterprise Modeling Suite: Erwin, BPWin, Data, process, and business component modeling
Associates) Paradigm Plus

Persistence Inc. Pwertier Mapping from O-O to relational model

Rational (IBM) Rational Rose UML Modeling & application generation in C++/JAVA

Resolution Ltd. Xcase Conceptual modeling up to code maintenance

Sybase Enterprise Application Suite Data modeling, business logic modeling

Visio Visio Enterprise Data modeling, design/reengineering Visual Basic/C++

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Extended Entity-Relationship (EER) Model
⚫ Reading Assignment
◦ Read and submit a written paper on the topic
that should not greater than 3 pages.

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End of Chapter Three
Thank You

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