1 Informal Design Guidelines for

Relational Databases (1)

 What is relational database design?

The grouping of attributes to form "good" relation schemas
 Two levels of relation schemas
– The logical "user view" or conceptual level
– The implementation or physical storage "base relation"
level
 Design is concerned mainly with base relations
 What are the criteria for "good" base relations?

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-3

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 1 Informal Design Guidelines for
Relational Databases (1)
 Bottom up approach – adding up attributes
to form relations – not followed usually
 Top Down – design by analysis – starts
with a number of grouping of attributes to
form relations
 Implicit goal of design – information
preservation and minimum redundancy

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-4

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Informal Design Guidelines for
Relational Databases (2)
 4 informal guidelines for good relational design

 Then we discuss formal concepts of functional dependencies and

normal forms
- 1NF (First Normal Form)
- 2NF (Second Normal Form)
- 3NF (Third Normal Form)
- BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)
 Additional types of dependencies, further normal forms,
relational design algorithms by synthesis are discussed in
Chapter 11

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-5

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 1.1 Semantics of the Relation
Attributes
GUIDELINE 1: Informally, each tuple in a relation
should represent one entity or relationship instance.
(Applies to individual relations and their attributes).
 Attributes of different entities (EMPLOYEEs, DEPARTMENTs,
PROJECTs) should not be mixed in the same relation
 Only foreign keys should be used to refer to other entities
 Entity and relationship attributes should be kept apart as much as
possible.
Bottom Line: Design a schema that can be explained
easily relation by relation. The semantics of
attributes should be easy to interpret.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-6

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.1 A simplified COMPANY
relational database schema

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Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 1.2 Redundant Information in
Tuples and Update Anomalies
 Mixing attributes of multiple entities may cause problems

 Information is stored redundantly wasting storage

 Problems with update anomalies
– Insertion anomalies
– Deletion anomalies
– Modification anomalies
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-8
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 EXAMPLE OF AN UPDATE
ANOMALY (1)
Consider the relation:
EMP_PROJ ( Emp#, Proj#, Ename, Pname, No_hours)

 Update Anomaly: Changing the name of project

number P1 from “Billing” to “Customer-
Accounting” may cause this update to be made for
all 100 employees working on project P1.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-9

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 EXAMPLE OF AN UPDATE
ANOMALY (2)
 Insert Anomaly: Cannot insert a project unless
an employee is assigned to .
Inversely - Cannot insert an employee unless an
he/she is assigned to a project.
 Delete Anomaly: When a project is deleted, it
will result in deleting all the employees who work
only on that project. Alternately, if an employee is
the sole employee on a project, deleting that
employee would result in deleting the
corresponding project.
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-10
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Figure 15.3 Two relation schemas
suffering from update anomalies

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.4 Example States for EMP_DEPT and EMP_PROJ

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Guideline to Redundant Information
in Tuples and Update Anomalies
 GUIDELINE 2: Design a schema that does not
suffer from the insertion, deletion and update
anomalies. If there are any present, then note them
so that applications can be made to take them into
account - a restatement of the Guideline 1.
 Best way – Use anomaly free base relations and views that use joins. Views can be
updated through triggers to base relations.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 1.3 Null Values in Tuples
GUIDELINE 3: Relations should be designed such
that their tuples will have as few NULL values as
possible (wastage of space in storage level and
difficulties in JOIN operation with NULL values)
 Attributes that are NULL frequently could be
placed in separate relations (with the primary key)
 Reasons for nulls:(attribute not applicable or invalid, attribute
value unknown (may exist), value known to exist, but unavailable)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 1.4 Spurious Tuples

 Bad designs for a relational database may result in

erroneous results for certain JOIN operations
 The "lossless join" property is used to guarantee
meaningful results for join operations

GUIDELINE 4: The relations should be designed to

satisfy the lossless join condition. No spurious
tuples should be generated by doing a natural-join
of any relations.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-15

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-16
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-17
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Spurious Tuples (2)

There are two important properties of decompositions:

(a) non-additive or losslessness of the corresponding
join
(b) preservation of the functional dependencies.

Note that property (a) is extremely important and

cannot be sacrificed. Property (b) is less stringent
and may be sacrificed. (See Chapter 11).

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 2.1 Functional Dependencies (1)
 Functional dependencies is a constraint between 2
sets of attributes
 Functional dependencies (FDs) are used to specify
formal measures of the "goodness" of relational
schema designs
 FDs and keys are used to define normal forms for
relations
 FDs are constraints that are derived from the
meaning and interrelationships of the data
attributes
 A set of attributes X functionally determines a set
of attributes Y if the value of X determines a unique
value for Y
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-19
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Functional Dependencies (2)
 X -> Y holds if whenever two tuples have the same value for
X, they must have the same value for Y
 For any two tuples t1 and t2 in any relation instance r(R): If
t1[X]=t2[X], then t1[Y]=t2[Y]

 X -> Y in R specifies a constraint on all relation instances

r(R)
 Written as X -> Y; can be displayed graphically on a relation
schema as in Figures. ( denoted by the arrow: ).
 FDs are derived from the real-world constraints on the
attributes
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Examples of FD constraints (1)

 social security number determines employee name

SSN -> ENAME
 project number determines project name and
location
PNUMBER -> {PNAME, PLOCATION}
 employee ssn and project number determines the
hours per week that the employee works on the
project
{SSN, PNUMBER} -> HOURS

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-21

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Examples of FD constraints (2)

 An FD is a property of the attributes in the schema

R, not of a particular relation state
 The constraint must hold on every relation
instance r(R)
 If K is a key of R, then K functionally determines
all attributes in R (since we never have two
distinct tuples with t1[K]=t2[K])

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-22

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3 Normal Forms Based on Primary
Keys
3.1 Normalization of Relations
3.2 Practical Use of Normal Forms
3.3 Definitions of Keys and Attributes
Participating in Keys
3.4 First Normal Form
3.5 Second Normal Form
3.6 Third Normal Form

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-23

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Normal Forms Based on Primary Keys
Sequence of practical relational design projects
– conceptual schema design using a conceptual model - ER or EER, map the
conceptual design into a set of relations
– Design the relations based on external knowledge derived from an existing
implementation of files or forms or reports
– evaluate the relations for goodness and decompose them further as needed
to achieve higher normal forms – Normalization
Normalization process - first proposed by Codd (1972), takes a relation schema through a
series of tests to certify whether it satisfies a certain normal form.
The top-down process evaluates each relation against the criteria for normal forms and
decomposing relations as necessary - relational design by analysis.
Codd proposed 3 normal forms - first, second, and third. A stronger definition of 3NF—
called Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF) - proposed by Boyce and Codd.
All these normal forms are based on a single analytical tool: the functional dependencies
among the attributes of a relation.
Later, a fourth normal form (4NF) and a fifth normal form (5NF) were proposed, based on
the concepts of multivalued dependencies and join dependencies

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.1 Normalization of Relations (1)
 It is a process of analyzing a given relation
schemas based on their FDs and PKs to achieve
minimum redundancy and update anomalies

 Normalization: The process of decomposing

unsatisfactory "bad" relations by breaking up their
attributes into smaller relations

 Normal form: Condition using keys and FDs of a

relation to certify whether a relation schema is in a
particular normal form
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-25
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.2 Practical Use of Normal Forms

 Normalization is carried out in practice so that the

resulting designs are of high quality and meet the desirable
properties
 The practical utility of these normal forms becomes
questionable when the constraints on which they are based
are hard to understand or to detect
 The database designers need not normalize to the highest
possible normal form. (usually up to 3NF, BCNF or 4NF)
 Denormalization: the process of storing the join of higher
normal form relations as a base relation—which is in a
lower normal form

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-26

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.3 Definitions of Keys and Attributes
Participating in Keys (1)
 A superkey of a relation schema R = {A1, A2, ....,
An} is a set of attributes S subset-of R with the
property that no two tuples t1 and t2 in any legal
relation state r of R will have t1[S] = t2[S]

 A key K is a superkey with the additional

property that removal of any attribute from K will
cause K not to be a superkey any more.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-27

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Definitions of Keys and Attributes
Participating in Keys (2)
 If a relation schema has more than one key, each
is called a candidate key. One of the candidate
keys is arbitrarily designated to be the primary
key, and the others are called secondary keys.
 A Prime attribute must be a member of some
candidate key
 A Nonprime attribute is not a prime attribute—
that is, it is not a member of any candidate key.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-28

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.2 First Normal Form (1NF)

 Disallows composite attributes, multivalued

attributes, and nested relations; attributes
whose values for an individual tuple are non-
atomic
 Considered to be part of the formal definition
of a relation in the basic relational model

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-29

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.9 Normalization into 1NF

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 First Normal Form (1NF)
1. Remove the attribute Dlocations that violates 1NF and place it in a separate relation
DEPT_LOCATIONS with the primary key {Dnumber, Dlocation}, DEPT_LOCATIONS exists for each
location of a department. This decomposes the non-1NF relation into two 1NF relations.
2. Expand the key to have Dlocation in original DEPARTMENT relation. The primary key - {Dnumber,
Dlocation}. This solution introduces redundancy.
3. If a max number of values for multi-valued attribute is known (3 in this case) - replace the Dlocations
attribute by three atomic attributes: Dlocation1, Dlocation2, and Dlocation3. Disadvantage – too many
NULL values, spurious semantics about the ordering among the location values, Querying on this
attribute becomes more difficult.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Fig 15.10 Normalization nested relations into 1NF

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.3 Second Normal Form (1)
 Uses the concepts of FDs, primary key
Definitions:
 Prime attribute - attribute that is member of the
primary key K
 Full functional dependency - a FD Y -> Z where
removal of any attribute from Y means the FD
does not hold any more
Examples: - {SSN, PNUMBER} -> HOURS is a full FD
since neither SSN -> HOURS nor PNUMBER -> HOURS hold
- {SSN, PNUMBER} -> ENAME is not a full FD (it is called a
partial dependency ) since SSN -> ENAME also holds

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-33

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Second Normal Form (2)

 A relation schema R is in second normal

form (2NF) if every non-prime attribute A
in R is fully functionally dependent on the
primary key

 R can be decomposed into 2NF relations via

the process of 2NF normalization

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-34

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.11 Normalizing into 2NF and 3NF
1. Ename violates 2NF
because of FD2,
2. Pname and Plocation
because of FD3 also
violates 2NF.
The relation schema
can be second
normalized or 2NF
normalized
into a number of 2NF
relations. FD1, FD2,
and FD3 lead to the
decomposition of
EMP_PROJ into the
three relation schemas
EP1, EP2, and EP3,
each of which is in
2NF.
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 3.4 Third Normal Form (1)

Definition:
 Transitive functional dependency - a FD X -> Z
that can be derived from two FDs X -> Y and Y -> Z
Examples:
- SSN -> DMGRSSN is a transitive FD since
SSN -> DNUMBER and DNUMBER -> DMGRSSN hold
- SSN -> ENAME is non-transitive since there is no set of
attributes X where SSN -> X and X -> ENAME

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-36

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Third Normal Form (2)

 A relation schema R is in third normal form

(3NF) if it is in 2NF and no non-prime attribute A
in R is transitively dependent on the primary key
 R can be decomposed into 3NF relations via the
process of 3NF normalization
NOTE:
In X -> Y and Y -> Z, with X as the primary key, we consider this a
problem only if Y is not a candidate key. When Y is a candidate key,
there is no problem with the transitive dependency .
E.g., Consider EMP (SSN, Emp#, Salary ).
Here, SSN -> Emp# -> Salary and Emp# is a candidate key.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-37

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 General Definitions of Second
and Third Normal Forms

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 4 General Normal Form Definitions
(For Multiple Keys) (1)
 The above definitions consider the primary key
only
 The following more general definitions take into
account relations with multiple candidate keys
 A relation schema R is in second normal form
(2NF) if every non-prime attribute A in R is fully
functionally dependent on every key of R

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-39

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
General Definition of 2NF

violates the general definition of

2NF because Tax_rate is partially
dependent on the candidate key
{County_name, Lot#},

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
General Definition of 2NF

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 General Definition of 3rd Normal Form

Definition:
 Superkey of relation schema R - a set of attributes
S of R that contains a key of R
 A relation schema R is in third normal form
(3NF) if whenever a FD X -> A holds in R, then
either:
(a) X is a superkey of R, or
(b) A is a prime attribute of R
NOTE: Boyce-Codd normal form disallows condition (b)
above
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-42
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-44
Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 5 BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)

 A relation schema R is in Boyce-Codd Normal

Form (BCNF) if whenever an FD X -> A holds in
R, then X is a superkey of R
 Each normal form is strictly stronger than the previous one
– Every 2NF relation is in 1NF
– Every 3NF relation is in 2NF
– Every BCNF relation is in 3NF
 There exist relations that are in 3NF but not in BCNF
 Most relation schemas that are in 3NF are also in BCNF
 The goal is to have each relation in BCNF (or 3NF)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-45

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 BCNF

Suppose that we have thousands of lots in the relation and lots are from only
two counties: DeKalb and Fulton. Suppose also that lot sizes in DeKalb
County are only 0.5 to 1.0 acres, whereas lot sizes in Fulton County are from
1.1 to 2.0 acres. This adds a functional dependency FD5: Area->County_name.
LOTS1A still is in 3NF because County_name is a prime attribute, but not in
BCNF as Area is not a superkey of LOTS1A

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-46

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.3 Boyce-Codd normal form

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
Figure 15.4 a relation TEACH that is in
3NF but not in BCNF

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Achieving the BCNF by
Decomposition (1)
 Two FDs exist in the relation TEACH:
fd1: { student, course} -> instructor
fd2: instructor -> course
 {student, course} is a candidate key for this relation and that
the dependencies shown follow the pattern in Figure 10.12
(b). So this relation is in 3NF but not in BCNF
 A relation NOT in BCNF should be decomposed so as to
meet this property, while possibly forgoing the preservation
of all functional dependencies in the decomposed relations.
(See Algorithm 11.3)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-49

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Achieving the BCNF by Decomposition (2)
 Three possible decompositions for relation TEACH
1. {student, instructor} and {student, course}
2. {course, instructor } and {course, student}
3. {instructor, course } and {instructor, student}
 All three decompositions will lose fd1. We have to settle for sacrificing
the functional dependency preservation. But we cannot sacrifice the
non-additivity property after decomposition.
 Out of the above three, only the 3rd decomposition will not generate
spurious tuples after join.(and hence has the non-additivity property).
 A test to determine whether a binary decomposition (decomposition into
two relations) is nonadditive (lossless) is discussed in section 11.1.4
under Property LJ1. Verify that the third decomposition above meets
the property.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-50

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Multivalued Dependency
and Fourth Normal Form
 Multivalued dependency (MVD)
– Consequence of first normal form (1NF)

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Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Multivalued Dependency
and Fourth Normal Form
(cont’d.)
 Relations containing nontrivial MVDs
– All-key relations
 Fourth normal form (4NF)
– Violated when a relation has undesirable
multivalued dependencies

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Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Multivalued Dependency
and Fourth Normal Form (cont’d.)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition Chapter 10-53

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Join Dependencies
and Fifth Normal Form
 Join dependency
 Multiway decomposition into fifth normal
form (5NF)
 Very peculiar semantic constraint
– Normalization into 5NF is very rarely done in
practice

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe
 Summary
 Informal guidelines for good design
 Functional dependency
– Basic tool for analyzing relational schemas
 Normalization:
– 1NF, 2NF, 3NF, BCNF, 4NF, 5NF

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2004 Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant Navathe