CHAPTER 3:

THE ENHANCED E-R MODEL

Modern Database Management

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 OBJECTIVES
 Define terms
 Understand the use of supertype/subtype relationships
 Understand the use of specialization and generalization
techniques
 Specify completeness and disjointness constraints
 Develop supertype/subtype hierarchies for realistic
business situations
 Develop entity clusters
 Explain universal (packaged) data model
 Describe special features of data modeling project using
packaged data model

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 SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE RELATIONSHIPS
 Supertype/Subtype Relationships
 Enable us to model a general entity type (called
supertype) and then subdivide it into several
specialized entity types (called subtypes)
 A new modeling construct for extending the original ER
model. The extended result model is the Enhanced ER
Model
 Example 1:
 Supertype : Car
 Subtypes : sedan, sports car, coupe, and so on.
 Example 2:
 Supertype : Vechicle
 Subtypes : Car, Motorcycle, Bike, Ship, and so on.
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 SUPERTYPES AND SUBTYPES
 Subtype:
 A subgrouping of the entities in an entity type that has
attributes distinct from those in other subgroupings
 Supertype:
 A generic entity type that has a relationship with one or
more subtypes
 Example
Supertype : Student
Subtypes : Undergraduate student, Graduate students
 Attribute Inheritance
An instance of a subtype is also an instance of the
supertype
A subtype entity inherit all attributes of the supertype
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 Figure 3-1 Basic notation for supertype/subtype notation

a) EER
notation

(通用化的)

(特化的)

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 Figure 3-1 Basic notation for supertype/subtype notation (cont.)

b) Microsoft Visio
Notation

Different modeling tools may have different notation for the same
modeling constructs.

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 DATA MODELING WITH MANY SUBTYPES
 Case : An organization with three basic types of employees
 Hourly employees Attributes
 Salaried employees of three
 Contract employees basic types

 Choices for developing a conceptual data model

 Define a single entity type
 Advantage : simple
 Disadvantage : an entity instance contain all the attributes for
the three types of employees. Some of the attributes are null.
 Define a separate entity type for each of the entities
 Advantage : simple
 Disadvantage : fails to exploit common properties of employees.

 Define a supertype with three subtypes

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 Figure 3-2 Employee supertype with three subtypes
(An example of data model with many subtypes)
All EMPLOYEE subtypes
will have employee
number, name, address,
and date hired

Each EMPLOYEE subtype

will also have its own
attributes

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RELATIONSHIPS AND SUBTYPES

 Relationship at the supertype level

indicate that all subtypes will participate in the
relationship
 Relationship at the subtype level
The instances of a subtype may participate in a
relationship unique to that subtype.

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Figure 3-3 Supertype/subtype relationships in a hospital
relationship at supertype level

relationship at subtype level

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GENERALIZATION AND SPECIALIZATION
 Generalization:
 The process of defining a more general entity type from a set of
more specialized entity types.
(BOTTOM-UP process for creating a supertype/subtype relationship)
The common attributes are put in the supertype.
 Specialization:
 The process of defining one or more subtypes from the
supertype and forming supertype/subtype relationship.
(TOP-DOWN process for creating a supertype/subtype relationship)
Each subtype is formed with some distinguished attributes.

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 Figure 3-4 Example of generalization process
a) Three entity types: CAR, TRUCK, and MOTORCYCLE

1. What are the common attributes for all these types of vehicles ?
2. What is the supertype/subtype relationship ?

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 Figure 3-4 Example of generalization process
b) Generalization to VEHICLE supertype

So we put
the shared
attributes in
a supertype

Note
 No subtype for motorcycle, since it has no unique attributes
 The only attributes of MOTOTCYCLE are those common to all vehicles
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 Figure 3-5 Example of specialization process
a) Entity type PART

Only applies to
manufactured parts

Applies only to purchased parts

(a multivalued composite attribute)

1. What are the attributes specific to each of subtypes?

2. What is the supertype/subtype relationship ?
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 Figure 3-5 Example of specialization process
b) Specialization to MANUFACTURED PART and PURCHASED PART

Created 2
subtypes

Note : the multivalued composite attribute was replaced

by an associative entity relationship to another entity
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 CONSTRAINTS IN
SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE RELATIONSHIPS
 Completeness Constraints:
Whether an instance of a supertype must also
be a member of at least one subtype
 Total Specialization Rule: Yes (double line)
Each entity instance of the supertype must be a member
of some subtype in the relationship.
 Partial Specialization Rule: No (single line)
An entity instance of the supertype is allowed not to
belong to any subtype.

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 Figure 3-6 Examples of completeness constraints
a) Total specialization rule

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 Figure 3-6 Examples of completeness constraints (cont.)
b) Partial specialization rule

A vehicle can be a motorcycle

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CONSTRAINTS IN
SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE RELATIONSHIPS
 Disjointness Constraints:
Whether an instance of a supertype may
simultaneously be a member of two (or more)
subtypes
 Disjoint Rule:
An instance of the supertype can be only a member of
ONE of the subtypes
 Overlap Rule:
An instance of the supertype could be a member of more
than one of the subtypes

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 Figure 3-7 Examples of disjointness constraints

a) Disjoint rule

PATIENT

RESIDENCE
OUTPATIENT
PATIENT

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 Figure 3-7 Examples of disjointness constraints (cont.)
b) Overlap rule

PART

M PART P PART

PART
When does this situation happen ?
M PART P PART
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 CONSTRAINTS IN
SUPERTYPE/SUBTYPE RELATIONSHIPS
 Subtype Discriminator:
An attribute of the supertype whose values determine
the target subtype(s)
 For disjoint subtypes
a simple attribute with different values to indicate the
possible subtypes
 For overlapping subtypes
a composite attribute whose subparts pertain to different
subtypes. Each subpart contains a Boolean value to
indicate whether or not the instance belongs to the
associated subtype
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Figure 3-8 Introducing a subtype discriminator (disjoint rule)

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 Figure 3-9 Subtype discriminator (overlap rule)

1. Three cases:
• Y, Y
• Y, N
• N, Y
2. Why 3 cases?

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 Figure 3-10 Example of supertype/subtype hierarchy

What is the situation for each case?

• completeness constraint
• disjointness constraint
• subtype discriminator design
Case 1

Case 2 Case 3

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 ENTITY CLUSTERS
 EER diagrams are difficult to read when
there are too many entities and
relationships.
 Solution:
 Group entities and relationships into entity clusters.
 Entity cluster
A set of one or more entity types and associated
relationships grouped into a single abstract (virtual) entity
type

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Figure 3-13a
Possible entity
clusters for Pine
Valley Furniture in
Microsoft Visio

Related groups
of entities could
become entity
clusters

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 Figure 3-13b EER diagram of entity clusters
for Pine Valley Furniture

More readable,
isn’t it?

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 Figure 3-14 Manufacturing entity cluster

Detail for a single cluster

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 PACKAGED DATA MODELS

 Predefined data models

 Can be customized for a particular
organization’s business rules
 Could be universal or industry-specific

 Universal data model

(also called a “pattern”)

A generic or template data model that can be reused
as a starting point for a data modeling project

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 ADVANTAGES OF PACKAGED DATA
MODELS
 Use proven model components
 Save time and cost
 Less likelihood of data model errors
 Easier to evolve and modify over time
 Aid in requirements determination
 Easier to read
 Supertype/subtype hierarchies promote reuse
 Many-to-many relationships enhance model flexibility
 Vendor-supplied data model fosters integration with vendor’s
applications
 Universal models support inter-organizational systems

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 Figure 3-15 PARTY, PARTY ROLE, and ROLE TYPE in
a universal data model
• PARTY
(a) Basic PARTY universal
data model generalize persons or
organizations as actors
for the enterprise
• ROLE TYPE
allows a specific party
to serve in different
roles during different
time periods.
• PARTY ROLE
generalizes various
roles parties can play
at different times
• A PARTY ROLE
instance is a situation
in which a PARTY
acts in a particular
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 Figure 3-15 (b) PARTY supertype/subtype hierarchy
One PARTY supertype with many subtypes covering many party roles

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