Scribd
Upload
15 views20 pages

Lecture 8 and 9 Relational Model

Uploaded by

bnhatm216
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
15 views20 pages

Lecture 8 and 9 Relational Model

Uploaded by

bnhatm216
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 20

Lecture 8 and 9

THE RELATIONAL
MODEL
Relational Model
Terminology of relational model.
How tables are used to represent data.
Connection between mathematical relations and relations in the
relational model.
Properties of database relations.
How to identify CK, PK, and FKs.
Meaning of entity integrity and referential integrity.
Purpose and advantages of views.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


2
Relational Model
Terminology

A relation is a table with columns and rows.


◦ Only applies to logical structure of the database, not the
physical structure.

Attribute is a named column of a relation.

Domain is the set of allowable values for one or more


attributes.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


3
Relational Model
Terminology
Tuple is a row of a relation.

Degree is the number of attributes in a relation.

Cardinality is the number of tuples in a relation.

Relational Database is a collection of normalized relations


with distinct relation names.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


4
Instances of Branch
and Staff Relations

5
© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005
Examples of
Attribute Domains

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


6
Alternative Terminology for
Relational Model

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


7
Database Relations
Relation schema
◦ Named relation defined by a set of attribute and domain
name pairs.

Relational database schema


◦ Set of relation schemas, each with a distinct name.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


8
Properties of
Relations

Relation name is distinct from all other relation names in relational


schema.

Each cell of relation contains exactly one atomic (single) value.

Each attribute has a distinct name.

Values of an attribute are all from the same domain.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


9
Properties of
Relations
Each tuple is distinct; there are no duplicate tuples.

Order of attributes has no significance.

Order of tuples has no significance, theoretically.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


10
Relational Keys
Super key
◦ An attribute, or set of attributes, that uniquely identifies a
tuple within a relation.

Candidate Key
◦ Superkey (K) such that no proper subset is a superkey
within the relation.
◦ In each tuple of R, values of K uniquely identify that tuple
(uniqueness).
◦ No proper subset of K has the uniqueness property
(irreducibility).

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


11
Relational Keys
Primary Key
◦ Candidate key selected to identify tuples uniquely
within relation.

Alternate Keys
◦ Candidate keys that are not selected to be primary key.

Foreign Key
◦ Attribute, or set of attributes, within one relation that
matches candidate key of some (possibly same)
relation.
© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005
12
Integrity Constraints
Null
◦ Represents value for an attribute that is currently
unknown or not applicable for tuple.
◦ Deals with incomplete or exceptional data.
◦ Represents the absence of a value and is not the
same as zero or spaces, which are values.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


13
Integrity Constraints
Entity Integrity
◦ In a base relation, no attribute of a primary key can be null.

Referential Integrity
◦ If foreign key exists in a relation, either foreign key value must match a
candidate key value of some tuple in its home relation or foreign key value
must be wholly null.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


14
Integrity Constraints
General Constraints
◦ Additional rules specified by users or database administrators that define
or constrain some aspect of the enterprise.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


15
Views
Base Relation
◦ Named relation corresponding to an entity in conceptual schema, whose
tuples are physically stored in database.

View
◦ Dynamic result of one or more relational operations operating on base
relations to produce another relation.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


16
Views
A virtual relation that does not necessarily actually exist in the database
but is produced upon request, at time of request.

Contents of a view are defined as a query on one or more base relations.

Views are dynamic, meaning that changes made to base relations that
affect view attributes are immediately reflected in the view.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


17
Purpose of Views

Provides powerful and flexible security mechanism by hiding parts of


database from certain users.

Permits users to access data in a customized way, so that same data


can be seen by different users in different ways, at same time.

Can simplify complex operations on base relations.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


18
Updating Views

All updates to a base relation should be immediately reflected in all


views that reference that base relation.

If view is updated, underlying base relation should reflect change.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


19
Updating Views
There are restrictions on types of modifications that can be made
through views:
◦ Updates are allowed if query involves a single base
relation and contains a candidate key of base
relation.
◦ Updates are not allowed involving multiple base
relations.
◦ Updates are not allowed involving aggregation or
grouping operations.

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005


20

You might also like