11e Database Systems

Design, Implementation, and Management

Coronel | Morris

Chapter 4
Entity Relationship (ER)
Modeling
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 Learning Objectives
 In this chapter, students will learn:
 The main characteristics of entity relationship
components
 How relationships between entities are defined, refined,
and incorporated into the database design process
 How ERD components affect database design and
implementation
 That real-world database design often requires the
reconciliation of conflicting goals

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 Entity Relationship Model (ERM)
 Basis of an entity relationship diagram (ERD)
 ERD depicts the:
 Conceptual database as viewed by end user
 Database’s main components
 Entities
 Attributes
 Relationships
 Entity - Refers to the entity set and not to a single
entity occurrence

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 Attributes
 Characteristics of entities
 Required attribute: Must have a value, cannot be
left empty
 Optional attribute: Does not require a value, can
be left empty
 Domain - Set of possible values for a given attribute
 Identifiers: One or more attributes that uniquely
identify each entity instance

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Figure 4.1 - The Attributes of the Student Entity:
Chen and Crow’s Foot

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 Attributes
 Composite identifier: Primary key composed of
more than one attribute
 Composite attribute: Attribute that can be
subdivided to yield additional attributes
 Simple attribute: Attribute that cannot be subdivided
 Single-valued attribute: Attribute that has only a
single value
 Multivalued attributes: Attributes that have many
values

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Figure 4.3 - A Multivalued Attribute in an Entity

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 Attributes
 Multivalued attributes: Attributes that have many
values and require creating:
 Several new attributes, one for each component of the
original multivalued attribute
 A new entity composed of the original multivalued
attribute’s components
 Derived attribute: Attribute whose value is
calculated from other attributes
 Derived using an algorithm

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Figure 4.6 - Depiction of a Derived Attribute

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Table 4.2 - Advantages and Disadvantages of
Storing Derived Attributes

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 Relationships
 Association between entities that always operate in
both directions
 Participants: Entities that participate in a
relationship
 Connectivity: Describes the relationship
classification
 Cardinality: Expresses the minimum and maximum
number of entity occurrences associated with one
occurrence of related entity

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Figure 4.7 - Connectivity and Cardinality in an
ERD

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 Existence Dependence

Existence dependence Existence independence

• Entity exists in the • Entity exists apart from

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 Relationship Strength

Weak (non-identifying) relationship

• Primary key of the related entity does not contain a primary

Strong (identifying) relationships

• Primary key of the related entity contains a primary key

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 Figure 4.8 - A Weak (Non-Identifying)
Relationship between COURSE and CLASS

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Figure 4.9 - A Strong (Identifying) Relationship
between COURSE and CLASS

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 Weak Entity
 Conditions
 Existence-dependent
 Has a primary key that is partially or totally derived
from parent entity in the relationship
 Database designer determines whether an entity is
weak based on business rules

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Figure 4.10 - A Weak Entity in an ERD

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 Figure 4.11 - A Weak Entity in a Strong
Relationship

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 Relationship Participation

Optional participation
• One entity occurrence does not require a
corresponding entity occurrence in a particular
relationship

Mandatory participation
• One entity occurrence requires a corresponding entity
occurrence in a particular relationship

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 Table 4.3 - Crow’s Foot Symbols

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Figure 4.13 - CLASS is Optional to COURSE

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 Figure 4.14 - COURSE and CLASS in a
Mandatory Relationship

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 Relationship Degree
 Indicates the number of entities or participants
associated with a relationship
 Unary relationship: Association is maintained
within a single entity
 Recursive relationship: Relationship exists between
occurrences of the same entity set
 Binary relationship: Two entities are associated
 Ternary relationship: Three entities are associated

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 Figure 4.15 - Three Types of Relationship
Degree

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25
Figure 4.17 - An ER Representation of Recursive
Relationships

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 Associative Entities
 Also known as composite or bridge entities
 Used to represent an M:N relationship between two
or more entities
 Is in a 1:M relationship with the parent entities
 Composed of the primary key attributes of each parent
entity
 May also contain additional attributes that play no
role in connective process

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Figure 4.23 - Converting the M:N Relationship
into Two 1:M Relationships

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Figure 4.25 - A Composite Entity in an ERD

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 Developing an ER Diagram
 Create a detailed narrative of the organization’s
description of operations
 Identify business rules based on the descriptions
 Identify main entities and relationships from the
business rules
 Develop the initial ERD
 Identify the attributes and primary keys that
adequately describe entities
 Revise and review ERD

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 Figure 4.26 - The First Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.27 - The Second Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.28 - The Third Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.29 - The Fourth Tiny College ERD
Segment

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 Figure 4.30 - The Fifth Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.31 - The Sixth Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.32 - The Seventh Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.33 - The Eighth Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Figure 4.34 - The Ninth Tiny College ERD
Segment

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Table 4.4 - Components of the ERM

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 Database Design Challenges:
Conflicting Goals

Database design must conform to design standards

Need for high processing speed may limit the number and
complexity of logically desirable relationships

Need for maximum information generation may lead to loss of

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Figure 4.38 - Various Implementations of the 1:1
Recursive Relationship

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