This chapter provides an overview of the database-design process, with major emphasis on database design using the entity-relationship data model. The entity-relationship data model provides a high-level view of the issues in database design, and of the problems that we encounter in capturing the semantics of realistic applications within the constraints of a data model. UML class-diagram notation is also covered in this chapter. | Chapter 6: Entity-Relationship Model Chapter 6: Entity-Relationship Model Design Process Modeling Constraints E-R Diagram Design Issues Weak Entity Sets Extended E-R Features Design of the Bank Database Reduction to Relation Schemas Database Design UML Modeling A database can be modeled as: a collection of entities, relationship among entities. An entity is an object that exists and is distinguishable from other objects. Example: specific person, company, event, plant Entities have attributes Example: people have names and addresses An entity set is a set of entities of the same type that share the same properties. Example: set of all persons, companies, trees, holidays Entity Sets customer and loan customer_id customer_ customer_ customer_ loan_ amount name street city number Relationship Sets A relationship is an association among several entities Example: Hayes depositor A-102 customer entity relationship set account entity A relationship set is a mathematical relation among n 2 entities, each taken from entity sets {(e1, e2, en) | e1 E1, e2 E2, , en En} where (e1, e2, , en) is a relationship Example: (Hayes, A-102) depositor Relationship Set borrower Relationship Sets (Cont.) An attribute can also be property of a relationship set. For instance, the depositor relationship set between entity sets customer and account may have the attribute access-date Degree of a Relationship Set Refers to number of entity sets that participate in a relationship set. Relationship sets that involve two entity sets are binary (or degree two). Generally, most relationship sets in a database system are binary. Relationship sets may involve more than two entity sets. Relationships between more than two entity sets are rare. Most relationships are binary. (More on this later.) Example: Suppose employees of a bank may have jobs (responsibilities) at multiple branches, with different jobs at different branches. Then there is a ternary relationship set between . | Chapter 6: Entity-Relationship Model Chapter 6: Entity-Relationship Model Design Process Modeling Constraints E-R Diagram Design Issues Weak Entity Sets Extended E-R Features Design of the Bank Database Reduction to Relation Schemas Database Design UML Modeling A database can be modeled as: a collection of entities, relationship among entities. An entity is an object that exists and is distinguishable from other objects. Example: specific person, company, event, plant Entities have attributes Example: people have names and addresses An entity set is a set of entities of the same type that share the same properties. Example: set of all persons, companies, trees, holidays Entity Sets customer and loan customer_id customer_ customer_ customer_ loan_ amount name street city number Relationship Sets A relationship is an association among several entities Example: Hayes depositor A-102 customer entity relationship set account entity A relationship set is a mathematical relation among
