Data Models: What Is A Model?

TE (CIS)
Database Management Systems (CS-306)
Fall 2013
S. Zaffar Qasim
Assistant Prof (CIS)
DATA MODELS
o What is a model?
An abstract representation of real-world objects and

events and their associations that retains selected details.
For instance, model airplanes and mathematical models.
o What is a data model?
A collection of conceptual tools for describing

organization data (about entities, activities, events), data
relationships, data semantics and consistency constraints.
The purpose of a data model is to represent data and to

make the data understandable. If it does this, then it can
be used to design a database.
o Why a data model is needed?

A schema is written using the DDL of a particular DBMS.
Unfortunately, this type of language is too low-level to
describe the data requirements of an organization in a
way that is readily understandable by a variety of users.
Therefore, we require a high level description of the schema
that hides many low-level storage details; i.e. data model.
A data model is an abstraction from reality and often is
simplified for ease of understanding and manipulation.
o Limitations of data model
It is difficult as well as often unnecessary to capture all the
nuances of the true meaning of data in a data model.
The most difficult part of analyzing organizational data is
recognizing and capturing the meaning of
data and data relationships
for all situations in which the data will be used.
Each type of data model represents certain aspects of the

complete meaning of data fairly well but may not
recognize other aspects at all.
The meaning of data is frequently referred to as data
semantics.
o Three components of a data model

i.
A structural part, consisting of a set of rules according to

which databases can be constructed;
ii.
A manipulative part, defining the types of operations that

are allowed on the data;
iii.
Possibly a set of integrity rules, which ensures that the

data is accurate.
o Three broad categories of data models:I.

II.
III.
Object-based data models,

Record-based data models and
Physical data models.
The first two are used to describe data at the conceptual

and external levels;
the later is used to describe data at the internal level.
I.
Object-based Data Models

They provide fairly flexible structuring capabilities and
allow data constraints to be specified explicitly.
An object-based data model uses concepts such as entities,
attributes and relationships.
An entity is a distinct object (a person, place or thing,
concept or event) in the organization that is to be
represented in the database.
An attribute is a property that describes some aspect of
the object that we wish to record.
A relationship is an association between entities.
In addition to specifying what is to be represented in the
database, they attempt to incorporate some meanings or
semantic aspects of data, such as
explicit representation of objects,

attributes and relationships,
categorization of objects,
abstraction and explicit data constraints.
However, these models usually lack the means of

specifying the logical structure of the database.
Some of the more common types of object-based data
models are:
II.
Entity-relationship
Semantic
Functional
Object-oriented
Record-based Data Models
Describe the external, conceptual and to some extent, the

internal level of the database.
In contrast to object-based data models, used both to
specify the overall logical structure of the database and

to provide a higher-level description of implementation.
They have been implemented using a variety of database

systems.
However, they do not provide much semantic information
such as categorization of objects or relationships,
abstraction or data constraints.
In such models, the database consists of a number of
fixed-format records of possibly different types.
Each record type defines a fixed number of fields, each
typically of a fixed length.
The use of fixed-length records simplifies the physical level
implementation of the database.
There are three principal types of record-based logical

data model as follows: The relational data model
The network data model
The hierarchical data model
Relational Data Model
Fig 1: A sample relational database
Network Data Model

In the network model, data is represented as collection of
records and relationships are represented by sets or links.
Compared with the relational model, relationships are
explicitly modeled by the set, which become pointers in
the implementation.
The records are organized as generalized graph structures with
records appearing as nodes and sets as edges in the graph.
Fig 2 presents a sample network database using the same
information as in fig 1.
The most popular network database system is Computer
Associates IDMS/R.
Fig 2: A sample network database
Hierarchical Data Model

A restricted type of network model.
Again, data is represented as a collection of records and
relationships are represented by sets.
However, the hierarchical model allows a node to have
only one parent.
4
A hierarchical model can be represented as a tree graph,

with records appearing as nodes, also called segments,
and sets as edges.
The principal hierarchical database system is IBMs IMS,

although IMS also provides non-hierarchical features.
Fig 3: A sample hierarchical database
The network and hierarchical data models still require the

user to have knowledge of the physical database being
accessed whereas the relational provides a substantial
amount of data independence.
Hence, while relational systems adopt a declarative
approach to data processing
that is, they specify what data is to be retrieved,
network and hierarchical systems adopt a navigational

approach
that is, they specify how the data is to be retrieved.
III.
Physical Data Models
Physical data models describe how data is stored in the

computer, representing information such as record
structures, record orderings and access paths.
There are not as many physical data models as logical data
models, the most common ones being the unifying model
and the frame memory.

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TE (CIS)

Database Management Systems (CS-306)

An abstract representation of real-world objects and

A collection of conceptual tools for describing

The purpose of a data model is to represent data and to

o Why a data model is needed?

Each type of data model represents certain aspects of the

o Three components of a data model

A structural part, consisting of a set of rules according to

A manipulative part, defining the types of operations that

Possibly a set of integrity rules, which ensures that the

o Three broad categories of data models:I.

Object-based data models,

The first two are used to describe data at the conceptual

Object-based Data Models

explicit representation of objects,

However, these models usually lack the means of

Record-based Data Models

Describe the external, conceptual and to some extent, the

specify the overall logical structure of the database and

They have been implemented using a variety of database

There are three principal types of record-based logical

Relational Data Model

Fig 1: A sample relational database

Network Data Model

Fig 2: A sample network database

Hierarchical Data Model

A hierarchical model can be represented as a tree graph,

The principal hierarchical database system is IBMs IMS,

Fig 3: A sample hierarchical database

The network and hierarchical data models still require the

network and hierarchical systems adopt a navigational

Physical Data Models

Physical data models describe how data is stored in the

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