Entity-Relationship (ER) Model

• Database Design Process

• Example Database Application (COMPANY)
• ER Model Concepts
– Entities and Attributes
– Entity Types, Value Sets, and Key Attributes
– Relationships and Relationship Types
– Weak Entity Types
– Roles and Attributes in Relationship Types
• ER Diagrams - Notation
• ER Diagram for COMPANY Schema
Source: Fundamentals of Database Systems by Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe

Slide 3- 1
 Database Design Process

• Two main activities:

– Database design
– Applications design
• Database design
– To design the conceptual schema for a
database application
• Applications design focuses on the programs and
interfaces that access the database
– Generally considered part of software
engineering
Slide 3- 2
 Database Design Process

Slide 3- 3
 Example COMPANY Database

• We need to create a database schema design based

on the following (simplified) requirements of the
COMPANY Database:
– The company is organized into DEPARTMENTs.
Each department has a name, number and an
employee who manages the department. We
keep track of the start date of the department
manager. A department may have several
locations.
– Each department controls a number of PROJECTs.
Each project has a unique name, unique number
and is located at a single location.

Slide 3- 4
 Example COMPANY Database (Contd.)

– We store each EMPLOYEE’s social security

number, address, salary, sex, and birthdate.
• Each employee works for one department but
may work on several projects.
• We keep track of the number of hours per
week that an employee currently works on
each project.
• We also keep track of the direct supervisor of
each employee.
– Each employee may have a number of
DEPENDENTs.
• For each dependent, we keep track of their
name, sex, birthdate, and relationship to the
employee.

Slide 3- 5
 •Usually a noun in singular
ER Model Concepts •Represented by a
rectangle with a label
•First letter in capitals

• Entities and Attributes

– Entities are specific objects or things in
the mini-world that are represented in the database.
• For example the EMPLOYEE John Smith, the Research
DEPARTMENT, the ProductX PROJECT
– Attributes are properties used to describe an entity.
• For example an EMPLOYEE entity may have the attributes
Name, SSN, Address, Sex, BirthDate
– A specific entity will have a value for each of its attributes.
• For example a specific employee entity may have
Name='John Smith', SSN='123456789', Address ='731,
Fondren, Houston, TX', Sex='M', BirthDate='09-JAN-55‘
– Each attribute has a value set (or data type) associated
with it – e.g. integer, string, subrange, enumerated type,
…

Slide 3- 6
 Types of Attributes (1)

• Simple
– Each entity has a single atomic value for the attribute. For
example, SSN or Sex.
• Composite
– The attribute may be composed of several components. For
example:
• Address(Apt#, House#, Street, City, State, ZipCode, Country),
or
• Name(FirstName, MiddleName, LastName).
• Composition may form a hierarchy where some components
are themselves composite.
• Multi-valued
– An entity may have multiple values for that attribute. For
example, Color of a CAR or PreviousDegrees of a STUDENT.
• Denoted as {Color} or {PreviousDegrees}.

Slide 3- 7
 Types of Attributes (2)

• In general, composite and multi-valued

attributes may be nested arbitrarily to any
number of levels, although this is rare.
– For example, PreviousDegrees of a STUDENT
is a composite multi-valued attribute denoted
by {PreviousDegrees (College, Year, Degree,
Field)}
– Multiple PreviousDegrees values can exist
– Each has four subcomponent attributes:
• College, Year, Degree, Field

Slide 3- 8
 Example of a composite attribute

Slide 3- 9
 Entity Types and Key Attributes (1)

• Entities with the same basic attributes are

grouped or typed into an entity type.
– For example, the entity type EMPLOYEE
and PROJECT.
• An attribute of an entity type for which
each entity must have a unique value is
called a key attribute of the entity type.
– For example, SSN of EMPLOYEE.

Slide 3- 10
 Entity Types and Key Attributes (2)

• A key attribute may be composite.

– VehicleTagNumber is a key of the CAR entity
type with components (Number, State).
• An entity type may have more than one key.
– The CAR entity type may have two keys:
• VehicleIdentificationNumber (popularly
called VIN)
• VehicleTagNumber (Number, State), aka
license plate number.
• Each key is underlined
Slide 3- 11
 Displaying an Entity type

• In ER diagrams, an entity type is displayed in a

rectangular box
• Attributes are displayed in ovals
– Each attribute is connected to its entity type
– Components of a composite attribute are
connected to the oval representing the
composite attribute
– Each key attribute is underlined
– Multivalued attributes displayed in double
ovals
• See CAR example on next slide

Slide 3- 12
 Entity Type CAR with two keys and a
corresponding Entity Set

Slide 3- 13
 Entity Set

• Each entity type will have a collection of entities

stored in the database
– Called the entity set
• Previous slide shows three CAR entity instances
in the entity set for CAR
• Same name (CAR) used to refer to both the
entity type and the entity set
• Entity set is the current state of the entities of
that type that are stored in the database

Slide 3- 14
 Initial Design of Entity Types for the COMPANY
Database Schema

• Based on the requirements, we can identify four

initial entity types in the COMPANY database:
– DEPARTMENT
– PROJECT
– EMPLOYEE
– DEPENDENT
• Their initial design is shown on the following
slide
• The initial attributes shown are derived from the
requirements description
Slide 3- 15
 Initial Design of Entity Types:
EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT, PROJECT, DEPENDENT

Slide 3- 16
 Refining the initial design by introducing
relationships

• The initial design is typically not complete

• Some aspects in the requirements will be
represented as relationships
• ER model has three main concepts:
– Entities (and their entity types and entity sets)
– Attributes (simple, composite, multivalued)
– Relationships (and their relationship types and
relationship sets)

Slide 3- 17
 Relationships and Relationship Types (1)

• A relationship relates two or more distinct entities with

a specific meaning.
– For example, EMPLOYEE John Smith works on the ProductX
PROJECT, or EMPLOYEE Franklin Wong manages the
Research DEPARTMENT.
• Relationships of the same type are grouped or typed into
a relationship type.
– For example, the WORKS_ON relationship type in which
EMPLOYEEs and PROJECTs participate, or the MANAGES
relationship type in which EMPLOYEEs and DEPARTMENTs
participate.
• The degree of a relationship type is the number of
participating entity types.
– Both MANAGES and WORKS_ON are binary relationships.

Slide 3- 18
Relationship instances of the WORKS_FOR N:1 relationship
between EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT

Slide 3- 19
 Relationship instances of the M:N WORKS_ON
relationship between EMPLOYEE and PROJECT

Slide 3- 20
 Relationship type vs. relationship set (1)

• Relationship Type:
– Is the schema description of a relationship
– Identifies the relationship name and the
participating entity types
– Also identifies certain relationship constraints
• Relationship Set:
– The current set of relationship instances
represented in the database
– The current state of a relationship type
Slide 3- 21
 Relationship type vs. relationship set (2)

• Previous figures displayed the relationship sets

• Each instance in the set relates individual
participating entities – one from each
participating entity type
• In ER diagrams, we represent the relationship
type as follows:
– Diamond-shaped box is used to display a
relationship type
– Connected to the participating entity types via
straight lines

Slide 3- 22
 Refining the COMPANY database schema by
introducing relationships

• By examining the requirements, six relationship types

are identified
• All are binary relationships( degree 2)
• Listed below with their participating entity types:
– WORKS_FOR (between EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT)
– MANAGES (also between EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT)
– CONTROLS (between DEPARTMENT, PROJECT)
– WORKS_ON (between EMPLOYEE, PROJECT)
– SUPERVISION (between EMPLOYEE (as subordinate),
EMPLOYEE (as supervisor))
– DEPENDENTS_OF (between EMPLOYEE, DEPENDENT)

Slide 3- 23
 ER DIAGRAM – Relationship Types are:
WORKS_FOR, MANAGES, WORKS_ON, CONTROLS, SUPERVISION, DEPENDENTS_OF

Slide 3- 24
 Discussion on Relationship Types

• In the refined design, some attributes from the initial

entity types are refined into relationships:
– Manager of DEPARTMENT -> MANAGES
– Works_on of EMPLOYEE -> WORKS_ON
– Department of EMPLOYEE -> WORKS_FOR
– etc
• In general, more than one relationship type can exist
between the same participating entity types
– MANAGES and WORKS_FOR are distinct relationship types
between EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT
– Different meanings and different relationship instances.

Slide 3- 25
 Recursive Relationship Type

• An relationship type whose with the same participating

entity type in distinct roles
• Example: the SUPERVISION relationship
• EMPLOYEE participates twice in two distinct roles:
– supervisor (or boss) role
– supervisee (or subordinate) role
• Each relationship instance relates two distinct EMPLOYEE
entities:
– One employee in supervisor role
– One employee in supervisee role

Slide 3- 26
 Weak Entity Types

• An entity that does not have a key attribute

• A weak entity must participate in an identifying relationship type
with an owner or identifying entity type
• Entities are identified by the combination of:
– A partial key of the weak entity type
– The particular entity they are related to in the identifying entity
type
• Example:
– A DEPENDENT entity is identified by the dependent’s first name,
and the specific EMPLOYEE with whom the dependent is related
– Name of DEPENDENT is the partial key
– DEPENDENT is a weak entity type
– EMPLOYEE is its identifying entity type via the identifying
relationship type DEPENDENT_OF

Slide 3- 27
 Constraints on Relationships

• Constraints on Relationship Types

– (Also known as ratio constraints)
– Cardinality Ratio (specifies maximum participation)
• One-to-one (1:1)
• One-to-many (1:N) or Many-to-one (N:1)
• Many-to-many (M:N)
– Existence Dependency Constraint (specifies minimum
participation) (also called participation constraint)
• zero (optional participation, not existence-dependent)
• one or more (mandatory participation, existence-dependent)

Slide 3- 28
 Many-to-one (N:1) Relationship

Slide 3- 29
 Many-to-many (M:N) Relationship

Slide 3- 30
 Displaying a recursive relationship

• In a recursive relationship type.

– Both participations are same entity type in
different roles.
– For example, SUPERVISION relationships
between EMPLOYEE (in role of supervisor or
boss) and (another) EMPLOYEE (in role of
subordinate or worker).
• In following figure, first role participation labeled
with 1 and second role participation labeled with
2.
• In ER diagram, need to display role names to
distinguish participations.

Slide 3- 31
 A Recursive Relationship Supervision`

Slide 3- 32
 Recursive Relationship Type is: SUPERVISION
(participation role names are shown)

Slide 3- 33
 Attributes of Relationship types

• A relationship type can have attributes:

– For example, HoursPerWeek of WORKS_ON
– Its value for each relationship instance describes
the number of hours per week that an EMPLOYEE
works on a PROJECT.
• A value of HoursPerWeek depends on a
particular (employee, project) combination
– Most relationship attributes are used with M:N
relationships
• In 1:N relationships, they can be transferred to
the entity type on the N-side of the
relationship

Slide 3- 34
 Example Attribute of a Relationship Type:
Hours of WORKS_ON

Slide 3- 35
 Notation for Constraints on Relationships

• Cardinality ratio (of a binary relationship): 1:1,

1:N, N:1, or M:N
– Shown by placing appropriate numbers on the
relationship edges.
• Participation constraint (on each participating
entity type): total (called existence dependency)
or partial.
– Total shown by double line, partial by single
line.
• NOTE: These are easy to specify for Binary
Relationship Types.

Slide 3- 36
 Alternative (min, max) notation for
relationship structural constraints:

• Specified on each participation of an entity type E in a relationship

type R
• Specifies that each entity e in E participates in at least min and at
most max relationship instances in R
• Default(no constraint): min=0, max=n (signifying no limit)
• Must have minmax, min0, max 1
• Derived from the knowledge of mini-world constraints
• Examples:
– A department has exactly one manager and an employee can
manage at most one department.
• Specify (0,1) for participation of EMPLOYEE in MANAGES
• Specify (1,1) for participation of DEPARTMENT in MANAGES
– An employee can work for exactly one department but a
department can have any number of employees.
• Specify (1,1) for participation of EMPLOYEE in WORKS_FOR
• Specify (0,n) for participation of DEPARTMENT in WORKS_FOR

Slide 3- 37
 The (min,max) notation for relationship
constraints

Read the min,max numbers next to the entity type and looking
away from the entity type

Slide 3- 38
COMPANY ER Schema Diagram using (min, max)
notation

Slide 3- 39
 Alternative diagrammatic notation

• ER diagrams is one popular example for

displaying database schemas
• Many other notations exist in the literature and
in various database design and modeling tools
• Appendix A illustrates some of the alternative
notations that have been used
• UML class diagrams is representative of another
way of displaying ER concepts that is used in
several commercial design tools

Slide 3- 40
 Summary of notation for ER diagrams

Slide 3- 41
 UML class diagrams

• Represent classes (similar to entity types) as large

rounded boxes with three sections:
– Top section includes entity type (class) name
– Second section includes attributes
– Third section includes class operations (operations are not
in basic ER model)
• Relationships (called associations) represented as lines
connecting the classes
– Other UML terminology also differs from ER terminology
• Used in database design and object-oriented software
design
• UML has many other types of diagrams for software
design (see Chapter 12)

Slide 3- 42
 UML class diagram for COMPANY database
schema

Slide 3- 43
 Other alternative diagrammatic notations

Slide 3- 44
 Relationships of Higher Degree

• Relationship types of degree 2 are called binary

• Relationship types of degree 3 are called ternary
and of degree n are called n-ary
• In general, an n-ary relationship is not
equivalent to n binary relationships
• Constraints are harder to specify for higher-
degree relationships (n > 2) than for binary
relationships

Slide 3- 45
 Discussion of n-ary relationships (n > 2)

• In general, 3 binary relationships can represent different

information than a single ternary relationship (see Figure
3.17a and b on next slide)
• If needed, the binary and n-ary relationships can all be
included in the schema design (see Figure 3.17a and b,
where all relationships convey different meanings)
• In some cases, a ternary relationship can be represented
as a weak entity if the data model allows a weak entity
type to have multiple identifying relationships (and
hence multiple owner entity types) (see Figure 3.17c)

Slide 3- 46
 Example of a ternary relationship

Slide 3- 47
 Discussion of n-ary relationships (n > 2)

• If a particular binary relationship can be derived

from a higher-degree relationship at all times,
then it is redundant
• For example, the TAUGHT_DURING binary
relationship in Figure 3.18 (see next slide) can
be derived from the ternary relationship OFFERS
(based on the meaning of the relationships)

Slide 3- 48
 Another example of a ternary relationship

Slide 3- 49
 Displaying constraints on higher-degree
relationships

• The (min, max) constraints can be displayed on the

edges – however, they do not fully describe the
constraints
• Displaying a 1, M, or N indicates additional constraints
– An M or N indicates no constraint
– A 1 indicates that an entity can participate in at most one
relationship instance that has a particular combination of
the other participating entities
• In general, both (min, max) and 1, M, or N are needed
to describe fully the constraints

Slide 3- 50
 Data Modeling Tools

• A number of popular tools that cover conceptual

modeling and mapping into relational schema design.
– Examples: ERWin, S- Designer (Enterprise Application
Suite), ER- Studio, etc.
• POSITIVES:
– Serves as documentation of application requirements, easy
user interface - mostly graphics editor support
• NEGATIVES:
– Most tools lack a proper distinct notation for relationships
with relationship attributes
– Mostly represent a relational design in a diagrammatic
form rather than a conceptual ER-based design
(See Chapter 12 for details)

Slide 3- 51
 Some of the Currently Available
Automated Database Design Tools
COMPANY TOOL FUNCTIONALITY
Embarcadero ER Studio Database Modeling in ER and IDEF1X
Technologies
DB Artisan Database administration, space and security
management
Oracle Developer 2000/Designer 2000 Database modeling, application development
Popkin System Architect 2001 Data modeling, object modeling, process modeling,
Software structured analysis/design
Platinum Enterprise Modeling Suite: Data, process, and business component modeling
(Computer Erwin, BPWin, Paradigm Plus
Associates)
Persistence Pwertier Mapping from O-O to relational model
Inc.
Rational (IBM) Rational Rose UML Modeling & application generation in C++/JAVA
Resolution Ltd. Xcase Conceptual modeling up to code maintenance
Sybase Enterprise Application Suite Data modeling, business logic modeling
Visio Visio Enterprise Data modeling, design/reengineering Visual Basic/C++
Slide 3- 52
 Extended Entity-Relationship (EER) Model
(in next chapter)

• The entity relationship model in its original form

did not support the specialization and
generalization abstractions
• Next chapter illustrates how the ER model can
be extended with
– Type-subtype and set-subset relationships
– Specialization/Generalization Hierarchies
– Notation to display them in EER diagrams

Slide 3- 53
 Chapter Summary

• ER Model Concepts: Entities, attributes,

relationships
• Constraints in the ER model
• Using ER in step-by-step conceptual schema
design for the COMPANY database
• ER Diagrams - Notation
• Alternative Notations – UML class diagrams,
others

Slide 3- 54
 ER Model to Relational Mapping

Company ER Diagram Company Relation Schema

Step 1: Converting Strong entity types

• Each entity type becomes a table

• Each single-valued attribute becomes a column
• Derived attributes are ignored
• Composite attributes are represented by
components
• Multi-valued attributes are represented by a
separate table
• The key attribute of the entity type becomes the
primary key of the table
Strong Entity Type Mapping
 Step2 : Multivalued Attribute

• For each multivalued attribute A, create a new

relation R.
• This relation R will include an attribute
corresponding to A, plus the primary key
attribute K—as a foreign key in R—of the relation
that represents the entity type or relationship
type that has A as a multivalued attribute.
• The primary key of R is the combination of A
and K. If the multivalued attribute is composite,
include its simple components.
Multivalued Attribute
 Step3: Mapping of Weak Entity Types

• For each weak entity type W with owner entity

type E
– create relation R including all simple attributes
and simple component attributes of W
– include primary key of E’s corresponding
relation as a foreign key in W
– primary key of R is combination of foreign key
from E and W’s partial key
 Step 4: Mapping of Binary 1:1
Relationship Types.

For each binary 1:1 relationship type R in the ER

schema, identify the relations S and T that
correspond to the entity types participating in R.
There are three possible approaches:
(1) Foreign key approach
(2) Merged relationship approach
(3) The cross-reference or relationship relation
approach.
 Foreign key approach
• Choose one of the relations—S, say—and include as a foreign key in S
the primary key of T. It is better to choose an entity type with total
participation in R in the role of S.
• Include all the simple attributes of the 1:1 relationship type R as
attributes of S.
 Merged relation approach:

• An alternative mapping of a 1:1 relationship

• type is to merge the two entity types and the
relationship into a single relation.
• This is possible when both participations are
total
 Cross-reference or relationship relation
approach.

• The third option is to set up a third relation R for the

purpose of cross-referencing the primary keys of the
two relations S and T representing the entity types
• The relation R is called a relationship relation
• The relation R will include the primary key attributes
of S and T as foreign keys to S and T. The primary
key of R will be one of the two foreign keys, and
the other foreign key will be a unique key of R.
Cross-reference(Example)
 Step 5: Mapping of Binary 1:N
Relationship Types

• For each regular binary 1:N relationship type R,

identify the relation S that represents the
participating entity type at the N-side of the
relationship type. Include as foreign key in S the
primary key of the relation T that represents
the other entity type participating in R
• In our example, map the 1:N relationship types
WORKS_FOR, CONTROLS, and SUPERVISION
Binary 1:N
 Step 6: Mapping of Binary M:N
Relationship Types

• Create a new relation S to represent R. Include

as foreign key attributes in S the primary keys of
the relations that represent the participating
entity types; their combination will form the
primary key of S.
• Include any simple attributes of the M:N
relationship type as attributes of S
Binary M:N
Step 7: Mapping of N-ary Relationship
Types

• For each n-ary relationship type R, where n > 2,

create a new relation S to represent R.
• Include as foreign key attributes in S the primary
keys of the relations that represent the
participating entity types.
• Also include any simple attributes of the n-ary
relationship type as attributes of S
• The primary key of S is usually a combination of
all the foreign keys that reference the relations
representing the participating entity types
sname quantity JobName

supplier supply job

PartNum

part
Tables that already exist:
Supplier (sname, …)
Job (jname, …)
Part (partNum, …)
Add new Table:
Supply (sname, jname, partNum, quantity, …)
sname is FK -> Supplier (sname)
jname is FK -> Job (jname)
partNum is FK -> Part (partNum)
 Binary version of n-ary example

sname quantity JobName

N M
supplier Supplies job

N N

PartNum
Can supply Uses

M M
part

74
 Solution to binary version of n-ary

Supplier (sname, …)
Job (jname, …)
Part (partNum, …)

Supplies (sname, jname)

Can_supply (sname, partNum)
Uses (partNum, jname)

75
 Constraints

• CREATE TABLE emp_demo2 ( employee_id

NUMBER(6) PRIMARY KEY, first_name
VARCHAR2(20) NOT NULL, last_name
VARCHAR2(25) NOT NULL, email
VARCHAR2(25) UNIQUE, phone_number
VARCHAR2(20) UNIQUE, job_id
VARCHAR2(10), salary NUMBER(8,2)
CHECK(SALARY>0), deptid NUMBER(4)
);
 Constraints with Name
CREATE TABLE emp_demo3
( employee_id NUMBER(6) CONSTRAINT emp_eid PRIMARY
KEY,
first_name VARCHAR2(20),
last_name VARCHAR2(25) CONSTRAINT emp_last_name_nn
NOT NULL,
email VARCHAR2(25) CONSTRAINT emp_email_nn NOT
NULL,
phone_number VARCHAR2(20), job_id VARCHAR2(10)
CONSTRAINT emp_job_nn NOT NULL, salary
NUMBER(8,2) CONSTRAINT emp_salary_nn NOT NULL,
deptid NUMBER(4), CONSTRAINT emp_dept FOREIGN
KEY(deptid) REFERENCES department(deptid) ,
CONSTRAINT emp_salary_min CHECK (salary > 0) ,
CONSTRAINT emp_email_uk UNIQUE (email) );
 CREATE TABLE emp_demo4 ( emp_id
NUMBER(6), emp_name VARCHAR2(15),
salary NUMBER(10) CHECK (salary between
1000 and 10000)
);
 Adding Constriants

ALTER TABLE <tablename> ADD CONSTRAINT <constraint_name> constriant_type (<column

name>);

Examples:

ALTER TABLE emp_demo4 ADD CONSTRAINT con_pk1 PRIMARY KEY(emp_id);

ALTER TABLE emp_demo4 ADD CONSTRAINT con_emp_uk UNIQUE(phoneno);

ALTER TABLE emp_demo4 ADD CONSTRAINT con_empfk FOREIGN KEY(DNO) REFERENCES

department(dno);

ALTER TABLE emp_demo4 ADD CONSTRAINT con_emp_ck CHECK ( salary >0 );

ALTER TABLE emp_demo4 MODIFY (<Column name> <datatype> CONSTRAINT constraint_name NOT
NULL);
 Drop Constraints

• ALTER TABLE <tablename> DROP

CONSTRAINT < constraint name
• ALTER TABLE employees DROP UNIQUE (email);
 ON DELETE CASCADE
A foreign key with a cascade delete means that if a record in the parent table is deleted,
then the corresponding records in the child table will automatically be deleted. This is
called a cascade delete.
CREATE TABLE supplier
(supplier_id number(10)not null,
supplier_namevarchar2(50)not null,
contact_namevarchar2(50),
CONSTRAINT supplier_pk PRIMARY KEY (supplier_id));

CREATE TABLE products

(product_id number(10)not null,
suppl_id number(10) not null,
CONSTRAINT fk_supplier FOREIGN KEY (suppl_id) REFERENCES
supplier(supplier_id) ON DELETE CASCADE);
Because of the cascade delete, when a record with a particular
supplier_ id is deleted from supplier table , then all the records of the
same supplier_id will be deleted from products table also.
 On Delete set null/On Delete Set
Default

• A foreign key with "set null on delete" means

that if a record in the parent table is deleted,
then the corresponding records in the child table
will have the foreign key fields set to null.
The records in the child table will not be
deleted.

• create table Users ( UserID int primary key,

UserName varchar(100), ThemeID int default 1
constraint Users_ThemeID_FK references
Themes(ThemeID) on delete set default )