Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

Module -4
Functional Dependencies & Normalization for Relational
Databases
Functional Dependence:
- The attribute B is functionally dependent on A if A determines B. “A determines B”
indicates that knowing the value of attribute A means that we can look up (determine)
the value of attribute B. In this case, attribute A is the called the determinant.
- For example, knowing the PROD_CODE in the PRODUCT table in Figure 1 means
we can look up the product’s description, product price and so on. The notation we use
for “A determines B” is:

AB if A determines B
A  B, C, D if A determines B, C & D

Using the above example, we have

PROD_CODE  PROD_DESCRIPT

Table Name: PRODUCT

Primary Key: PROD_CODE
Foreign Key: VEND_CODE

PROD_CODE PROD_DESCRIPT PROD_PRICE PROD_ON_HAND VEND_CODE

001278-AB Claw Hammer 12.95 23 232
123-21UUY Chain Saw 189.49 4 235
QER-34256 Sledge Hammer 18.63 6 231
SRE-657OG Rat-Tail File 2.99 15 232
77x-3245Q Steel Tape 6.79 8 235
Figure 1: PRODUCT Table

- As another example, note that PROD_PRICE attribute is functionally dependent on

PROD_CODE since, for example, PROD_CODE value 001278-AB determines the
PROD_PRICE value 12.95 (that is, PROD_CODE determines PROD_PRICE).
- As a rule, note that the primary key determines every other attribute in the table.
- Question: is PROD_CODE functionally dependent on VEND_CODE?

- Normalization
- Normalization is a technique used to design table structures in which data redundancies
are minimized/eliminated.

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 1

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

- Normalization works through a series of stages called normal forms. The first three stages
are described as first normal form (1NF), second normal form (2NF), and third normal
form (3NF).
- From a structural point of view, 2NF is better than 1NF, and 3NF is better than 2NF.
- For most business database design purposes, 3NF is as high as we need to go in the
normalization process.
- You should not assume that the highest level of normalization is always the most
desirable. Generally, the higher the normal form, the more joins are required to produce a
specified output and the more slowly the database responds to end user demands.
Therefore, you will occasionally be expected to denormalize some table structures to
avoid performance degradation.
- Denormalization is the reverse process of normalization and it produces a lower normal
form; that is, 3NF can be denormalized to 2NF and 2NF can be denormalized to 1NF.

- The Need For Normalization

- To understand the benefits of normalization, let us consider a poorly designed table of a

contracting company with many data redundancies as shown in Figure 2.

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR HOURS

15 Evergreen 103 J. Arbough E. Engineer $84.50 23.8
101 J. News DB Designer $105.00 19.4
105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 35.7
106 W. Smithfield Programmer $35.75 12.6
102 D. Senior S. Analyst $96.75 23.8
18 Amber Wave 114 A. Jones A. Designer $48.10 24.6
105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 20.0
118 J. Frommer G. Support $18.36 45.3
104 A. Ramoras S. Analyst $96.75 32.4
22 Rolling Tide 105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 64.7
104 A. Ramoras S. Analyst $96.75 48.4
113 D. Joenbrood A. Designer $48.10 23.6
106 W. Smithfield Programmer $35.75 12.8
25 Starflight 107 M. Alonzo Programmer $35.75 24.6
115 T. Bawangi S. Analyst $96.75 45.8
101 J. News DB Designer $105.00 56.3
105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 30.0
Figure 2: Poorly Designed Table

- The table in Figure 2 contains information about projects and employees working on
these projects. This table does not conform to the Relational Database Model we learned
in Chapter 5 for the following reasons:

1. It contains information about two entities: PROJECT and EMPLOYEE.

2. The project number (PROJ_NUM) is intended to be the primary key, or at least a
part of a primary key, but it contains nulls.

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 2

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

3. The table contains data redundancies: EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR,

etc.
4. Table entries invite data inconsistencies. For example, JOB_CLASS value
“E. Engineer” in one row may be accidentally entered as E.Engineer in another
row causing data inconsistencies.
5. The data redundancies yield the following anomalies (anamoly means that change
is made in multiple places):

a. Update anomalies: Modifying the CHG_HOUR for employee number

(EMP_NUM) 105 for the Evergreen project for example requires updating
the CHG_HOUR for the same employee in the other projects.
b. Insertion anomalies: Employee data for employee number 105 is inserted
many times in the table.
c. Deletion anomalies: If employee 105 quits, not only he will be deleted
from the Evergreen project, but he will also be deleted from the other
projects (that is, a total of 4 deletions are required).

- Conversion To First Normal Form (1NF)

- A table is said to be in 1NF if it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It contains a primary key to uniquely identify each row.

2. There are no repeating groups. In other words, each row/column intersection can
contain one and only one value, not a set of values. Note that the table in Figure 2
contains repeating groups because any project number (PROJ_NUM) can have a
group of several data entries. For example, the Evergreen project’s entries are
shown in Figure 3:

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR HOURS

15 Evergreen 103 J. Arbough E Engineer $84.50 23.8
101 J. News DB Designer $105.00 19.4
105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 35.7
106 W. Smithfield Programmer $35.75 12.6
102 D. Senior S. Analyst $96.75 23.8
Figure 3: Example Repeating Group

3. All attributes are dependent on the primary key. Note that the primary key
determines any other attribute in the table.

- Note that all tables conforming to the Relational Model we learned in Chapter 5 are in
1NF by default.

- Figure 4 below displays the conversion of the table in Figure 2 to 1NF by satisfying the above
three conditions.

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 3

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR HOURS

15 Evergreen 103 J. Arbough E Engineer $84.50 23.8
15 Evergreen 101 J. News DB Designer $105.00 19.4
15 Evergreen 105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 35.7
15 Evergreen 106 W. Smithfield Programmer $35.75 12.6
15 Evergreen 102 D. Senior S. Analyst $96.75 23.8
18 Amber Wave 114 A. Jones A. Designer $48.10 24.6
18 Amber Wave 105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 20.0
18 Amber Wave 118 J. Frommer G. Support $18.36 45.3
18 Amber Wave 104 A. Ramoras S. Analyst $96.75 32.4
22 Rolling Tide 105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 64.7
22 Rolling Tide 104 A. Ramoras S. Analyst $96.75 48.4
22 Rolling Tide 113 D. Joenbrood A. Designer $48.10 23.6
22 Rolling Tide 106 W. Smithfield Programmer $35.75 12.8
25 Starflight 107 M. Alonzo Programmer $35.75 24.6
25 Starflight 115 T. Bawangi S. Analyst $96.75 45.8
25 Starflight 101 J. News DB Designer $105.00 56.3
25 Starflight 105 A. Johnson DB Designer $105.00 30.0
Figure 4: The Table in Figure 1 in 1NF

- Note that the table in Figure 4 satisfies the three conditions. The first condition is satisfied
because the table has a composite primary key consisting of the key attributes PROJ_NUM
and EMP_NUM. The second condition is satisfied because the table no longer contains
repeating groups. The third condition is satisfied because any attribute is dependent on the
primary key. For example, EMP_NAME is dependent on the primary key PROJ_NUM,
EMP_NUM because if we know PROJ_NUM and EMP_NUM (15 and 103 for example), we
can determine EMP_NAME (J. Arbough).

- Dependencies between attributes for the table in Figure 4 can be identified with the help of
the dependency diagram as shown in Figure 5 below:

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR HOURS

Partial Dependency Transitive
Dependency

Figure 5: A Dependency Diagram: First Normal Form (1NF)

- Note the following about the dependency diagram in Figure 5:

1. The primary key is bold and underlined.

2. The arrows above attributes include all desirable dependencies. These dependencies can
be expressed as follows:

PROJ_NUM, EMP_NUM  PROJ_NAME, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR, HOURS

PROJ_NUM  PROJ_NAME
EMP_NUM  EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 4

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53
JOB_CLASS  CHG_HOUR

3. The arrows below the dependency diagram indicate less desirable dependencies:

a. Partial Dependencies: This applies to composite primary keys (a composite

primary key is a primary key that consists of more that one attribute) where the
value of an attribute is only dependent on part of the primary key. For example,
PROJ_NAME is dependent on PROJ_NUM, which forms part of the primary key
(if we know PROJ_NUM, we can determine PROJ_NAME). Dependencies based
on only a part of a composite primary key are called partial dependencies.
b. Transitive Dependencies: Looking at Figure 5, note that CHG_HOUR is
dependent on JOB_CLASS. Because neither CHG_HOUR nor JOB_CLASS is a
key attribute, we have a condition known as transitive dependency. In other words,
a transitive dependency is a dependency of one nonkey attribute on another
nonkey attribute.

- Conversion To Second Normal Form (2NF)

- A table is said to be in second normal form (2NF) if it satisfies the following conditions:

1. It is in 1NF.
2. It includes no partial dependencies; that is, no attribute is dependent on a portion of the
primary key.

- Let us convert the table in Figure 4 from 1NF to 2NF. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Write each key attribute (recall from Chapter 2 that a key attribute is an attribute
that is part of the key) on a separate line, then write the primary key on the last
line:

PROJ_NUM
EMP_NUM
PROJ_NUM EMP_NUM

The attributes on each line will become keys in a new table. In other words, the
original table is now split into three tables. We’ll call these tables PROJECT,
EMPLOYEE and ASSIGN respectively.
2. The attribute(s) on each line will form the primary key for the new tables. The
rest of the attributes for each table can be determined from the dependency
diagram:

PROJECT(PROJ_NUM, PROJ_NAME) because in the dependency diagram in

Figure 5, PROJ_NUM  PROJ_NAME
EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR) because
in the dependency diagram in Figure 5, EMP_NUM  EMP_NAME,
JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 5

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

ASSIGN(PROJ_NUM, EMP_NUM, HOURS) because in the dependency

diagram in Figure 5, PROJ_NUM, EMP_NUM  HOURS

- Note that the new tables are in 2NF because each table is in 1NF and none of the tables
contain partial dependencies. The dependency diagram for the new tables is shown in Figure
6:

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME Table Name: PROJECT

EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR Table Name: EMPLOYEE

Transitive
Dependency

EMP_NUM PROJ_NUM HOURS Table Name: ASSIGN

Figure 6: Second Normal Form (2NF) Conversion Results

- Note that the conversion to 2NF did not eliminate the transitive dependency (the conversion
to 3NF will eliminate it). This dependency causes data redundancy if multiple employees
have the same JOB_CLASS and it will therefore create the data anomalies we learned in
Chapter 1.

- Because a partial dependency applies only to tables with composite primary keys, a table
whose primary key consists of only a single attribute must automatically be in 2NF if it is in
1NF.

- Conversion To Third Normal Form (3NF)

- To eliminate the transitive dependency, the table must be converted to 3NF. A table is said to
be in 3NF if it satisfies the following two conditions:

1. It it is in 2NF.
2. It contains no transitive dependencies.

- Note that in Figure 6, the EMPLOYEE table is the one that contains transitive dependency:

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 6

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

EMPLOYEE(EMP_NUM, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR)

EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR Table Name: EMPLOYEE

Transitive
Dependency

- To eliminate the transitive dependency, simply move the attributes causing data redundancy
(namely JOB_CLASS and CHG_HOUR) into a new table called JOB. Then in the
EMPLOYEE table, define a foreign key that will be used to link it to the JOB table. In this
case, the foreign key will be JOB_CLASS. The result of the conversion to 3NF will be the
following tables:

PROJ_NUM PROJ_NAME Table Name: PROJECT

EMP_NUM EMP_NAME JOB_CLASS Table Name: EMPLOYEE

JOB_CLASS CHG_HOUR Table Name: JOB

EMP_NUM PROJ_NUM HOURS Table Name: ASSIGN

- Note that the conversion to 3NF has eliminated the original EMPLOYEE table’s transitive
dependency; the tables are now said to be in third normal form (3NF).

- The Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCFN)

- A table T is said to be in Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCFN) if every determinant in the

table is a superkey of T.
- Note that every table in BCNF is also in 3NF, however, a table in 3NF is not necessarily
in BCNF (see following example).
- A table that is in 3NF violates BCNF if it contains a nonkey that is the determinant of a
key attribute. This situation can be illustrated using the example in Figure 7 below:

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 7

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

A B C D

Figure 7: A Table That is In 3NF But Not In BCNF

- Note the following functional dependencies about Figure 7:

A, B  C, D
CB

- Note that the table structure in Figure 7 has no partial dependencies nor does it contain
transitive dependencies (Note that C  B indicates that a nonkey attribute determines a
key attribute and this dependency is neither partial nor transitive).
- Therefore, the table structure in Figure 7 is in 3NF but not in BCNF because of the
dependency C  B.
- To convert the table structure in Figure 7 to BCNF, follow the following procedure:

1. Change the primary key to A, C and create table containing A, C and D.

2. Create another table containing C as the primary key and B. Note that C will also
serve as the foreign key to link this table to the table created in step 1.

- The conversion to BCNF is shown in Figure 8.

A C D

C B

Figure 8: The Decomposition of a Table Structure To Meet BCNF Requirements

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 8

Module-IV DBMS 18CS53

- Let us apply this procedure to the table in Figure 9.

Primary Key: STU_ID,STAFF_ID

STU_ID STAFF_ID CLASS_CODE ENROLL_GRADE
125 25 21334 A
125 20 32456 C
135 20 28458 B
144 25 27563 C
144 20 32456 B
Figure 9: Sample Data For a BCNF Conversion

- Note the following dependencies in Figure 9:

STU_ID, STAFF_ID  CLASS_CODE, ENROLL_GRADE

CLASS_CODE  STAFF_ID

STU_ID STAFF_ID CLASS_CODE ENROLL_GRADE

- The table structure above is in 3NF but not BCNF because CLASS_CODE is a
determinant but not a superkey key. Why? To convert this table structure, we apply the
above procedure by creating two tables. The first table will contain STU_ID,
CLASS_CODE and ENROLL_GRADE (with STU_ID and CLASS_CODE as the primary
key). The second table will contain the attributes CLASS_CODE and STAFF_ID with
CLASS_CODE as the primary key. The result of the conversion to BCNF is shown in
Figure 10 below.

STU_ID CLASS_CODE ENROLL_GRADE

CLASS_CODE STAFF_ID

Figure 10: Conversion To BCNF

SUNIL G L, Asst. Dept. of CSE, SVIT 9