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Modern Database Management
Thirteenth Edition
Chapter 3
The Enhanced E-R Model
Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
3.1 Define terms
3.2 Understand use of supertype/subtype relationships
3.3 Use specialization and generalization techniques
3.4 Specify completeness and disjointness constraints
3.5 Develop supertype/subtype hierarchies for business situations
3.6 Develop entity clusters
Supertypes and Subtypes
• Enhanced E-R (EER) model: extends original E-R model with
new modeling constructs
• Subtype: A subgrouping of the entities in an entity type that
has attributes distinct from those in other subgroupings
• Supertype: A generic entity type that has a relationship with
one or more subtypes
• Attribute Inheritance:
– Subtype entities inherit values of all attributes and
relationships of the supertype
– An instance of a subtype is also an instance of the
supertype
Figure 3-1 Basic Notation for
Supertype/Subtype Notation (1 of 2)
a) EER notation
Figure 3-1 Basic Notation for
Supertype/Subtype Notation (2 of 2)
b) Microsoft Visio Notation
Figure 3-2 Employee Supertype with Three
Subtypes
All employee subtypes will have employee number, name, address,
and date hired
Each employee subtype will also have its own attributes
Relationships and Subtypes
• Relationships at the supertype level indicate that all
subtypes will participate in the relationship
• The instances of a subtype may participate in a
relationship unique to that subtype. In this situation, the
relationship is shown at the subtype level
Figure 3-3 Supertype/Subtype Relationships
in a Hospital
Generalization and Specialization
• Generalization: The process of defining a more general
entity type from a set of more specialized entity types.
BOTTOM-UP
• Specialization: The process of defining one or more
subtypes of the supertype and forming supertype/subtype
relationships. TOP-DOWN
Figure 3-4 Example of Generalization (1 of 2)
a) Three entity types: CAR, TRUCK, and MOTORCYCLE
All these types of vehicles have common attributes
Figure 3-4 Example of Generalization (2 of 2)
b) Generalization to VEHICLE supertype
We put the shared attributes in a supertype. Note: no subtype for
motorcycle, since it has no unique attributes
Figure 3-5 Example of Specialization (1 of 2)
a) Entity type PART
Note: Routing Number only applies if part is manufactured in house.
Supplier only applies if part is purchased from a supplier.
Figure 3-5 Example of Specialization (2 of 2)
b) Specialization to MANUFACTURED PART and PURCHASED PART
Multivalued composite attribute replaced by associative entity
relationship to another entity
Constraints in Supertype/Subtype
Relationships
• Completeness Constraints: Whether an instance of a
supertype must also be a member of at least one
subtype
– Total Specialization Rule: Yes (double line)
– Partial Specialization Rule: No (single line)
Figure 3-6 Examples of Completeness
Constraints (1 of 2)
a) Total specialization rule
Figure 3-6 Examples of Completeness
b) Partial specialization rule
Relationships (1 of 2)
• Disjointness Constraints: Whether an instance of a
supertype may simultaneously be a member of two (or
more) subtypes
– Disjoint Rule: An instance of the supertype can be
only ONE of the subtypes
– Overlap Rule: An instance of the supertype could be
more than one of the subtypes
Figure 3-7 Examples of Disjointness
a) Disjoint rule
Figure 3-7 Examples of Disjointness
b) Overlap rule
Relationships (2 of 2)
• Subtype Discriminator: An attribute of the supertype
whose values determine the target subtype(s)
– Disjoint – a simple attribute with alternative values to
indicate the possible subtypes
– Overlapping – a composite attribute whose subparts
pertain to different subtypes. Each subpart contains a
Boolean value to indicate whether or not the instance
belongs to the associated subtype
Figure 3-8 Introducing a Subtype
Discriminator (Disjoint Rule)
Figure 3-9 Subtype Discriminator (Overlap
Rule)
Figure 3-10 Example of Supertype/Subtype
Hierarchy
Entity Clusters
• EER diagrams are difficult to read when there are too
many entities and relationships.
• Solution: Group entities and relationships into entity
clusters.
• Entity cluster: Set of one or more entity types and
associated relationships grouped into a single abstract
entity type
Figure 3-13 Entity Clustering for Pine
Valley Furniture Company (1 of 2)
a) Possible entity clusters
(using Microsoft Visio)
Related groups of entities
could become clusters
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Modern Database Management

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