GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES

Exercise#1
Wehaveanapplicationallowingenteringoursalesinrealtimeandknowingthestockavailableat
eachmoment.Wedonothaveacentralwarehouseforourfurniture(stock):allitemsavailablefor
saleareonthefloorofourdifferentshops.Mostifthetimeasaleinvolvesmanyitemsofdifferent
types we have defined a typology of our furniture into Type (living room, bath room, sleeping
room,etc.)andsubtype(table,chair,mattress,etc.).Foreachitemavailableforsalewecanseethe
itemid,itstypeandsubtype,itssupplier,itscost(whichdependsonthesupplierofcourse),itslist
price,andonwhichshopflooritisavailable.WehaveshopsinBrussels,Antwerp,andLilleinFrance.
Asaleisdefinedbyadate,ashopwherethesalesoccurred(notalwaystheshophavingtheitemon
thefloor),avendorthathasdonethesale,theitemssoldandofcoursethesellingpriceofeachitem
sold, which is not always the list price (we apply discount when necessary to get the sale done)".
Designarelationaldatabasethatcansupportthisprocess.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#2
Readcarefullythefollowinginterviewofyourclient:
Weneedtotracehorsesraces,togetherwiththehorseowner(calledaHarras,HarrasduPoitou
forexample).Araceisuniquelyidentifiedbyitsname(GrandPrixdeBersy)anditslocation,which
is identified by its country and region (France, Paris, for example). Horses are identified by their
name(FleurdeSelforexample)theirageandtheHarrastheybelongto.Eachhorseisownedbya
singleHarras.Harrasareidentifiedbytheirname,andlocation,whichisinturnidentifiedbycountry
andregion.Sometimes,wedonotknowthelocationofaHarras,butwealwaysknowthelocationof
arace.Whenaraceholds,wewantkeeptrackofthedateoftherace,theracename,thehorsesthat
participated and for each horse, its rank in the race. Draw the relational database schema that
wouldsupporttheseprocesses.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#3
The FIA (International Automobile Federation) wishes to develop a new database to manage the
results of its main competition: the championship of Formula 1. As everyone knows, the
championshipconsistsofseveraleventswhichtakeplaceinvariouslocationsandoccursatdifferent
timesoftheyear.Thedriverscompetebydrivingincirclesonthetrack(ofadeterminedlength)to
performasetnumberoflapsintheirracingcars.Everyteamisleadbyasportsdirector,hasselected
a certain manufacturer to provide its engines, and has two drivers in the race, each of a certain
nationality.Thedatabasehastoestablishtherankingofeachraceandthechampionshipingeneral
(for convenience, let us consider that the database is intended to manage only a single
championship).Therankingoftheracesisobviouslydeterminedbythepositionofthedriversupon
arrival(undeterminedforthosewhogaveupalongtheway),whiletherankingsofthechampionship
(rankingofthedriversandrankingoftheteamsdependonthenumberofpointsassociatedtoevery
positiononarrival,knowingthatthenumberofpointsassociatedtoapositionisthesameforevery
race.Pleasedrawtherelationalschemaofthedatabasewhichwouldallowtostoreandtomanage
mosteffectivelyallthisinformation.Itisimportantthatyourschemaisnormalized,meaningthatwe
wantittobefreeofanyunnecessaryredundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#4
A company specialized in the distribution of office supplies wishes to develop a database of her
customerstoallowhertoconductmoreproactivemarketingcampaigns.Sheislookingforasystem
whichwillcontainthecoordinatesofallhercustomersandthehistoryofallthecontactsthattook
placebetweenacustomerandastaffmember.Everycontactwillbecharacterizedbythecustomer
and the employee having been in relation, as well as by date and the nature of their exchange
(promotionalmailing,ordermade,phonecall,etc).Thelistofpossibletypesofexchangesshouldbe
able to evolve according to the situations encountered. Please draw the relational schema of the
database which would allow to store and to manage most effectively all this information. It is
importantthatyourschema isnormalized,meaningthatwewantittobefreeofany unnecessary
redundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#5
Auniversityrecentlyacquiredlicensesforvariousscientificsoftwarewhichshewishestogettoher
students,researchersandteachersforthedurationoftheirstudiesortheirmandate.Shemustbe
abletoaccuratelymanagethedistributionandtheuseofthoselicensesinordertogetthemback
when somebody has no more use of it or when somebody leaves the institution and to reallocate
themtootherusers(whilepreservingthehistoryoftheprevioususers,aswellastheircoordinates).
Ofcourse,thedifferenttypesofuserswillnothavethesameprivileges:forexample,professorscan
useseverallicensessimultaneouslybutthestudentscannot,andtheycanholdthoselicensesforan
indefiniteperiod,whilethestudentscankeepthemformaximumoneyear.Furthermore,evenwhen
they are attributed to students, licenses must always be obtained via a professor who remains
responsiblefortheirproperuse.Theuniversityhasacquiredlicensesfordifferentversionsofvarious
software.Everylicensecarriesauniqueserialnumber,canhaveadeadlineofvalidity,andcanberun
onlybyoneuseratatime.Pleasedrawtherelationalschemaofthedatabasewhichwouldallowto
store and to manage most effectively all this information. It is important that your schema is
normalized,meaningthatwewantittobefreeofanyunnecessaryredundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#6
A hotel decides to create a new database to manage its rooms and its reservations. The system
should allow to store the characteristics of every room (maximum number of people, number of
beds,smokerornot,patioornot,showerorbath,airconditioningornot,seaviewornot,priceper
night,etc.)Thisdatabasewillalsopreservearecordforeachcustomer(name,dateofbirth,passport
number,creditcardnumber,address,etc.)Butthemainpurposeofthisdatabaseisthemanagement
ofreservations,whichhastoallowthehoteltorespondquicklytherequestsofthecustomers(for
example,doyouhavearoomofsuchtypeavailabletypeavailablefromthisdatetothisdate?)and,
when necessary, to register and manage customer bookings, by considering that a customer can
book several rooms for the same or for different dates, and that every reservation can cover a
different number of people. If several rooms are booked by the customer for the same dates, we
shall treat the request as two different reservations. After the guests' stay, the hotel will emit an
invoicewhich,besidesthepriceoftheroom,willcontainpossibleextras(drinkatthebarorminibar,
restaurant, phones, services). In some cases, the total amount of a booking could be charged in
multipletimes(forexample,whenbookingand paymentviaatravel agency).Everyinvoicewillbe
emittedonacertaindateandthehotelmanagerwillhavetobeabletoverifyifeveryinvoicehas
been paid. Please draw the relational schema of the database which would allow to store and to
managemosteffectivelyallthisinformation.Itisimportantthatyourschemaisnormalized,meaning
thatwewantittobefreeofanyunnecessaryredundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#7
Twoyoungentrepreneursdecidetocreateanewsite"microblogging".Theirsitewillhavetoallow
theusers(definedbytheiridentifier,names,screennameandemailaddress)topostshortmessages
onthesite.Messagesarecharacterizedbytheircontents,theirdateofcreationandtheirdegreeof
confidentiality (public or private). Furthermore, messages are attributed to categories (the same
message can be posted in multiple categories), for ease of presentation and research. Users can
finally add messages to their list of personal favorites. Please draw the relational plan of the
databasewhichwouldallowthecompany(society)tostoreandtomanagemosteffectivelypossible
all this information. Please draw the relational schema of the database which would allow the
company to store and to manage most effectively all this information. It is important that your
schemaisnormalized,meaningthatwewantittobefreeofanyunnecessaryredundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014

GESTS482OPERATIONSANDDIGITALBUSINESSRELATIONALDATABASEMODELINGEXERCISES
Exercise#8
A young company wishes to collect, store and provide to its customers (lawyers) the European
jurisprudenceofintellectualpropertydisputes.Everydisputeisalegalactionfiledatacertaindate
and in a certain court of a given country. The actions can give rise to several successive decisions
(judgments),madeeachataspecificdate.Everyactionisinstitutedbyoneorseveralparties(people
orcompanies)againstoneorseveralotherparties.Partieswhichinstitutetheactionarecalledthe
'plaintiffs',andthepursuedpartiesarecalled'defendants'.Everydisputecanconcernoneormultiple
typesofintellectualpropertyrights:trademarks,patents,domainname,ordesignandpattern.The
database should be structured so that it enables the customers via a secure website to make
searchesofthetype:"whichdisputesinvolvedthecompany'X'regardingtrademarkbetween1995
and2000?",or"whatarethejudgementsrenderedbythecourt'Y'regardingpatentsbetween2000
and2005?",etc.Pleasedrawtherelationalplanofthedatabasewhichwouldallowtostoreandto
manage most effectively possible all this information. It is important that your plan is
normalized(standardized),thatwasexemptfromanyuselessredundancy.Pleasedrawtherelational
schemaofthedatabasewhichwouldallowthecompanytostoreandtomanagemosteffectivelyall
thisinformation.Itisimportantthatyourschemaisnormalized,meaningthatwewantittobefree
ofanyunnecessaryredundancy.

SOLUTION:

PROF.N.VANZEEBROECKFALL2014