12

13

14

ERModel
TheERmodelisnotintendedtobe
associatedwithanyparticulardatabase
model.
ERdiagramsareintendedtoallowhumans
theabilitytocapturemoreofthe
applicationsmeaning.

15

16

HistoryofERModel
ERModelwasproposed
byDr.PeterChen
(currentlyprofessorat
LouisianaStateUniversity)
ChensoriginalpaperonE
RModelisthe35thmost
sitedpaperincomputer
science
Chenhaswrittenpapers
interconnectingERmodel
andlinguistics

17

TheEntityRelationshipModel
(History)

DevelopedbyPeterCheninthe1970s
Severalvariationshaveevolved
Allaredesignedtowardstheconcise
captureoftheapplicationsemanticsin
termsappropriateforsubsequentmapping
toaspecificdatabasemodel.
Itiscurrentlythemostwidelyused.

18

19

TheEntityRelationshipApproach
Entity:anobjectthatexistsandis
distinguishablefromotherobjects.i.e.
person,place,thing,eventorconceptabout
whichinformation(attributes)isrecorded.
ThebasicunitoftheERmodel.
Thestructureofanentityiscalledits
schema.

110

MoreTerminology
Object:thingsintherealworldthatcanbe
observedandclassifiedbecausetheyhave
relatedproperties
Entity:thegroupingsweusewhenwe
categorizetheobjects.Sometimescalleda
class.

111

112

113

ThreeBasicGraphicalSymbolsinan
ERDiagram
Rectanglesareusedtomodelconceptual
dataunitsordataobjects.
Circlesareusedtomodelattributes. Course
Attributesarethecharacteristics,
componentsorpropertiesofentities.
CID
Diamondsareusedtomodelthestructural
associationsthatexistbetweenentities.

Enroll

114

115

116

BASICCONCEPTS
Thereare3basicnotionsintheERModel:
EntitySets
RelationshipSets
Attributes

117

ANENTITY
Anentityisathingorobjectintherealworldthat
isdistinguishablefromallotherobjects.Ithasan
uniquesetofpropertiesthatmayuniquelyidentifyan
entity.Forexample,astudententityhasthree
attributes:name,studentid,andsocialsecurity
numbers.
John 1222 123122244

STUDENT entity

118

ENTITYSETS
Anentitysetisasetofentitiesthatsharethesame
propertiesorattributes.Entitysetsdonotneedtobe
disjoint.Forexample,acustomercanalsobean
employee.
John
Kathy
Steve

1222
2223
3222

123122244
223222245
723122244

Customer (Entity Set)

John
Kathy
Steve

Manager
Teller
Teller

Employee (Entity Set)

119

ATTRIBUTE
Anentityisrepresentedbyasetofattributes.
Attributesaredescriptivepropertiespossessedbyeach
memberofanentityset.
Example:
STUDENT entity

STUDENT

Attributes

name

student-id

address

ss#
120

ATTRIBUTETYPES
Thereareseveraldifferenttypesofattributes.
SimpleandComposite
SinglevaluedandMultivalued
Derived
Null

121

ATTRIBUTETYPES
Simpleattributesarenotdividedintosubparts.
Compositeattributescanbedividedintosubparts.
Usingcompositeattributesinadesignschemaisa
goodchoiceifauserwillwishtorefertoanentire
attributeonsomeoccasions.

122

ATTRIBUTETYPES
Example:

address(Compositeattribute)

Composite

street

city

state

zip

attribute

streetnumber

streetname

apartmentnumber
123

ATTRIBUTETYPES
Singlevaluedattributesareattributesthatonlyhaveasingle
valueforaparticularentity.
Multivaluedattributesreferstoentitiesthatarenotsingled
valueandNullvalued.Forexample,consideranemployee
entitysetwiththeattributephonenumber.Anemployeemay
havezero,one,orseveralphonenumbers,differentemployee
mayhavedifferentnumbersofphones.

124

ATTRIBUTETYPES
Nullattributeisusedwhenanentitydoesnothaveavalue

foranattribute.
Derivedattributesrefertoanattributethatcanbederived
fromotherrelatedattributesorentities.Forinstance,suppose
thatAgeandDateofbirthareattributesoftheCUSTOMER
entityset.WecancalculateAgefromDateofbirth.Inthis
case,Ageisaderivedattribute.

125

RELATIONSHIPSETS
Arelationshipisanassociationamongseveralentities.
Arelationshipsetisasetofrelationshipsofthesametype.Consider
thetwoentitysetscustomerandloan.Wedefinetherelationshipset
borrowertodenotetheassociationbetweencustomersandbankloans
thatthecustomershave.
321123123

Jones

Main

Harrison

L17

1000

019283746

Smith

North

Rye

L23

2000

555555555

Jackson Dupont

Woodside

L14

1500

321123123

Curry

North

Rye

L19

500

321123123

Adam

Spring

Pittsfield

L16

1300

customer

loan
126

RECURSIVERELATIONSHIP
Recursiverelationshipthesameentitysetparticipatesinarelationship
setmorethanonce,indifferentroles.Thefunctionthatanentityplaysin
arelationshipiscalledthatentitysrole.Forexample,consideranentity
setemployeethatrecordsinformationaboutallemployeesofthebank.
Wemayhavearelationshipsetworksforthatismodeledbyordered
pairsofemployeeentities.Thefirstemployeeofapairtakestheroleof
worker,whereasthesecondtakestheroleofmanager.
employee-name
telephone-number

employee-id

manager
employee

worker

Recursive Relationship

works-for

127

BINARYRELATIONSHIP
SETS
Binaryrelationshipsetrelationshipthatinvolves
twoidentitysets.
Mostoftherelationshipsetsinadatabasesystemare
binary.Occasionally,however,relationshipset
involvemorethantwoentity.
OWNER

Owns

PROPERTY-FOR-RENT

Binary relationship called Owns

128

TERNARYRELATIONSHIP
SET

Ternaryrelationshipsetrelationshipthatinvolves
threeidentitysets
DEGREE
earned
PERSON

PERSON earned DEGREE on DATE

DATE

Ternary Relationship
Set

129

DEGREEOFA

RELATIONSHIPSET
Degreeofarelationshipsetisthenumberofentity
setsthatparticipateinarelationshipset.Forexample,
abinaryrelationshipsetisofdegree2;aternary
relationshipsetisofdegree3.

130

CONSTRAINTS
AnERenterpriseschememaydefinecertainconstraintsto
whichthecontentsofadatabasemustconform.Thetwoof
mostimportanttypesofconstraintsareMappingCardinalities
andParticipationConstraints.
ParticipationConstraints
TheparticipationofanentitysetEinarelationshipsetRis
saidtobetotal,ifeveryentityinEparticipatesinatleastone
relationshipinR.IfonlysomeentitiesinEparticipatein
relationshipR,theparticipationofentitysetEinrelationship
Rissaidtobepartial.

131

CONSTRAINTS
MappingCardinalitiesorCardinalityratios

Expressthenumberofentitiestowhichanotherentitycanbe
associatedviaarelationshipset
Aremostusefulindescribingbinaryrelationshipsets.Fora
binaryrelationshipsetRbetweenentitysetsAandB,the
mappingcardinalitymustbeoneofthefollowing:
Onetoone
Onetomany
Manytoone
Manytomany

132

MAPPINGCARDINALITIES
Onetoone
AnentityinAisassociatedwithatmostoneentityin
B,andanentityinBisassociatedwithatmostone
entityinA.

A1

B1

A2

B2

A3

B3
133

MAPPINGCARDINALITIES
Onetomany
AnentityinAisassociatedwithanynumber(zeroormore)of
entitiesinB.AnentityinB,however,canbeassociatedwith
atmostoneentityinA.

A2

B1
B2
B3

A3

B4

A1

134

MAPPINGCARDINALITIES
Manytoone
AnentityinAisassociatedwithatmostoneentityinB.An
entityinB,however,canbeassociatedwithanynumber(zero
ormore)ofentitiesinA.
A1
A1
A2
A3

B1
B2
B3
135

MAPPINGCARDINALITIES
Manytomany
AnentityinAisassociatedwithanynumber(zeroormore)of
entitiesinB,andanentityinBisassociatedwithanynumber
(zeroormore)ofentitiesinA.
A1
A1
A2
A3

B1
B2
B3
136

KEYS
Akeyallowsustoidentifyasetofattributesthat
sufficetodistinguishentitiesfromeachother.Keys
alsohelpuniquelyidentifyrelationships,andthus
distinguishrelationshipsfromeachother.Thereare
threetypesofkeys:
Superkey
Candidatekey
Primarykey

137

KEY
Superkeyisasetofoneormoreattributesthat,takencollectively,us
toidentifyuniquelyanentityintheentityset.Forexample,customerid
isasuperkey.
Candidatekeyisaminimalsuperkey.Forexample,customername
andcustomerstreetissufficienttodistinguishamongmembersofthe
customerentityset.Then{customername,customerstreet}isa
candidatekey.
Primarykeydenotesacandidatekeythatischosenbythedatabase
designerastheprincipalmeansofidentifyingentitieswithinanentity
set.theprimarykeyshouldbechosensuchthatitsattributesarenever,
orveryrarely,changed.Forexample,Socialsecuritynumbersare
guaranteedtoneverchanged.

138

RELATIONSHIPSETS
Primarykeyofanentitysetallowsustodistinguish
amongentitiesoftheset.Similarmechanismis
neededinordertodistinguishamongthevarious
relationshipsofarelationshipset.
Thestructureoftheprimarykeyfortherelationship
setdependsonthemappingcardinalityofthe
relationshipset.

139

RELATIONSHIPSETS
Forexample,supposethatthereisarelationshipset
Depositor,withattributeaccessdate,between
CustomerrelationandAccountrelation.Supposethat
therelationshipsetismanytomany.Thenthe
primarykeyofDepositorconsistsoftheunionofthe
primarykeysofCustomerandAccount.Ifacustomer
canhaveonlyoneaccountthatis,iftheDepositor
relationismanytoonefromCustomertoAccount
thentheprimarykeyoftheDepositorrelationshipis
simplytheprimarykeyofcustomer.

140

RELATIONSHIPSETS
Customer(ss#,name)
Account(accountnum)
Depositor(ss#,accountnum,accessdate)
John
Kathy
Steve

123122244
223222245
723122244
Customer

10 May 2002
24 May 2002

A101
A215

3 June 2002
20 June 2002
21 June 2002

Depositor

A102
Account

141

DESIGNISSUE
UseofEntitySetsversusAttributes

Considertheentitysetemployeewithattributesemployee
nameandtelephonenumber.
Treatingatelephoneasanattributetelephonenumber
impliesthatemployeeshavepreciselyonetelephonenumber
each.
Treatingatelephoneasanentitytelephonepermits
employeestohaveseveraltelephonenumber(includingzero)
associatedwiththem.However,wecouldinsteadeasily
definetelephonenumberasamultivaluedattributetoallow
multipletelephonesperemployee.

142

USEOFENTITYSETS

VERSUSATTRIBUTES
Treatingatelephoneasanattribute
John

4083455366

Kathy

4082223455

Steve

7145556366

EMPLOYEE (employee-name, telephone-number)

Treatingatelephoneasanentity
John

4088883565

cellphone

Kathy

4083455366

videophone

Steve

4082223455

cellphone

Alex

7145556366

cellphone

EMPLOYEE (employee-name)

TELEPHONE(telephone-number, type)

143

ENTITYRELATIONSHIP
DIAGRAM
Ellipses,whichrepresentattributes
Diamonds,whichrepresentrelationshipsets
Line,whichlinkattributestoentitysetsandentitysetsto
relationshipssets
Doubleellipses,whichrepresentmultivaluedattributes
Doublelines,whichindicatetotalparticipationofanentity
inarelationshipset
Doublerectangles,whichrepresentweakentitysets

144

Exampleofthe3elementsinE/R
Diagram

145

ClassificationofConstraints
1.
2.
3.
4.

Keys
Singlevalueconstraints
Multivaluedconstraints
MappingCardinalitiesandParticipation
Constraints

146

KeyintheE/RModel
Superkeyisasetofoneormoreattributesthat,takencollectively,for
ustoidentifyuniquelyanitemintheentityset.Forexample,
customeridisasuperkey.
Candidatekeyisaminimalsuperkey.Forexample,customername
andcustomerstreetissufficienttodistinguishamongmembersofthe
customerentityset.Then{customername,customerstreet}isa
candidatekey.
Primarykeydenotesacandidatekeythatischosenbythedatabase
designerastheprincipalmeansofidentifyingitemswithinanentity
set.theprimarykeyshouldbechosensuchthatitsattributesare
never,orveryrarely,changed.Forexample,Socialsecuritynumbers
areguaranteedtoneverchanged.

147

Single/Multivaluedattributes
Singlevaluedattributesareattributesthatonly
haveasinglevalueforaparticularentity.
Multivaluedattributesreferstoitemsthatarenot
singledvalueandNullvalued.Forexample,
consideranemployeeentitysetwiththeattribute
phonenumber.Anemployeemayhavezero,one,
orseveralphonenumbers;differentemployeemay
havedifferentnumbersofphones.

148

149

MappingCardinalitiesorCardinality
ratios
Expressthenumberofitemstowhichanotheritemcanbe
associatedviaarelationshipset
Aremostusefulindescribingbinaryrelationshipsets.For
abinaryrelationshipsetRbetweenentitysetsAandB,the
mappingcardinalitymustbeoneofthefollowing:

OnetoOne
OnetoMany
ManytoOne
ManytoMany

150

ParticipationConstraints
TheparticipationofanentitysetEina
relationshipsetRissaidtobetotal,ifevery
iteminEparticipatesinatleastone
relationshipinR.IfonlysomeitemsinE
participateinrelationshipR,the
participationofentitysetEinrelationship
Rissaidtobepartial.

151

WeakEntitySets
Thereisanoccasionalconditioninwhich
anentitysetskeyiscomposedofattributes
someorallofwhichbelongtoanother
entityset.Suchanentitysetiscalleda
weakentityset.

152

Discriminator
Thediscriminatorofaweakentitysetisasetof
attributesthatallowsthisdistinctiontobemade.
Forexample,thediscriminatorofaweakentityset
paymentistheattributepaymentnumber,since,
foreachloanapaymentnumberuniquely
identifiesonesinglepaymentforthatloan.The
discriminatorofaweakentitysetisalsocalledthe
partialkeyoftheentityset.

153

RequirementsforWeakEntitySets
Wecannotobtainkeyattributesforaweakentity
setindiscriminately.Rather,ifEisaweakentity
setthenitskeyconsistsof:

Zeroormoreofitsownattributes,and
Keyattributesfromentitysetsthatarereachedby
certainmanyonerelationshipfromEtootherentity
sets.Thesemanyonerelationshiparecalled
supportingrelationshipsforE.

154

Discriminator(cont.)
Note:althougheachpaymententityisdistinct,
paymentsfordifferentloansmaysharethesame
paymentnumber.Thus,paymententitysetdoes
nothaveaprimarykey;itisaweakentityset.
Theprimarykeyofaweakentitysetisformedby
theprimarykeyoftheidentifyingentityset,plus
theweakentitysetsdiscriminator.

155

IdentifyingaWeakEntityType

AWeakentitytypedoesnthaveaprimarykey.
IfXisaweakentitytypeandYistheentitytypeon
whichXisdependent.
WeformaprimarykeyforXbycombiningtheprimary
keyofYwhichoneormoreattributes,called
discriminatororpartialkey,fromX.
InanE/RDiagram,apartialkeyisusuallydash
underlined.
e.g.,primarykeyforDEPENDENT:{EmployeeNo.,
DName}.

156

*Dotedline=doubleline

157

DetailedConceptualDesign
Employee
Emp No
Emp Name
First Name
Mid Initials
Last Name
NID
Address
Salary
Gender
DOB

unique identifier of an emp. Identifier

name of an employee
Composite
first name of an employee
middle initials of an employee
last name of an employee
national id of an employee Unique
address of an employee
salary of an employee
sex of an employee
birth date of an employee

Detailed Conceptual Design

First Name

Emp No
Emp Name

Employee

NID
Address
Salary

DOB

Gender

Mid Initials
Last Name

First Name

Emp No
NID

Mid Initials

Emp Name

Last Name

Address

supervise

Gender

works
Start d

DOB

Dependent

works on
Depd Name
Gender

Relation

Dept No

Department

manage

Hours

has

Dept Name
Phone

Employee
Salary

Location

Employees

control
Proj No

Project

DOB
Location

Proj Name

ConceptualDesignwithWeak
Entities
supervise

works
Department

Employee
manage
has

Dependent

works on

control

Project