Data modeling

DataBase Data Modeling Using
the Entity-Relationship Model

Data Modeling
• Process of creating a logical
representation of the structure of
the database
• The most important task in
database development

The Data Model
• A data model is a plan, or blueprint, for a database
design.
• A data model is more generalized and abstract than a
database design.
• It is easier to change a data model than it is to change
a database design, so it is the appropriate place to
work through conceptual database problems.

The Entity Relationship Model
The Entity-Relationship model is a set of concepts and
graphical symbols that can be used to create conceptual
schemas
Developed by Peter Chen of M.I.T. in 1976 in a landmark
paper, "The Entity-Relationship Model: Toward a Unified
View of Data," ACM Transactions on Database
Systems, Vol. 1, No. 1
Chen's initial model has been refined over the years

Versions/Evolution of the E-R Model
Original E-R model by Peter Chen (1976)
Extended E-R model (1986): added subtypes, now the most
widely used E-R model, and what we will use in IS431
Information Engineering/IE model (also called the Crow‟s Foot
model) developed by James Martin in 1990
IDEF1X (1994) : national standard by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology
Additionally:
 Unified Modeling Language (UML) Style E-R Models
 Semantic Object Data Models (SOMs)

The Four Major Components of the
Entity Relationship (E-R) Model
Entities (really entity sets)
Attributes
Relationships
Identifiers

An Example of an E-R Diagram
The notation will be explained…

 Entities are represented by rectangles.
 Attributes are represented by ovals, that are
connected to the entity by a straight line.
 Relationships are represented by diamond shaped
symbols.
 The name of the entity (class) or attribute or
relationship is usually placed inside the symbol
used for that object. (Sometimes, with
relationships, the name is placed adjacent.)
The Geometric Symbols in an E-R
Model

Entities and Entity Sets
• An entity set (or class) is something that can be
identified and the users want to track
– Entity class is a collection of entities described by the entity
format in that class
– Entity instance is the representation of a particular entity
• There are usually many instances of an entity in an
entity class
• Consider an entity class STUDENT
– An entity instance would be a particular student in the
entity class, for example, Matthew Jones might be an entity
instance
• A general notational convention is to CAPITALIZE
the entity set’s name

Example: An Entity Set CUSTOMER and Two
Entity Instances

Representing Entities (Entity
Sets) in an E-R Model
An entity set/class is represented
by a rectangle with the name of
the entity set/class in the
rectangle.
STUDENT

Attributes
• Description of the entity‟s characteristics
• All instances of a given entity class have the same
attributes
– Composite attribute: attribute consisting of the group
of attributes
– Multi-value attributes: attribute with more than one
possible value

Representing Entities and Their
Attributes
• Method 1: Place the entity name in a rectangle, and
the attributes as ovals/ellipses attached to the
rectangle.
• Method 2: Place the entity name at the top of a
portrait-shaped rectangle, and place the attributes
below the entity name in a rectangle.

Variations of Displaying Attributes

STUDENT
Student-id Lastname Firstname
A Student Entity Set With Three Attributes
(Using Ovals/ellipses)
(Can you describe what the entity set STUDENT would look
like, if we used Method 2)?

Review of Attributes
Attributes are the properties that define the
entity's characteristics
The E-R model assumes that all instances of a
given entity set have the same attributes.
 So, for the ER model in the prior slide for
STUDENT, instances of STUDENT, such as
Henry Gordon, Joyce Johnson, Jeffrey
Chan, etc, will each have a Student-ID, a
Lastname and a Firstname attribute.

Identifiers
 Identifiers are one or more attributes of entity
instances which serve to name, or identify, the
entity instance.
 For the STUDENT entity set, identifiers are Student-
id and the composite identifier (Last-name, First-
name).
 Composite identifiers are identifiers that consist of two or
more attributes
 Identifiers are either Unique (identifies one and only
one entity) or Non-Unique (identifies a set of entities).
 We often refer to a Unique Identifier as the
Primary Key of a table (relation).

Attributes & Domains
 Attributes will also have a domain.
– The domain is the attribute's set of possible values.
– The domain of the attribute "Grade Point Average" is a
real number between 0 and 4.
– The domain of the attribute "Gender" consists of only
two possibilities, M or F (or some other equivalent
code).
– Attributes may share a domain.
 The attribute PROFESSOR_AGE and
STUDENT_AGE share the domain of all possible
ages.

Variations on Displaying Entity Sets and
Attributes in an Entity Set
Depending on the size of our ER model, we might display the entity set name
and ALL of the attributes, or the entity set name and the identifier, or just the
entity set name:

Classification of Attributes By
Allowable Values
 A Single-Valued Attribute can have only a single
value.
– Example: Age is a single valued attribute of the
entity person, because a person can have only one
age.
 A composite attribute is a logical grouping of single-
valued attributes.
– Example: The composite attribute Address consists
of the group (Street, City, State, Zip).

Classification of Attributes By
Allowable Values - Continued
 A Multi-Valued Attribute can have many values.
 Example: PackageExpertise is a multiple valued
attribute of the entity person, because a person may
have expertise in many packages
(WordPerfect, Excel, Photoshop, Access, Powerpoint,
AutoCad, MathCad, etc.)
 A multi-valued attribute may also be composite. An
example would be, assuming we allowed multiple
phone numbers for an entity, Phone (area
code, number)
 In an E-R model, Multiple Valued Attributes are shown
by a double line (or a bold line) connecting the
attribute to the entity (entity class).

CAR
Car-id
Manuf
Model Year
Color
Engine
Primary Key
(Unique Identifier)
A Multi-Valued Attribute “Color”

Translating E-R models with
Composite Attributes into a Relational
DBMS
 For the original entity, create additional new
attributes, one for each of the original
composite attributes components.
 Thus, the composite attribute Color will
be split into new attributes:
Topcolor, Bodycolor and Trimcolor, all
linked to the entity class Car.

CAR
Car-id
Manuf
Model
Year
Engine
Bodycolor
Topcolor
Trimcolor
Splitting the Composite Attribute into New Attributes

Derived Attributes
 A Derived Attribute does not physically exist within
the database, but is derived (computed) by an
algorithm or computation.
 Example: A person's AGE attribute can be
derived by subtracting the date of birth (DOB)
from the current date.
 Example: Total cost can be derived by
multiplying quantity ordered by unit price.
 A Derived Attribute is indicated in an E-R Model by
a dotted line connecting the attribute to the entity.

EMPLOYEE
E-num E-dob E-age
A Derived Attribute

Relationships in an E-R Model
A relationship is an association between entities:
Relationship classes: associations among entity classes
Relationship instances: associations between entity
instances
Relationships are represented by diamond-shaped symbols,
connecting the entities in the relationship (the entities are
referred to as the participants in the relationship).
In the original Entity-Relationship model. relationships were
allowed to have attributes, but not in the extended E-R model
today.

A Relationship Class Between a
Professor Entity Set/Class and a
Course Entity Set/Class
PROFESSOR COURSE
TEACHES
What would be a relationship
instance in this case?

The DEGREE of a Relationship
The degree of a relationship is the number of
associated entity sets (participants) in the
relationship.
A UNARY RELATIONSHIP exists when an
association exists within a single entity
A BINARY RELATIONSHIP exists when two
entities(participants) are in the relationship.
A TERNARY RELATIONSHIP exists when three
entities (participants) are in the relationship.

COURSE
PREREQ
PROFESSOR
TEACHES
COURSE
UNARY BINARY

MOTHER FATHER
CHILD
PARENT
TERNARY

THREE TYPES OF BINARY
RELATIONSHIPS
 One to One
– Abbreviated as "1:1"
 One to Many
– Abbreviated as "1:N"
 Many-to-Many
– Abbreviated as "N:M"

EMPLOYEE AUTO
DORMITORY STUDENT
STUDENT CLUB
1:1
1:N
N:M
AUTO-ASSIGNMENT
DORM-OCCUPANT
STUDENT-CLUB

The 1:1 AUTO-ASSIGNMENT
(BINARY) RELATIONSHIP
No employee has more than one
auto assigned to him/her.
No automobile is assigned to more
than one employee.

The 1:N DORM OCCUPANT RELATIONSHIP
 A Dormitory will have "many" student occupants
(where "many" could be any number: 0, 1, 5, 72,
etc.).
 A Student will be an occupant of (at most) ONE
dormitory.
 The positions of the 1 and the N are significant.
The 1 refers to the dormitory side of the
relationship, and the N refers to the student side of
the relationship.

The N:M STUDENT-CLUB
RELATIONSHIP
A student can be a member of
"many" (any number of) clubs.
A club will have "many" (any
number of) student members.

An Alternative (“Crow’s Foot) Notation for
Denoting the “Many” Part of the
Relationship
CLUB
DORMITORY
STUDENT
DORM-
OCCUPANT
STUDENT-
CLUB
STUDENT
The “many” relationship cardinality is denoted by placing
crow‟s feet (two short diagonal lines) on the many side of
the relationship.

The Maximum Cardinality of a
Relationship
 RULE: The numbers inside the relationship
diamond show the maximum number of entities
which can occur on one side of the relationship.
 These relationships are often called "HAS A"
relationships (because, for instance, a student
'has a' dormitory). We will contrast this later with
"IS A" relationships.

Cardinality
• Cardinality means “count,” and is expressed as a
number.
• Maximum cardinality is the maximum number of
entity instances that can participate in a relationship.
• Minimum cardinality is the minimum number of
entity instances that must participate in a relationship

Parent and Child Entities
• In a one-to-many relationship:
– The entity on the one side of the relationship is called the parent entity or
just the parent.
– The entity on the many side of the relationship is called the child entity or
just the child.
• In the figure below, EMPLOYEE is the parent and COMPUTER
is the child:

HAS-A Relationships
• The relationships we have been discussing are known
as HAS-A relationships:
– Each entity instance has a relationship with another entity
instance:
• An EMPLOYEE has one or more COMPUTERs.
• A COMPUTER has an assigned EMPLOYEE.

Describing the Minimum Number of
Entities to Participate in a Relationship
• The maximum cardinality denotes the maximum number
of entities that can be involved in a relationship.
– As described previously, this is usually denoted by the two
values inside the diamond, separated by a colon, such as 1:N
• We need a methodology to also describe the minimum
cardinality in a relationship
– For instance, should we require that a student be assigned to
some dormitory, or should we make this optional for a student
(we have to model the rules of the college!)

Relationship Participation:
Case 1 - Optional Participation
 A participating entity in a relationship
is either OPTIONAL or MANDATORY
 Participation is OPTIONAL if one entity
occurrence does not REQUIRE a
corresponding entity occurrence from
the other entity set, in a particular
relationship.

An Example of Optional Participation
– Example: At Marvel College, research professors are
employed who work only on research projects and do
no teaching, so these professors do not teach any
classes.
• We show an OPTIONAL entity by drawing a small circle on
the side of the entity set which is to be optional.
PROFESSORS CLASSES1:1TEACH 0

Relationship Participation:
Case II - Mandatory Participation
 Participation is MANDATORY in a
relationship if one entity occurrence DOES
require a corresponding entity occurrence
in the other entity set, in a particular
relationship. A mandatory participation
implies a (non-zero) minimum cardinality.

Example of Mandatory Participation
– We specify, in our E-R diagram, a mandatory
participation by placing a small (usually vertical)
line across the relationship line.
• Example - Marvel College requires that each class
be taught by one, and only one, professor
PROFESSORS CLASSES1:11:N| 0

DORMITORY STUDENT1:N0
The DORM-OCCUPANT
Relationship with Minimum
Cardinality Shown

The Three Types of
Minimum Cardinality

E-R Data Modeling and the
Crow’s Foot Notation

Data Modeling With The Crow’s Foot
Notation
A DEPARTMENT must have at least one, and possibly many employees,
while an EMPLOYEE may be associated with no DEPARTMENT or possibly
with ONE Department.

A Many to Many Relationship in the
Original E-R model, and the Crow’s Foot
Version

COURSE
PREREQUISITE
Cardinalities in a Recursive Relationship
O
O
One course may (or may not) serve as a prerequisite to other courses, and a
given course may or may not have prerequisite courses. This is why we have the
“o” in the E-R statement below.

CLIENT
REFERS
Suppose the database is designed so that for each new
client, we ask for the name of the (satisfied) client who
referred him/her (and only one name). Some clients
may not have been referred by other clients.

CLIENT
REFERS
Suppose the database is designed so that for each new
client, we ask for the name of the (satisfied) client who
referred him/her (and only one name). Some clients
may not have been referred by other clients.
1:NO
O

Displaying Attributes in E-R Diagrams
• Usual way: attributes appear in ellipses and
are connected to the entity set or relationship
to which they belong
• Alternative way (when there are a significant
number of attributes for the entity sets) is to
list them separately beneath the E-R
Diagram, or to include them in the portrait
rectangle representing the Entity Set

Strong Entities
• A strong entity (or entity set) is an entity that can
exist on its own, and its existence does not depend on
the presence of another entity.
– PERSON and AUTOMOBILE are examples of strong
entities
• This is in contrast to weak entities.

Weak Entities
 A WEAK ENTITY is an entity whose existence in the
database depends upon the existence of some other entity.
 Example - Insurance companies provide medical
coverage to the teachers at Sleepy Valley High and
their dependents. So, a dependent can exist in the
database only if he/she is associated with a teacher at
Sleepy Valley High School.
 A weak entity set is denoted in an E-R model by rounding
the corners of the entity rectangle.

ID-Dependent Entities
• An ID-dependent entity is an entity (child) whose identifier
includes the identifier of another entity (parent).
• Consider APARTMENTs in a BUILDING. Each building will
have an identifier (BuildingAddress), but if apartments have
numbers, like 4E,5B, etc., the apartment number is NOT a true
identifier (there could be several buildings having the same
apartment number, but the composite (BuildingAddress,
ApartmentNumber) will serve as an identifier. Apartment is thus
an ID-Dependent entity, because its identifier includes the
identifier of another entity (its parent).
• The minimum cardinality from the ID-dependent entity to the
parent is always one.
• All ID-Dependent entities are considered weak, and are thus
drawn as rectangles with rounded corners.

• The identifier of APARTMENT would be the composite
identifier (BuildingAddress, ApartmentNumber).
– So, both logically and physically, an APARTMENT
cannot exist unless a BUILDING exists.
• Another example of an ID-dependent entity is the entity
VERSION in the relationship between PRODUCT and
VERSION, where PRODUCT is a software
product, and VERSION is a release of that software
product.
– Identifier of PRODUCT would be ProductName, and
identifier of the ID-dependent entity set VERSION would
be (Productname, ReleaseNumber)
ID-dependent Entities

ID-Dependent Entities
Note that a BUILDING may exist without an APARTMENT, and a PAINTING may exist
without a PRINT, but, as per this data model, a PATIENT may not exist in the database without
an associated EXAM.

Weak Entities (Summary)
.Figure 2.11
Weak, but not
ID-dependent
Weak and ID-
dependent

Explanation of the Auto-Model Example
• In (a), each vehicle is assigned a sequential number as
it is manufactured. So, we have a Toyota Camry 1, a
Toyota Camry 2, etc. (where Toyota is the
manufacturer, and Camry is the model). So, VEHICLE
is an ID-Dependent Entity, because it contains the
identifier (Manufacturer, Model) of the entity set
AUTO_MODEL.
• But, in (b), the VIN is an identifier, so VEHICLE is
not an ID-Dependent entity. But, VEHICLE is weak,
because if the auto-model Camry did not exist, then the
VEHICLE would not exist.

Some Salient Points Regarding Weak
Entities
• To be a weak entity, an entity must logically depend on
another entity.
– Not all entities that have a minimum cardinality of 1 in a
relationship are weak – only those that are logically dependent
are weak
• All ID-dependent entities are weak.
• Every weak entity has a minimum cardinality of 1 on the
entity upon which it depends.
• An entity with a minimum cardinality of 1 need not
necessarily be weak.

Subtypes and Supertypes
 In some data modeling applications, an entity set may
contain optional sets of attributes.
 Example: Suppose the entity set CLIENT has the
following required attributes:
 Client Number
 Client Name
 Amount Due
 Suppose also that there are three different categories
of CLIENT:
 Individual-Client
 Partnership Client
 Corporate-Client

Additional Attributes for
Specific Client Categories
 Individual-Client entities require the following additional
attributes:
 Address
 Social Security Number
 Partnership-Client entities require these additional attribures:
 ManagingPartnerName
 Address
 TaxIdentificationNumber
 Corporate-Client entities require these additional attributes:
 Contact Person
 Phone
 TaxIdentificationNumber

One (not-recommended) Approach for
Modeling Client in an E-R Diagram
If we allocate ALL attributes
to the entity set CLIENT,
then instances of CLIENT
would leave some attributes
blank. This would generate a
signficant number of nulls
for attribute values. The
major reason for creating
subtypes is to avoid these
value-inappropriate nulls.
Example: If Social-Security
number were one of the
attributes, then every
corporate and partnership
client would have a null
value for social-security
number.

E-R Modeling of CLIENT using
Subtypes and Supertypes
The Extended E-R Model introduced the concepts
of supertypes and subtypes.
Make CLIENT a supertype, with attributes
ClientNumber, ClientName and AmountDue.
Make INDIVIDUAL-CLIENT, PARTNERSHIP-
CLIENT and CORPORATE-CLIENT subtypes of the
supertype CLIENT, each having their own dedicated
set of attributes, but “inheriting” the common
attributes from the supertype/parent CLIENT.

Inheritance
Inheritance means that the entities in
the subtypes "inherit" the attributes of
the supertype entity class.
 Thus, CORPORATE-CLIENT inherits
the attributes Client-Number,Client-
Name and AmountDue from CLIENT.

Subtype Entities
• A subtype entity is a child, having a parent supertype
entity from which it inherits attributes:
– Example: STUDENTs can be classified as either
UNDERGRADUATE or GRADUATE. We can make
STUDENT a supertype and it will be the “parent” to the
subtypes UNDERGRADUATE and GRADUATE.
• The supertype STUDENT contains all common attributes
for the subtypes UNDERGRADUATE and
GRADUATE, though the UNDERGRADUATE and
GRADUATE subtypes may also have their own dedicated
attributes.
• A discriminator is an attribute that determines which
subtype is appropriate.
– Example : A discriminator called GENDER could determine
whether a MALE subtype or FEMALE subtype is apropos.

Denoting Supertypes and Subtypes in
Our ER Diagrams
• We place the supertype entity set above the subtype entity sets,
and use a circle with a line beneath it to denote a supertype-
subtype relationship. We use a solid line to represent an ID-
dependent subtype entity, since each subtype is ID-dependent on
the supertype.
The notation for
a super-type
subtype
relationship
The Supertype

Explaining the Hiking Club and the
Sailing Club
The HIKING_CLUB subtype
consists of student members, and
while the subtype has attributes for
the date the dues were paid and the
amount paid, it “inherits” from its
parent STUDENT the last name and
first name of its members.
The same is true for student
members of the SAILING-CLUB.
The notation states that a given
student may either be in the hiking
club, or the sailing club, or both (or
neither).

Example Subtype Entity Sets
In (a) below, a STUDENT is either an UNDERGRADUATE or a
GRADUATE, but not both. The “X” in the circle denotes “exclusive” (i.e., the
supertype is „related” to at most one subtype).
In (b) below, the absence of an “X” in the circle denotes “inclusive” (i.e., the
supertype can relate to any of the subtypes).

Discriminators
• A discriminator is an (optional) attribute that
determines which subtype is appropriate.
– The discriminator will appear as an attribute name and
will also be placed adjacent to the subtype symbol
• Example: The attribute “isGradStudent,” which
appears in STUDENT (diagram a) on the prior slide,
is a discriminator and will have a domain of “Yes”
and “No,” and therefore appears adjacent to the
subtype symbol.

Subtypes: IS-A relationships
• Relationships connecting supertypes and subtypes are
called IS-A relationships, because a subtype IS really the
same entity as the supertype.
– Contrast this with a “HAS-A” relationship, where we have a
relationship involving two entity sets, but the identifiers of the
entity sets are different.
• The identifer of the supertype and all of its subtypes must
be identical, i.e., the identifier of the supertype becomes
the identifier of the related subtype(s).

Crow’s Foot Nomenclature Summary

An Example of the Data Modeling
Process
• The Database Development team, when they commence the data
modeling process,
– will analyze user requirements
– will examine existing reports of the organization
– will examine existing data entry forms of the organization
– will examine existing data sources
– will conduct interviews
• As part of the process, users may be asked for additional
information (e.g., to determine cardinalities…)
• Users will review and validate the prototype data model
• The process will be illustrated by a case study of Highline
University, which is seeking to create a database to track its
colleges, departments, faculty and students.

The College Report
• The following is an existing report from the College of
Business, and we are told that every college at Highline
University produces a similar report.

Examining the College Report
• The College report suggests two entity sets for our database:
– a COLLEGE entity set, with attributes for the college name, its
Dean, phone and campus address
– a DEPARTMENT entity set, with attributes for the name of the
department, its chairperson, phone, and how many majors are in the
department.
– A subsequent interview with the Highline administration indicates that a
college could have one department, or several department (for
instance, the college of architecture has only one department
(Architecture), while the college of engineering has several
(EE, CivilE, Mechanical engineering, etc.) And, a department can only be
a member of one college.
• Based upon the above information from the College Report, we
create a Crow‟s Foot data model, as given on the following slide:

Preliminary Data Model from the
College Report
A College is associated with at least one, and
possibly many, Departments
A Department is associated with
precisely one college
The relationship between COLLEGE and DEPARTMENT is non-
identifying, i.e., a dotted line, because DEPARTMENT is NOT ID-
Dependent on College, since Department has its own identifier and not the
College‟s identifier.

The Department Report
• The following is an existing report from the Department
of Information Systems, and we are told that every
academic department at Highline University produces a
similar report.

Examining the Department Report
• There is a need for a PROFESSOR entity set, which
would have attributes detailing the name of the professor,
his her office and phone.
• Since a Professor is a member of a Department, there is
also a new relationship between professors and their
departments which must be added to our evolving data
model.
• So, as is typical in the data modeling process, the
examination of a new report generates some needed
adjustments to our data model.

Preliminary Data Model for COLLEGE-
DEPARTMENT-PROFESSOR
•One unanswered question for Highline University is whether or not a professor
is associated with only one department, or whether a professor can teach in
several departments (called a “joint appointment”).
•We will develop TWO preliminary data models – one where a professor must
teach in one and only one department, and a second data model where a
professor may teach in two (or more) departments.
•In the case where a professor is associated with only one department, we
will have a one to many relationship between PROFESSOR and
DEPARTMENT (i.e., a Department is associated with many professors, but a
professor is associated with only one Department.)
•In the case where a professor may be associated with one or more
departments, we will have a many to many relationship between
PROFESSOR and DEPARTMENT (i.e., a Department is associated with
many professors, and a professor could be associated with many
Departments.)

The Evolving E-R Crow’s Foot Data Model
•We have added to DEPARTMENT, based upon the Department Report,
attributes which were not in the prior data model: Building and Room
•We have added the PROFESSOR entity set to the E-R data model, and for
this instance we assume that a given professor is associated with exactly one
department, so the Crow‟s Foot model has a 1 to many relationship between
DEPARTMENT and PROFESSOR.

And If A Professor May Teach In
Several Departments…
• We have made the relationship between DEPARTMENT and PROFESSOR a
many-to-many relationship, by putting crow‟s feet on both sides of the
relationship line, and denoting required relationships on both sides (i.e., a
professor must be associated with a minimum of 1 department, and a department
must be associated with a minimum of 1 professor)

Appointments of Professors to
Departments
•Suppose the data modeling team uncovers files containing information
regarding the appointments of professors to departments
•Each appointment letter associates a professor and department, and has details
regarding such appointment.
•An “association pattern” is designed to model these appointments, and is added
to the E-R model.

Making the Chairperson a Relationship
• Since a chairperson is also a professor in a department, we
can improve the E-R model by removing the chairperson
data from the DEPARTMENT entity set, and replace it
with a chairperson relationship.

The Chairperson Relationship
• Notice that a given entity set can be involved in several
relationships.
• By modeling chairperson as a relationship, and removing the
chairperson attribute from the DEPARTMENT entity set, we
provide some additional flexibility for our E-R model.
– For instance, we can now model situations at Highline where the
chairperson has an office location and phone different from the
Department office and phone.
• Notice also that the min and max cardinality state that a
professor can chair 0 or 1 departments.
– So, the chairperson chairs 1 department, and the other professors chair 0
departments.
• Can you think of any other way to model which professor serves
as chairperson?

The Department/Major Report
• The following is an existing report from the Department
of Information Systems, and we are told that every
academic department at Highline University produces a
similar report enumerating its student majors.

Extracting From The Department
Report
• We determine that there should be an entity set
STUDENT in our E-R model, having attributes like
StudentNumber, StudentName and Phone.
• Students are not ID-dependent on Departments, so we
have a non-identifying relationship between STUDENT
and DEPARTMENT (and denoted by a dashed line).
• Interviews with the college administration reveal that
every student must have one (and only one) declared
major, and that there could be a major having no students,
though most majors have “many” students.

E-R Model With The STUDENT Entity Set

The Student Admittance Letter
• Highline University sends to every admitted student a
letter, such as this letter to Mr. Fred Parks:

Extracting from the Student Admittance Letter
• From the Admittance letter, we see that there is additional
information relating to the student (such as the student‟s home
address) and his/her Department Advisor.
• Interviews with the College Administration reveal that
– the Department Advisor is always some professor in the student‟s major
department
– a student is required to have an Advisor
– some professors will serve as student Advisors, while other professors will
not serve as student Advisors
• The Admittance Letter uses “Mr” so we have added an attribute to
the STUDENT entity set called “title” (which will either be “Mr”
or “Ms”), though we also could have added an attribute “gender”
• We can establish a relationship between STUDENT and
APPOINTMENT (since appointment will give us the requisite
data about the Professor who is serving as the Advisor to the
Student)
– Alternatively, we could have established a relationship between
STUDENT and PROFESSOR.

The E-R Model With The Advises Relationship

Slight Refinement to the E-R Model
• From the Admittance Letter, we see that we need to not have just
the fullname of each student, but we should also store both their
first name and last name.
– We decide that all names, including the names of professors and Deans,
should be stored as two attributes: a firstname, and a lastname
• This leads us to the next (and (sic) “final”) iteration of the E-R
data model for Highline University
• The iterative process we have gone through, of extracting needed
entity sets, attributes and relationship from existing reports, forms,
letters and interviews, is typical of the process by which we build
a data model.

The Resulting E-R Model for Highline University

Data modeling

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