Relational Data Model

At the end of this unit, you should be able to :

Understand the terminology used in Relational Model
Define the rules which preserve the integrity of a relational
database
Describe the operations in relational languages that are used in
updating or retrieving data
Relational Model Terminology
Relational Data Model
Based on the mathematical concept of a relation
Organizes and represents data in a form of a table
Relation
Attribute
Tuple
Domain
Degree
Cardinali
ty

A table with rows and columns

Named column of a relation
Row of a relation
Set of allowable(valid) values for each attribute/
(e.g. integers,strings,)
No. of attributes(columns) in each relation
No. of tuples(rows) in the relation

Example of a relation Student

Degree is 7, Cardinality is 5
More on Domain..(data type?)
Each tuple assigns a value to each attribute from its domain
For example, the domain of Cust-name is of character strings of max
length 25(varchar25), an age from a domain of integers between 0 and

150, birthDate from a domain of date,, a gender might come from

domain {male, female, unknown}

View vs Base Relation

Base Relation
A named relation
corresponding to an entity
in conceptual schema,
whose tuples are physically
stored in the database
Not a derived relation
Has physical existence
While it can manipulate the
conceptual or physical
relations stored in the data,
it does not provide security

View
The dynamic result of one
or more relational
operations operating on
base relations to produce
another relation
A virtual relation that does
not necessarily actally exist
in the database but is
produced upon request, at
time of request
(virtual existence)
As views are dynamic,
changes made to base
relations that affect view
attributes are immediately
reflected in the view
(if base relations update
values of
attributes/attributes in view
will also be affected)
Contents of a view are
defined as a query on one
or more base relations
Modification through a
view(e.g.
insert,update,delete
operations not permitted!)

Derived
relation!

Relation
Table
File
Alternate Terminology

Tuple
Row
Record

Attribute
Column
Field

Properties of Relations
Relation name is DISTINCT from all other relation names in relational
schemas
Each cell of relation contains exactly ONE atomic value
Each attribute as a DISTINCT name

 Values of an attribute are ALL from the same domain

Each tuple is distinct, there are no DUPLICATE tuples(record)
Order of attributes & tuples are NOT important
*Relational Keys
Type of relational keys :
Candidate Key
Primary Key
Alternate Key
Foreign Key

Keys
Candida
te Key

Description
Minimal set of
attributes that can
uniquely identify each
tuple in a relation
Is a subset of the
super key
A relation may have
one or more candidate
keys
Candidate keys can

Conditions/Criteria
1. Must contain
unique values
2. Must not contain
null values since
a null value is not
guaranteed to be
unique & we would
not be able to
identify each _
uniquely

Example
StudentID, NRIC,
firstName +
lastName
(combined)

consist of a single
attribute or multiple
attributes(together)
Multiple attribute keys
are known as
composite key
Primary
Key

Alternat
e Key
Foreign
Key

3. Must contain
minimum no. of
fields(attributes) to
ensure
uniqueness(as
above)

One candidate key is

1. Minimal set of
attributes
designated as primary
2. Less likely to have
key whose values are
its value changed
used to identify tuples
3. Less likely to lose
uniquely in a relation
uniqueness in the
Note : When choosing
future
a primary key from a
4. With fewest
pool of candidate
characters
keys, always choose a
5. Easier to use from
single simple key over
the users point of
a composite
view
key(studentId )
Candidate keys that
Same as above
are not selected to be
primary keys
An attribute or a set of More this later Linked
to Referential Integrity
attributes within one
relation that matches
the primary key of
some(possibly the
same relation)
A foreign key is an
attribute which
provides a logical link
between tables

NRIC,StudentId

firstName +
lastName
(combined)
Student(R1)
Sch_code :
SBM,SIT(FK)
Student(R2)
sch : SIT,SBM(PK)

Nulls
Purpose : a way to deal with incomplete/exceptional data.
Represents a value for an attribute that is currently unknown or is
not applicable
for this tuple OR represent an unknown piece of data

Relational Integrity
Integrity Rules
Can be specified on a relational database schema
Ensure accuracy & integrity of the data in the database
(Applied to data items to make sure that the data is valid &
consistent)
2 Principal Rules
1. Entity Integrity
Primary key in a base relation must not contain any nulls
Why? A primary key is a minimal identifier that is used to identify
tuples uniquely.
Hence, no subset of the primary key is sufficient to provide unique
identification of
tuples.
Example :

Description - The image cncpt055.gif shows Table DEPT, which has three columns: DEPTNO,
DNAME, and LOC.The DEPTNO column has a Primary Key--no row may duplicate a value in
the key and no null values are allowed.This illustration shows that two rows cannot be
inserted into Table DEPT because one duplicates an existing value in the primary key, while
the other contains a null value for the primary key
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14220/data_int.htm#i3771

2. Referential Integrity
If foreign key exists in a relation, either foreign key value must
match a candidate key
value of some tuple in its home relation or foreign key must be
wholly null
Purpose? Ensures that relationships between tuples in related
relations are
consistent and valid AND ensures that related tuples are
If AGENT_CODE
not accidentally deleted/
in Customer
changed?
Table is not
Example #1 Not violated :

found in Agent
Table, we would
have a problem
in identifying
the agent of this
customer. There
is a data
integrity

Example #2 Violated :
In the example scenario shown in Figure4.2, the record for customer OBrain (pink
shaded) in the CUSTOMER table (dependant table) is disturbing the referential integrity
of the database because there exist no reference for the records AGENT_CODE (504) in
the related table, AGENT (primary table)

Example #3 Violated :
In Figure 21-7, the referential integrity constraint ensures that every
value in the mgr column of the emp table corresponds to a value that
currently exists in theempno column of the same table, but not
necessarily in the same row, because every manager must also be an
employee. This integrity constraint eliminates the possibility of
erroneous employee numbers in the mgr column.

Example 3 #4 Violated & Not Violated :

Some points to remember for referential integrity

You cannot delete a parent record if any existing child record is there. If you
have to first delete the child record before deleting the parent record. In the
above example you cannot delete row of employee no. 101 since its child
exist in the ATTENDANCE table. However, you can delete the row of employee
no. 103 since no child record exist for this employee in ATTENDANCE table. If
you define the FOREIGN KEY with ON DELETE CASCADE option then you can
delete the parent record and if any child record exist it will be automatically
deleted.

Enterprise Constraints
Additional rules that are specified by the users or database
administrator that the
data must satisfy
E.g. business rules no more than 25 students to be assigned to a
mentor group

Relational Algebra
Relational algebra operations work on one or more relations to
define another
relation without changing the original relations
Both operands and results are relations
Uses :
- Define a scope of retrieval
- Define a scope for update
- Define a view
- Define access rights
- Define integrity constraints
Operations :
1. SELECT operation(horizontal!)
Notation : sigma
Select a subset of the tuples in a relation that satisfy a selection
condition
Note: SELECT operation in relational algebra has nothing to do with
SQL keyword
select. Selection in relational algebra returns those tuples in
a relation that
fulfill a condition!
Examples

2. PROJECT operation(vertical!)
Used to select certain attributes from the relation and discards the
other attributes
(Delete unwanted columns from relation)
Examples :

*Combining SELECTION & PROJECTION

3. UNION operation(R
S)
The result is a relation that includes all tuples that are either in
relation R or in
relation S or in both. Duplicate tuples are elimintated.
Relation with tuples from R and S with duplicates removed.
Example :
R
R
S
First

First

Bill
Smith
Sally
Green

Bill
Sally

Mary
Keen
Tony
Jones

Mary
Tony

Show the name and rank of those

Forrest
Employees who are not in the CS
DonJuan
department or Adjuncts:
name, rank
'Adjunct'

(
Dept = 'CS')

(Rank =

LastLast
Smith

Age
22

22

Green

28

28

Keen

23

23

Jones

32

32

Age

Show the
Gump
36names of all employees working in the CS

department:
27
name (
Results:

DeMarco

Dept = 'CS'

(EMP) )

(EMP) )

Name

Result:
Name
Green
Smith

Assistant

First

Smith

Rank

S
Last

Associate

Age

Forrest

Gump

36

Sally

Green

28

DonJuan

DeMarco

27

4. INTERSECTION operation(R
S)
The result is a relation that includes all tuples in both relation R & S
(Relation with tuples that appear in both R & S)
Example :
R
S
First
Sally

Last
Green

Age
28

5. DIFFERENCE operation(R S)
First

Last

Age

Bill

Smith

22

Mary

Keen

23

Tony

Jones

32

The result is a relation that includes all tuples that are in relation R
but not in
relation S
Example :

6. CARTESIAN PRODUCT(X)
The operation is used to combine tuples from two relations so that
related tuples can
be identified
My definition repeat the second relation?
Employees
Employee
Smith

Projects
Project
A

Pritchett
Pritchett

Code
Name
A
Venus
B
Mars

A
B

Employees X Projects
Employee
Smith
Smith
Pritchett
Pritchett
Pritchett
Pritchett

Project
A
A
A
A
B
B

Code
A
B
A
B
A
B

Name
Venus
Mars
Venus
Mars
Venus
Mars

7. JOIN operation(
)
This operation is used to combine related tuples from two relations
into a single
tuple
Types of joins:
Inner Join Combines tuples from two relations using comparison
operators
in a condition
- Condition can be = <, >, >= , <= , /=
- Equijoin(when the join condition is = ), Natural
join(operator is *)
E.g. Select * from Employee emp INNER JOIN Area
area on area.EmpId =
emp.EmpId
- Natural join is same as equijoin but the difference is
that in natural join,
the common attribute only appear once
- E.g. Select * from Employee emp NATURAL JOIN Area
area on area.
EmpId = emp.Id;
Example at : http://javacodeimpl.blogspot.sg/2013/08/difference-between-equi-joinnatural.html#.U24ZN_mSySo

8. Outer Join
Combine tuples from two relations and keep all the tuples in the
result even if

there is no matching tuple in the relations

Example
EMP #
1
2
3

NAME1
TOM
DICK
HARRY
CHILD
EMP |X| CHILD
A
B
C
EMP#
NAME
1
TOM
1
TOM
2
DICK
3
HARRY

DAD

1
1
2

CHILD
A
B
C
NULL

DAD
1
1
2
NULL\