The Relational Model: © Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005

Chapter 4
The Relational Model
© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005

Relational Model Terminology
A relation is a table with columns and rows.
– Only applies to logical structure of the
database, not the physical structure.
Attribute is a named column of a relation.
Domain is the set of allowable values for one or

more attributes.
2
Relational Model Terminology
Tuple is a row of a relation.
Degree is the number of attributes in a relation.
Cardinality is the number of tuples in a relation.
Relational Database is a collection of normalized

relations with distinct relation names.
3
Instances of Branch and Staff Relations

Examples of Attribute Domains
5
Alternative Terminology for Relational Model
6
Mathematical Definition of Relation
Consider two sets, D1 & D2, where D1 = {2, 4} and
D2 = {1, 3, 5}.
Cartesian product, D1 × D2, is set of all ordered
pairs, where first element is member of D1 and
second element is member of D2.
D1 × D2 = {(2, 1), (2, 3), (2, 5), (4, 1), (4, 3), (4, 5)}
Alternativeway is to find all combinations of

elements with first from D1 and second from D2.
7
Any subset of Cartesian product is a relation; e.g.
R = {(2, 1), (4, 1)}
May specify which pairs are in relation using
some condition for selection; e.g.
– second element is 1:
R = {(x, y) | x ∈D1, y ∈D2, and y = 1}
– first element is always twice the second:
S = {(x, y) | x ∈D1, y ∈D2, and x = 2y}
8
Consider three sets D1, D2, D3 with Cartesian
Product D1 × D2 × D3; e.g.
D1 = {1, 3} D2 = {2, 4} D3 = {5, 6}

D1 × D2 × D3 = {(1,2,5), (1,2,6), (1,4,5),
(1,4,6), (3,2,5), (3,2,6), (3,4,5), (3,4,6)}
Any subset of these ordered triples is a

relation.
9
Cartesian product of n sets (D1, D2, . . ., Dn) is:
D1 × D2 × . . . × Dn = {(d1, d2, . . . , dn) | d1 ∈D1, d2 ∈D2, . . .

, dn∈Dn}
usually written as:
n
X Di
i=1
Any set of n-tuples from this Cartesian product

is a relation on the n sets.
10
Database Relations
Relation schema
– Named relation defined by a set of attribute
and domain name pairs.
Relational database schema

– Set of relation schemas, each with a distinct
name.
11
Properties of Relations
Relationname is distinct from all other relation
names in relational schema.
Each cell of relation contains exactly one atomic

(single) value.
Each attribute has a distinct name.
Valuesof an attribute are all from the same

domain.
12
Properties of Relations
Each tuple is distinct; there are no duplicate
tuples.
Order of attributes has no significance.
Order of tuples has no significance, theoretically.
13
Relational Keys
Superkey
– An attribute, or set of attributes, that uniquely
identifies a tuple within a relation.
Candidate Key
– Superkey (K) such that no proper subset is a superkey
within the relation.
– In each tuple of R, values of K uniquely identify that
tuple (uniqueness).
– No proper subset of K has the uniqueness property
(irreducibility).
14
Relational Keys
Primary Key
– Candidate key selected to identify tuples uniquely
within relation.
Alternate Keys
– Candidate keys that are not selected to be primary
key.
Foreign Key
– Attribute, or set of attributes, within one relation
that matches candidate key of some (possibly same)
relation.
15
Integrity Constraints
Null
– Represents value for an attribute that is
currently unknown or not applicable for tuple.
– Deals with incomplete or exceptional data.
– Represents the absence of a value and is not the
same as zero or spaces, which are values.
16
Entity Integrity
– In a base relation, no attribute of a primary
key can be null.
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 value must be wholly null.
17
General Constraints
– Additional rules specified by users or
database administrators that define or
constrain some aspect of the enterprise.
18
Views
Base Relation
– Named relation corresponding to an entity
in conceptual schema, whose tuples are
physically stored in database.
View
– Dynamic result of one or more relational
operations operating on base relations to
produce another relation.
19
Views
A virtual relation that does not necessarily
actually exist in the database but is produced
upon request, at time of request.
Contents of a view are defined as a query on one

or more base relations.
Views are dynamic, meaning that changes made

to base relations that affect view attributes are
immediately reflected in the view.
20
Purpose of Views
Provides powerful and flexible security
mechanism by hiding parts of database from
certain users.
Permits users to access data in a customized

way, so that same data can be seen by different
users in different ways, at same time.
Can simplify complex operations on base

relations.
21
Updating Views
All updates to a base relation should be
immediately reflected in all views that
reference that base relation.
Ifview is updated, underlying base relation

should reflect change.
22
Updating Views
Classes of views are defined as:
– theoretically not updateable;
– theoretically updateable;
– partially updateable.
23

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Chapter 4

The Relational Model

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005

 Attribute is a named column of a relation.

 Domain is the set of allowable values for one or

 Degree is the number of attributes in a relation.

 Cardinality is the number of tuples in a relation.

 Relational Database is a collection of normalized

© Pearson Education Limited 1995, 2005

 Alternativeway is to find all combinations of

D1 = {1, 3} D2 = {2, 4} D3 = {5, 6}

 Any subset of these ordered triples is a

D1 × D2 × . . . × Dn = {(d1, d2, . . . , dn) | d1 ∈D1, d2 ∈D2, . . .

 Any set of n-tuples from this Cartesian product

 Relational database schema

 Each cell of relation contains exactly one atomic

 Each attribute has a distinct name.

 Valuesof an attribute are all from the same

 Order of attributes has no significance.

 Order of tuples has no significance, theoretically.

 Contents of a view are defined as a query on one

 Views are dynamic, meaning that changes made

 Permits users to access data in a customized

 Can simplify complex operations on base

 Ifview is updated, underlying base relation

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Attribute is a named column of a relation.

Domain is the set of allowable values for one or

Degree is the number of attributes in a relation.

Cardinality is the number of tuples in a relation.

Relational Database is a collection of normalized

Alternativeway is to find all combinations of

Any subset of these ordered triples is a

Any set of n-tuples from this Cartesian product

Relational database schema

Each cell of relation contains exactly one atomic

Each attribute has a distinct name.

Valuesof an attribute are all from the same

Order of attributes has no significance.

Order of tuples has no significance, theoretically.

Contents of a view are defined as a query on one

Views are dynamic, meaning that changes made

Permits users to access data in a customized

Can simplify complex operations on base

Ifview is updated, underlying base relation