UNIT 2 MODULE2

Functional Dependency
Functional Dependency (FD) determines the relation of one attribute to
another attribute in a database management system (DBMS) system.
Functional dependency helps you to maintain the quality of data in the
database. A functional dependency is denoted by an arrow . The
functional dependency of X on Y is represented by X Y. Functional
Dependency plays a vital role to find the difference between good and bad
database design.

Example:

Employee Employee Name Salary City

number

1 Dana 50000 San Francisco

2 Francis 38000 London

3 Andrew 25000 Tokyo

In this example, if we know the value of Employee number, we can obtain

Employee Name, city, salary, etc. By this, we can say that the city, Employee
Name, and salary are functionally depended on Employee number.

The functional dependency is a relationship that exists between two

attributes. It typically exists between the primary key and non-key
attribute within a table.

1. X Y

The left side of FD is known as a determinant, the right side of the

production is known as a dependent.

For example:

Assume we have an employee table with attributes: Emp_Id, Emp_Name,

Emp_Address.
 Here Emp_Id attribute can uniquely identify the Emp_Name attribute of
employee table because if we know the Emp_Id, we can tell that employee
name associated with it.

Functional dependency can be written as:

1. Emp_Id Emp_Name

We can say that Emp_Name is functionally dependent on Emp_Id.

Types of Functional dependency

1. Trivial functional dependency

o A B has trivial functional dependency if B is a subset of A.
o The following dependencies are also trivial like: A A, B B

Example:

1. Consider a table with two columns Employee_Id and Employee_Name.

2.

{Employee_id, Employee_Name} Employee_Id is a trivial functional dep

endency as
3. Employee_Id is a subset of {Employee_Id, Employee_Name}.

Also, Employee_Id Employee_Id and Employee_Name Employee_Na

me are trivial dependencies too.

2. Non-trivial functional dependency

o A B has a non-trivial functional dependency if B is not a subset of A.
 o When A intersection B is NULL, then A B is called as complete non-
trivial.

Example:

1. ID Name,
2. Name DOB

Normalization:
Database normalization is a database schema design technique, by which
an existing schema is modified to minimize redundancy and dependency of
data. Normalization split a large table into smaller tables and define
relationships between them to increases the clarity in organizing data.

Normalization is the process of minimizing redundancy from a relation

or set of relations. Redundancy in relation may cause insertion, deletion
and updation anomalies. So, it helps to minimize the redundancy in
relations. Normal forms are used to eliminate or reduce redundancy in
database tables.

 The words normalization and normal form refer to the structure of a

database.
 Normalization was developed by IBM researcher E.F. Codd In the
1970s.
 Normalization increases clarity in organizing data in Databases.
 Normalization of a Database is achieved by following a set of rules
called 'forms' in creating the database.

Database Normalization Rules

 First Normal Form (1NF)

 Second Normal Form (2NF)
 Third Normal Form (3NF)
 Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)
 Fourth Normal Form (4NF)
 Fifth Normal Form (5NF)

Normal Description
Form

1NF A relation is in 1NF if it contains an atomic value.

 2NF A relation will be in 2NF if it is in 1NF and all non-key attributes are
fully functional dependent on the primary key.

3NF A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and no transition dependency

exists.

4NF A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd normal form and has
no multi-valued dependency.

5NF A relation is in 5NF if it is in 4NF and not contains any join

dependency and joining should be lossless.

1) First Normal Form (1NF) –

If a relation contain composite or multi-valued attribute, it violates first
normal form or a relation is in first normal form if it does not contain any
composite or multi-valued attribute. A relation is in first normal form if
every attribute in that relation is singled valued attribute.
o A relation will be 1NF if it contains an atomic value.
o It states that an attribute of a table cannot hold multiple values. It
must hold only single-valued attribute.
o First normal form disallows the multi-valued attribute, composite
attribute, and their combinations.

Example: Relation EMPLOYEE is not in 1NF because of multi-valued

attribute EMP_PHONE.

EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE

14 John 7272826385, UP
9064738238

20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar

12 Sam 7390372389, Punjab

8589830302

The decomposition of the EMPLOYEE table into 1NF has been shown
below:
 EMP_ID EMP_NAM EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE
E

14 John 7272826385 UP

14 John 9064738238 UP

20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar

12 Sam 7390372389 Punjab

12 Sam 8589830302 Punjab

2) Second Normal Form –

To be in second normal form, a relation must be in first normal form and
relation must not contain any partial dependency. A relation is in 2NF if it
has No Partial Dependency, i.e., no non-prime attribute (attributes which
are not part of any candidate key) is dependent on any proper subset of any
candidate key of the table.
Partial Dependency – If the proper subset of candidate key determines non-
prime attribute, it is called partial dependency.

Example 1 – Consider table-3 as following below.

STUD_NO COURSE_NO COURSE_FEE

1 C1 1000
2 C2 1500
1 C4 2000
4 C3 1000
4 C1 1000
2 C5 2000
{Note that, there are many courses having the same course fee. }
Here,
COURSE_FEE cannot alone decide the value of COURSE_NO or
STUD_NO;
COURSE_FEE together with STUD_NO cannot decide the value of
COURSE_NO;
COURSE_FEE together with COURSE_NO cannot decide the value of
STUD_NO;
Hence,
COURSE_FEE would be a non-prime attribute, as it does not belong to
the one only candidate key {STUD_NO, COURSE_NO} ;
 But, COURSE_NO -> COURSE_FEE, i.e., COURSE_FEE is dependent
on COURSE_NO, which is a proper subset of the candidate key. Non-
prime attribute COURSE_FEE is dependent on a proper subset of the
candidate key, which is a partial dependency and so this relation is not
in 2NF.
To convert the above relation to 2NF,
we need to split the table into two tables such as :
Table 1: STUD_NO, COURSE_NO
Table 2: COURSE_NO, COURSE_FEE
Table 1 Table 2
STUD_NO COURSE_NO COURSE_NO COURSE_FEE
1 C1 C1 1000
2 C2 C2 1500
1 C4 C3 1000
4 C3 C4 2000
4 C1 C5 2000

NOTE: 2NF tries to reduce the redundant data getting stored in memory.
For instance, if there are 100 students taking C1 course, we don’t need
to store its Fee as 1000 for all the 100 records, instead once we can
store it in the second table as the course fee for C1 is 1000.

3) Third Normal Form –

A relation is in third normal form, if there is no transitive
dependency for non-prime attributes as well as it is in second normal
form.
3NF is used to reduce the data duplication. It is also used to achieve the
data integrity. If there is no transitive dependency for non-prime
attributes, then the relation must be in third normal form.

A relation is in 3NF if at least one of the following condition holds in

every non-trivial function dependency X –> Y
1. X is a super key.
2. Y is a prime attribute (each element of Y is part of some candidate key).

EMPLOYEE_DETAIL table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY

222 Harry 201010 UP Noida

333 Stephan 02228 US Boston

444 Lan 60007 US Chicago

555 Katharine 06389 UK Norwich

666 John 462007 MP Bhopal

Super key in the table above:

{EMP_ID}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME}, {EMP_ID, EMP_NAME, EMP_ZIP}....so

on

Candidate key: {EMP_ID}

Non-prime attributes: In the given table, all attributes except EMP_ID

are non-prime.

Here, EMP_STATE & EMP_CITY dependent on EMP_ZIP and EMP_ZIP

dependent on EMP_ID. The non-prime attributes (EMP_STATE, EMP_CITY)
transitively dependent on super key(EMP_ID). It violates the rule of third
normal form.

That's why we need to move the EMP_CITY and EMP_STATE to the

new <EMPLOYEE_ZIP> table, with EMP_ZIP as a Primary key.

EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_ZIP

222 Harry 201010

333 Stephan 02228

444 Lan 60007

555 Katharine 06389

666 John 462007

EMPLOYEE_ZIP table:

EMP_ZIP EMP_STATE EMP_CITY

201010 UP Noida

02228 US Boston

60007 US Chicago

06389 UK Norwich

462007 MP Bhopal
 Boyce Codd normal form (BCNF)
o BCNF is the advance version of 3NF. It is stricter than 3NF.
o A table is in BCNF if every functional dependency X → Y, X is the
super key of the table.
o For BCNF, the table should be in 3NF, and for every FD, LHS is
super key.

Example: Let's assume there is a company where employees work in

more than one department.

EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO

264 India Designing D394 283

264 India Testing D394 300

364 UK Stores D283 232

364 UK Developing D283 549

In the above table Functional dependencies are as follows:

1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}

Candidate key: {EMP-ID, EMP-DEPT}

The table is not in BCNF because neither EMP_DEPT nor EMP_ID alone are
keys.

To convert the given table into BCNF, we decompose it into three tables:
 EMP_COUNTRY table:

EMP_ID EMP_COUNTRY

264 India

364 UK

EMP_DEPT table:

EMP_DEPT DEPT_TYPE EMP_DEPT_NO

Designing D394 283

Testing D394 300

Stores D283 232

Developing D283 549

EMP_DEPT_MAPPING table:

EMP_ID EMP_DEPT

D394 283

D394 300

D283 232

D283 549

Functional dependencies:

1. EMP_ID → EMP_COUNTRY
2. EMP_DEPT → {DEPT_TYPE, EMP_DEPT_NO}

Candidate keys:

For the first table: EMP_ID

For the second table: EMP_DEPT
For the third table: {EMP_ID, EMP_DEPT}

Now, this is in BCNF because left side part of both the functional
dependencies is a key.
Anomalies in DBMS
There are three types of anomalies that occur when the database is
not normalized. These are – Insertion, update and deletion
anomaly.

Example: Suppose a manufacturing company stores the employee

details in a table named employee that has four attributes: emp_id
for storing employee’s id, emp_name for storing employee’s name,
emp_address for storing employee’s address and emp_dept for
storing the department details in which the employee works. At
some point of time the table looks like this:

emp_address emp_dept
emp_id emp_name

Delhi D001
101 Rick

Delhi D002
101 Rick

Agra D890
123 Maggie

Chennai D900
166 Glenn

Chennai D004
166 Glenn

The above table is not normalized. We will see the problems that
we face when a table is not normalized.

Update anomaly: In the above table we have two rows for

employee Rick as he belongs to two departments of the company. If
we want to update the address of Rick then we have to update the
same in two rows or the data will become inconsistent. If somehow,
the correct address gets updated in one department but not in other
then as per the database, Rick would be having two different
addresses, which is not correct and would lead to inconsistent data.
Insert anomaly: Suppose a new employee joins the company, who
is under training and currently not assigned to any department then
we would not be able to insert the data into the table if emp_dept
field doesn’t allow nulls.

Delete anomaly: Suppose, if at a point of time the company closes the

department D890 then deleting the rows that are having emp_dept as D890
would also delete the information of employee Maggie since she is
assigned only to this department.

Fourth normal form (4NF)

o A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd normal form and has no
multi-valued dependency.
o For a dependency A → B, if for a single value of A, multiple values of B
exists, then the relation will be a multi-valued dependency.

Example
STUDENT

STU_ID COURSE HOBBY

21 Computer Dancing

21 Math Singing

34 Chemistry Dancing

74 Biology Cricket

59 Physics Hockey

The given STUDENT table is in 3NF, but the COURSE and HOBBY are two
independent entity. Hence, there is no relationship between COURSE and
HOBBY.

In the STUDENT relation, a student with STU_ID, 21 contains two

courses, Computer and Math and two hobbies, Dancing and Singing.
So there is a Multi-valued dependency on STU_ID, which leads to
unnecessary repetition of data.

So to make the above table into 4NF, we can decompose it into two
tables:
STUDENT_COURSE

STU_ID COURSE

21 Computer

21 Math

34 Chemistry

74 Biology

59 Physics

STUDENT_HOBBY

STU_ID HOBBY

21 Dancing

21 Singing

34 Dancing

74 Cricket

59 Hockey

Fifth normal form (5NF)

o A relation is in 5NF if it is in 4NF and not contains any join
dependency and joining should be lossless.
o 5NF is satisfied when all the tables are broken into as many tables
as possible in order to avoid redundancy.
o 5NF is also known as Project-join normal form (PJ/NF).
Example

SUBJECT LECTURER SEMESTER

Computer Anshika Semester 1

Computer John Semester 1

Math John Semester 1

Math Akash Semester 2

Chemistry Praveen Semester 1

In the above table, John takes both Computer and Math class for Semester 1 but he
doesn't take Math class for Semester 2. In this case, combination of all these fields
required to identify a valid data.

Suppose we add a new Semester as Semester 3 but do not know about the subject
and who will be taking that subject so we leave Lecturer and Subject as NULL. But
all three columns together acts as a primary key, so we can't leave other two
columns blank.

So to make the above table into 5NF, we can decompose it into three relations P1,
P2 & P3:

P1

SEMESTER SUBJECT

Semester 1 Computer

Semester 1 Math

Semester 1 Chemistry

Semester 2 Math

P2

SUBJECT LECTURER

Computer Anshika

Computer John

Math John
 Math Akash

Chemistry Praveen

P3

SEMSTER LECTURER

Semester 1 Anshika

Semester 1 John

Semester 1 John

Semester 2 Akash

Semester 1 Praveen