3 models
A database model is a logical structure of a database, which contains the relationships and constraints
that determine about how data is stored and accessed. The individual database models are designed
based on the rules and concepts. Most data models can be represented by an accompanying database
diagram.
Types of database models
There are so many database models, but most used database models are –
Hierarchical database model
Network model
Object-oriented database model
The major differences between the hierarchical, network and the relational
models are as follows −
Hierarchical Model Network Model Relational Model
Allowed the network
One to one, one to
One to many or one to one mode to support
many, many to one
relationship. many to many
relationship.
relationships.
Retrieve algorithms
Retrieve algorithms are Retrieve algorithms are
are complex and
complex and asymmetric. simple and symmetric.
symmetric.
A record can have
Based on parent child Based on relational data
many parents as well
relationship. structures.
as many children.
Relational databases are
Doesn’t provide an what bring many
Conference on data
independent stand alone sources into a common
system language.
query interface. query such as SQL.
Cannot insert the Does not suffer from
Doesn’t suffer from any
information of a child who any insertion
insertion anomaly.
does not have any parent. anomaly.
Multiple occurrences of Free from update Free from update
child records which lead to anomalies. anomalies.
problems of inconsistency
during the update
Hierarchical Model Network Model Relational Model
operation.
Deletion of parent results in Free from delete Free from delete
deletion of child record. anomalies. anomalies.
This model lacks data There is partial data It provides data
independence. independence. independence.
Less flexible. Flexible. Flexible.
Difficult to access data. Easier to access data. Easier to access data.
Arrange data in tables.
Arrange data in a tree-like Organizes data in
structure. graph-like structure.
Introduction of ER Model
We typically follow the below steps for designing a database for an application.
Gather the requirements (functional and data) by asking questions to the database
users.
Do a logical or conceptual design of the database. This is where ER model plays a
role. It is the most used graphical representation of the conceptual design of a
database.
Physical Database Design (Like indexing) and external design (like views)
The Entity Relationship Model is a model for identifying entities (like
student, car or company) to be represented in the database and
representation of how those entities are related. The ER data model
specifies enterprise schema that represents the overall logical
structure of a database graphically.
Why Use ER Diagrams In DBMS?
ER diagrams represent the E-R model in a database, making them
easy to convert into relations (tables).
ER diagrams provide the purpose of real-world modeling of
objects which makes them intently useful.
ER diagrams require no technical knowledge of the underlying
DBMS used.
It gives a standard solution for visualizing the data logically.
Symbols Used in ER Model
ER Model is used to model the logical view of the system from a
data perspective which consists of these symbols:
Rectangles: Rectangles represent Entities in the ER Model.
Ellipses: Ellipses represent Attributes in the ER Model.
Diamond: Diamonds represent Relationships among Entities.
Lines: Lines represent attributes to entities and entity sets with
other relationship types.
Double Ellipse: Double Ellipses represent Multi-Valued
Attributes.
Double Rectangle: Double Rectangle represents a Weak Entity.
Extras Symbols used to represent different components of the database in ER MODEL
In an Entity-Relationship (ER) Model in DBMS (Database Management System), various
symbols are used to represent different components of the database structure. Here are the key
symbols used in an ER diagram:
1. Entities and Attributes
Symbol Meaning
Rectangle 📏 Represents an Entity (e.g., Student, Employee)
Oval ⭘ Represents an Attribute (e.g., Name, Age, Salary)
Double Oval ⭘⭘ Represents a Multivalued Attribute (e.g., Phone Numbers)
Dashed Oval Represents a Derived Attribute (e.g., Age derived from DOB)
Primary Key (Underlined) Represents a Unique Identifier for an entity (e.g., StudentID)
2. Relationships
Symbol Meaning
Diamond ◇ Represents a Relationship (e.g., Works For, Enrolls)
Symbol Meaning
Line 📏 Connects entities to relationships
3. Relationship Cardinality
Symbol Meaning
1:1 (One-to-One) A single entity in one set is related to a single entity in another set
1:M (One-to-Many) A single entity in one set is related to multiple entities in another set
M:N (Many-to-Many) Multiple entities in one set are related to multiple entities in another set
4. Special Types of Entities and Relationships
Symbol Meaning
Double Rectangle ⏹ Represents a Weak Entity (depends on another entity)
Double Diamond Represents an Identifying Relationship (links a weak entity to a strong
◇◇ entity)
Components of ER Diagram
What is Entity?
An Entity may be an object with a physical existence – a particular
person, car, house, or employee – or it may be an object with a
conceptual existence – a company, a job, or a university course.
What is Entity Set?
An Entity is an object of Entity Type and a set of all entities is called
an entity set. For Example, E1 is an entity having Entity Type
Student and the set of all students is called Entity Set. In ER
diagram, Entity Type is represented as:
Entity Set
We can represent the entity set in ER Diagram but can’t represent
entity in ER Diagram because entity is row and column in the
relation and ER Diagram is graphical representation of data.
Types of Entity
There are two types of entity:
1. Strong Entity
A Strong Entity is a type of entity that has a key Attribute. Strong
Entity does not depend on other Entity in the Schema. It has a
primary key, that helps in identifying it uniquely, and it is
represented by a rectangle. These are called Strong Entity Types.
2. Weak Entity
An Entity type has a key attribute that uniquely identifies each
entity in the entity set. But some entity type exists for which key
attributes can’t be defined. These are called Weak Entity types .
For Example, A company may store the information of dependents
(Parents, Children, Spouse) of an Employee. But the dependents
can’t exist without the employee. So Dependent will be a Weak
Entity Type and Employee will be Identifying Entity type for
Dependent, which means it is Strong Entity Type .
A weak entity type is represented by a Double Rectangle. The
participation of weak entity types is always total. The relationship
between the weak entity type and its identifying strong entity type
is called identifying relationship and it is represented by a double
diamond.
Strong Entity and Weak Entity
What is Attributes?
Attributes are the properties that define the entity type. For
example, Roll_No, Name, DOB, Age, Address, and Mobile_No are the
attributes that define entity type Student. In ER diagram, the
attribute is represented by an oval.
Attribute
Types of Attributes
1. Key Attribute
The attribute which uniquely identifies each entity in the entity
set is called the key attribute. For example, Roll_No will be unique
for each student. In ER diagram, the key attribute is represented by
an oval with underlying lines.
Key Attribute
2. Composite Attribute
An attribute composed of many other attributes is called a
composite attribute. For example, the Address attribute of the
student Entity type consists of Street, City, State, and Country. In ER
diagram, the composite attribute is represented by an oval
comprising of ovals.
Composite Attribute
3. Multivalued Attribute
An attribute consisting of more than one value for a given entity. For
example, Phone_No (can be more than one for a given student). In
ER diagram, a multivalued attribute is represented by a double oval.
Multivalued Attribute
4. Derived Attribute
An attribute that can be derived from other attributes of the entity
type is known as a derived attribute. e.g.; Age (can be derived from
DOB). In ER diagram, the derived attribute is represented by a
dashed oval.
Derived Attribute
The Complete Entity Type Student with its Attributes can be
represented as:
Entity and Attributes
Relationship Type and Relationship Set
A Relationship Type represents the association between entity
types. For example, ‘Enrolled in’ is a relationship type that exists
between entity type Student and Course. In ER diagram, the
relationship type is represented by a diamond and connecting the
entities with lines.
Entity-Relationship Set
A set of relationships of the same type is known as a relationship
set. The following relationship set depicts S1 as enrolled in C2, S2 as
enrolled in C1, and S3 as registered in C3.
Relationship Set
Degree of a Relationship Set
The number of different entity sets participating in a relationship set
is called the degree of a relationship set.
1. Unary Relationship: When there is only ONE entity set
participating in a relation, the relationship is called a unary
relationship. For example, one person is married to only one person.
Unary Relationship
2. Binary Relationship: When there are TWO entities set
participating in a relationship, the relationship is called a binary
relationship. For example, a Student is enrolled in a Course.
Binary Relationship
3. Ternary Relationship: When there are three entity sets
participating in a relationship, the relationship is called a ternary
relationship.
4. N-ary Relationship: When there are n entities set participating
in a relationship, the relationship is called an n-ary relationship.
What is Cardinality?
The number of times an entity of an entity set participates in a
relationship set is known as cardinality . Cardinality can be of
different types:
1. One-to-One: When each entity in each entity set can take part
only once in the relationship, the cardinality is one-to-one. Let us
assume that a male can marry one female and a female can marry
one male. So the relationship will be one-to-one.
the total number of tables that can be used in this is 2.
one to one cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Set Representation of One-to-One
2. One-to-Many: In one-to-many mapping as well where each
entity can be related to more than one entity and the total number
of tables that can be used in this is 2. Let us assume that one
surgeon department can accommodate many doctors. So the
Cardinality will be 1 to M. It means one department has many
Doctors.
total number of tables that can used is 3.
one to many cardinality
Using sets, one-to-many cardinality can be represented as:
Set Representation of One-to-Many
3. Many-to-One: When entities in one entity set can take part only
once in the relationship set and entities in other entity sets can take
part more than once in the relationship set, cardinality is many to
one. Let us assume that a student can take only one course but one
course can be taken by many students. So the cardinality will be n
to 1. It means that for one course there can be n students but for
one student, there will be only one course.
The total number of tables that can be used in this is 3.
many to one cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Set Representation of Many-to-One
In this case, each student is taking only 1 course but 1 course has
been taken by many students.
4. Many-to-Many: When entities in all entity sets can take part
more than once in the relationship cardinality is many to many. Let
us assume that a student can take more than one course and one
course can be taken by many students. So the relationship will be
many to many.
the total number of tables that can be used in this is 3.
many to many cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Many-to-Many Set Representation
In this example, student S1 is enrolled in C1 and C3 and Course C3
is enrolled by S1, S3, and S4. So it is many-to-many relationships.
Participation Constraint
Participation Constraint is applied to the entity participating in the
relationship set.
1. Total Participation – Each entity in the entity set must
participate in the relationship. If each student must enroll in a
course, the participation of students will be total. Total participation
is shown by a double line in the ER diagram.
2. Partial Participation – The entity in the entity set may or may
NOT participate in the relationship. If some courses are not enrolled
by any of the students, the participation in the course will be partial.
The diagram depicts the ‘Enrolled in’ relationship set with Student
Entity set having total participation and Course Entity set having
partial participation.
Total Participation and Partial Participation
Using Set, it can be represented as,
Set representation of Total Participation and Partial Participation
Every student in the Student Entity set participates in a relationship
but there exists a course C4 that is not taking part in the
relationship.
How to Draw ER Diagram?
The very first step is Identifying all the Entities, and place them in
a Rectangle, and labeling them accordingly.
The next step is to identify the relationship between them and
place them accordingly using the Diamond, and make sure that,
Relationships are not connected to each other.
Attach attributes to the entities properly.
Remove redundant entities and relationships.
Add proper colors to highlight the data present in the database.
Conclusion
Symbols used in ER Diagram
Components of ER Diagram
ER Model consists of Entities, Attributes, and Relationships among
Entities in a Database System.
Components of ER Diagram
What is Entity?
An Entity may be an object with a physical existence – a particular
person, car, house, or employee – or it may be an object with a
conceptual existence – a company, a job, or a university course.
What is Entity Set?
An Entity is an object of Entity Type and a set of all entities is called
an entity set. For Example, E1 is an entity having Entity Type
Student and the set of all students is called Entity Set. In ER
diagram, Entity Type is represented as:
Entity Set
We can represent the entity set in ER Diagram but can’t represent
entity in ER Diagram because entity is row and column in the
relation and ER Diagram is graphical representation of data.
Types of Entity
There are two types of entity:
1. Strong Entity
A Strong Entity is a type of entity that has a key Attribute. Strong
Entity does not depend on other Entity in the Schema. It has a
primary key, that helps in identifying it uniquely, and it is
represented by a rectangle. These are called Strong Entity Types.
2. Weak Entity
An Entity type has a key attribute that uniquely identifies each
entity in the entity set. But some entity type exists for which key
attributes can’t be defined. These are called Weak Entity types .
For Example, A company may store the information of dependents
(Parents, Children, Spouse) of an Employee. But the dependents
can’t exist without the employee. So Dependent will be a Weak
Entity Type and Employee will be Identifying Entity type for
Dependent, which means it is Strong Entity Type .
A weak entity type is represented by a Double Rectangle. The
participation of weak entity types is always total. The relationship
between the weak entity type and its identifying strong entity type
is called identifying relationship and it is represented by a double
diamond.
Strong Entity and Weak Entity
What is Attributes?
Attributes are the properties that define the entity type. For
example, Roll_No, Name, DOB, Age, Address, and Mobile_No are the
attributes that define entity type Student. In ER diagram, the
attribute is represented by an oval.
Attribute
Types of Attributes
1. Key Attribute
The attribute which uniquely identifies each entity in the entity
set is called the key attribute. For example, Roll_No will be unique
for each student. In ER diagram, the key attribute is represented by
an oval with underlying lines.
Key Attribute
2. Composite Attribute
An attribute composed of many other attributes is called a
composite attribute. For example, the Address attribute of the
student Entity type consists of Street, City, State, and Country. In ER
diagram, the composite attribute is represented by an oval
comprising of ovals.
Composite Attribute
3. Multivalued Attribute
An attribute consisting of more than one value for a given entity. For
example, Phone_No (can be more than one for a given student). In
ER diagram, a multivalued attribute is represented by a double oval.
Multivalued Attribute
4. Derived Attribute
An attribute that can be derived from other attributes of the entity
type is known as a derived attribute. e.g.; Age (can be derived from
DOB). In ER diagram, the derived attribute is represented by a
dashed oval.
Derived Attribute
The Complete Entity Type Student with its Attributes can be
represented as:
Entity and Attributes
Relationship Type and Relationship Set
A Relationship Type represents the association between entity
types. For example, ‘Enrolled in’ is a relationship type that exists
between entity type Student and Course. In ER diagram, the
relationship type is represented by a diamond and connecting the
entities with lines.
Entity-Relationship Set
A set of relationships of the same type is known as a relationship
set. The following relationship set depicts S1 as enrolled in C2, S2 as
enrolled in C1, and S3 as registered in C3.
Relationship Set
Degree of a Relationship Set
The number of different entity sets participating in a relationship set
is called the degree of a relationship set.
1. Unary Relationship: When there is only ONE entity set
participating in a relation, the relationship is called a unary
relationship. For example, one person is married to only one person.
Unary Relationship
2. Binary Relationship: When there are TWO entities set
participating in a relationship, the relationship is called a binary
relationship. For example, a Student is enrolled in a Course.
Binary Relationship
3. Ternary Relationship: When there are three entity sets
participating in a relationship, the relationship is called a ternary
relationship.
4. N-ary Relationship: When there are n entities set participating
in a relationship, the relationship is called an n-ary relationship.
What is Cardinality?
The number of times an entity of an entity set participates in a
relationship set is known as cardinality . Cardinality can be of
different types:
1. One-to-One: When each entity in each entity set can take part
only once in the relationship, the cardinality is one-to-one. Let us
assume that a male can marry one female and a female can marry
one male. So the relationship will be one-to-one.
the total number of tables that can be used in this is 2.
one to one cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Set Representation of One-to-One
2. One-to-Many: In one-to-many mapping as well where each
entity can be related to more than one entity and the total number
of tables that can be used in this is 2. Let us assume that one
surgeon department can accommodate many doctors. So the
Cardinality will be 1 to M. It means one department has many
Doctors.
total number of tables that can used is 3.
one to many cardinality
Using sets, one-to-many cardinality can be represented as:
Set Representation of One-to-Many
3. Many-to-One: When entities in one entity set can take part only
once in the relationship set and entities in other entity sets can take
part more than once in the relationship set, cardinality is many to
one. Let us assume that a student can take only one course but one
course can be taken by many students. So the cardinality will be n
to 1. It means that for one course there can be n students but for
one student, there will be only one course.
The total number of tables that can be used in this is 3.
many to one cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Set Representation of Many-to-One
In this case, each student is taking only 1 course but 1 course has
been taken by many students.
4. Many-to-Many: When entities in all entity sets can take part
more than once in the relationship cardinality is many to many. Let
us assume that a student can take more than one course and one
course can be taken by many students. So the relationship will be
many to many.
the total number of tables that can be used in this is 3.
many to many cardinality
Using Sets, it can be represented as:
Many-to-Many Set Representation
In this example, student S1 is enrolled in C1 and C3 and Course C3
is enrolled by S1, S3, and S4. So it is many-to-many relationships.
Participation Constraint
Participation Constraint is applied to the entity participating in the
relationship set.
1. Total Participation – Each entity in the entity set must
participate in the relationship. If each student must enroll in a
course, the participation of students will be total. Total participation
is shown by a double line in the ER diagram.
2. Partial Participation – The entity in the entity set may or may
NOT participate in the relationship. If some courses are not enrolled
by any of the students, the participation in the course will be partial.
The diagram depicts the ‘Enrolled in’ relationship set with Student
Entity set having total participation and Course Entity set having
partial participation.
Total Participation and Partial Participation
Using Set, it can be represented as,
Set representation of Total Participation and Partial Participation
Every student in the Student Entity set participates in a relationship
but there exists a course C4 that is not taking part in the
relationship.
How to Draw ER Diagram?
The very first step is Identifying all the Entities, and place them in
a Rectangle, and labeling them accordingly.
The next step is to identify the relationship between them and
place them accordingly using the Diamond, and make sure that,
Relationships are not connected to each other.
Attach attributes to the entities properly.
Remove redundant entities and relationships.
Add proper colors to highlight the data present in the database.
Conclusion
