Module5

Relational Database Design

Pitfalls in Relational Database Design

 Redundant Data
 Inability to represent some data
 Dependency of various attributes of relation
 Loss of information

Normalization
o Normalization is a step by step decomposition of complex records into simple
record.
o Normalization is the process of organizing the data in the database.
o Normalization is used to minimize the redundancy from a relation or set of relations. It is
also used to eliminate undesirable characteristics like Insertion, Update, and Deletion
Anomalies.
o Normalization divides the larger table into smaller and links them using relationships.
o The normal form is used to reduce redundancy from the database table.
o Normalization is a process of designing a consistent database by minimizing redundancy
and ensuring data integrity through decomposition which is lossless.
o Goals of database normalization:

 Ensure data Integrity

 Prevents redundancy in data
 To avoid data anomaly
i. Insertion Anomaly: Insertion Anomaly refers to when one cannot
insert a new tuple into a relationship due to lack of data.
 ii. Deletion Anomaly: The delete anomaly refers to the situation where
the deletion of data results in the unintended loss of some other
important data.
iii. Updatation Anomaly: The update anomaly is when an update of a
single data value requires multiple rows of data to be updated.

Functional Dependency
 A functional dependency is a constraint that specifies the relationship
between two sets of attributes where one set can accurately determine the
value of other sets.
 It is denoted as X → Y, where X is a set of attributes that is capable of
determining the value of Y.
 The attribute set on the left side of the arrow,
 X is called Determinant, while on the right side,
 Y is called the Dependent. Functional dependencies are used to
mathematically express relations among database entities and are very
important to understand advanced concepts in Relational Database
System and understanding problems in competitive exams like Gate.

For example:

Assume we have an employee table with attributes: Emp_Id, Emp_Name, Salary, Project_Id,
Hours, Allowance.

CASE 1: (X→Y)

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:

Emp_Id → Emp_Name

We can say that Emp_Name is functionally dependent on Emp_Id.

CASE 2: (X→YZ)

AS per Above Employee table, it can be possible to have multiple employees with same
Ename and salary.

Emp_Id → Emp_Name, Salary

CASE 3: (XY→ZW)
AS per Above Employee table, it can be possible to have multiple Emp_Id and Project_Id
pairs with same values of Hours and Allowance.

Emp_Id, Project_Id → Hours, Allowance

Types of Functional Dependencies

 Full Functional Dependency
 Partial Functional Dependency
 Transitive Functional Dependency
 Trivial Functional Dependency
 Multivalued Functional Dependency

1. Full Functional Dependency

If X and Y are an attribute set of a relation, Y is fully functional dependent on X, if Y is

functionally dependent on X but not on any proper subset of X.
Example –
In the relation ABC->D, attribute D is fully functionally dependent on ABC and not on any
proper subset of ABC. That means that subsets of ABC like AB, BC, A, B, etc. cannot determine
D.
Let us take another example –
Supply table

supplier_id item_id price

1 1 540

2 1 545

1 2 200
 2 2 201

1 1 540

2 2 201

3 1 542

From the table, we can clearly see that neither supplier_id or item_id can uniquely determine
the price but both supplier_id and item_id together can do so. So we can say that price is fully
functionally dependent on { supplier_id, item_id }. This summarizes and gives our fully
functional dependency −
{ supplier_id , item_id } -> price

2. Partial Functional Dependency :

A functional dependency X->Y is a partial dependency if Y is functionally dependent on X and

Y can be determined by any proper subset of X.
For example, we have a relationship AC->B, A->D, and D->B.
Now if we compute the closure of {A +}=ADB
Here A is alone capable of determining B, which means B is partially dependent on AC.
Let us take another example –
Student table

name roll_no course

Ravi 2 DBMS

Tim 3 OS

John 5 Java

Here, we can see that both the attributes name and roll_no alone are able to uniquely identify
a course. Hence we can say that the relationship is partially dependent.

3. Trivial Functional Dependency

In Trivial Functional Dependency, a dependent is always a subset of the determinant.

i.e. If X → Y and Y is the subset of X, then it is called trivial functional dependency
For example,
roll_no Name age

42 Abc 17

43 Pqr 18

44 Xyz 18

Here, {roll_no, name} → name is a trivial functional dependency, since the

dependent name is a subset of determinant set {roll_no, name}
Similarly, roll_no → roll_no is also an example of trivial functional dependency.

4. Multivalued Functional Dependency

In Multivalued functional dependency, entities of the dependent set are not dependent on
each other.
i.e. If a → {b, c} and there exists no functional dependency between b and c, then it is called
a multivalued functional dependency.
For example,

roll_no Name age

42 Abc 17

43 Pqr 18

44 Xyz 18

45 Abc 19

Here, roll_no → {name, age} is a multivalued functional dependency, since the

dependents name & age are not dependent on each other(i.e. name → age or age → name
doesn’t exist !)

5. Transitive Functional Dependency

In transitive functional dependency, dependent is indirectly dependent on determinant.

i.e. If a → b & b → c, then according to axiom of transitivity, a → c. This is a transitive
functional dependency
For example,
enrol_no Name dept building_no

42 Abc CO 4

43 Pqr EC 2

44 Xyz IT 1

45 Abc EC 2

Here, enrol_no → dept and dept → building_no,

Hence, according to the axiom of transitivity, enrol_no → building_no is a valid functional
dependency. This is an indirect functional dependency, hence called Transitive functional
dependency.

FD Properties
1. Primary Properties

2. Secondary Properties
Relational Decomposition
o When a relation in the relational model is not in appropriate normal form then the
decomposition of a relation is required.
o In a database, it breaks the table into multiple tables.
o If the relation has no proper decomposition, then it may lead to problems like loss of
information.
o Decomposition is used to eliminate some of the problems of bad design like anomalies,
inconsistencies, and redundancy.

Types of Decomposition
 Lossless Decomposition
 Dependency Preserving
 No Repetition of information

Lossless Decomposition
o If the information is not lost from the relation that is decomposed, then the decomposition
will be lossless.
o The lossless decomposition guarantees that the join of relations will result in the same
relation as it was decomposed.
o The relation is said to be lossless decomposition if natural joins of all the decomposition
give the original relation.

Example:

EMPLOYEE_DEPARTMENT table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_AGE EMP_CITY DEPT_ID DEPT_NAME

22 Denim 28 Mumbai 827 Sales

33 Alina 25 Delhi 438 Marketing

 46 Stephan 30 Bangalore 869 Finance

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai 575 Production

60 Jack 40 Noida 678 Testing

The above relation is decomposed into two relations EMPLOYEE and DEPARTMENT

EMPLOYEE table:

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_AGE EMP_CITY

22 Denim 28 Mumbai

33 Alina 25 Delhi

46 Stephan 30 Bangalore

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai

60 Jack 40 Noida

DEPARTMENT table

DEPT_ID EMP_ID DEPT_NAME

827 22 Sales

438 33 Marketing

869 46 Finance

575 52 Production
 678 60 Testing

Now, when these two relations are joined on the common column "EMP_ID", then the
resultant relation will look like:

Employee ⋈ Department

EMP_ID EMP_NAME EMP_AGE EMP_CITY DEPT_ID DEPT_NAME

22 Denim 28 Mumbai 827 Sales

33 Alina 25 Delhi 438 Marketing

46 Stephan 30 Bangalore 869 Finance

52 Katherine 36 Mumbai 575 Production

60 Jack 40 Noida 678 Testing

Hence, the decomposition is Lossless join decomposition.

Dependency Preserving
o It is an important constraint of the database.
o In the dependency preservation, at least one decomposed table must satisfy every
dependency.
o If a relation R is decomposed into relation R1 and R2, then the dependencies of R either
must be a part of R1 or R2 or must be derivable from the combination of functional
dependencies of R1 and R2.
o For example, suppose there is a relation R (A, B, C, D) with functional dependency set (A-
>BC). The relational R is decomposed into R1(ABC) and R2(AD) which is dependency
preserving because FD A->BC is a part of relation R1(ABC).

No Repetition of Information
o Lack of Data Redundancy is also known as a Repetition of Information.
 o The proper decomposition should not suffer from any data redundancy.
o The careless decomposition may cause a problem with the data.
o The lack of data redundancy property may be achieved by Normalization process.

Normalization
o Normalization is the process of organizing the data in the database.
o Normalization is used to minimize the redundancy from a relation or set of relations. It is
also used to eliminate undesirable characteristics like Insertion, Update, and Deletion
Anomalies.
o Normalization divides the larger table into smaller and links them using relationships.
o The normal form is used to reduce redundancy from the database table.

Types of Normal Forms:

1. First Normal Form

2. Second Normal Form
3. Third Normal Form
4. Boyce-codd Normal Form
5. Fourth Normal Form

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.

BCNF A stronger definition of 3NF is known as Boyce Codd's normal form.

4NF A relation will be in 4NF if it is in Boyce Codd's normal form and has no multi-
valued dependency.
First Normal Form (1NF)
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_NAME EMP_PHONE EMP_STATE

14 John 7272826385 UP

14 John 9064738238 UP

20 Harry 8574783832 Bihar

12 Sam 7390372389 Punjab

12 Sam 8589830302 Punjab

Second Normal Form (2NF)

o In the 2NF, relational must be in 1NF.
o In the second normal form, all non-key attributes are fully functional dependent on the
primary key
o Example: Let's assume, a school can store the data of teachers and the subjects
they teach. In a school, a teacher can teach more than one subject.

TEACHER table

TEACHER_ID SUBJECT TEACHER_AGE

25 Chemistry 30

25 Biology 30

47 English 35

83 Math 38

83 Computer 38

o In the given table, non-prime attribute TEACHER_AGE is dependent on

TEACHER_ID which is a proper subset of a candidate key. That's why it violates the
rule for 2NF.
o To convert the given table into 2NF, we decompose it into two tables:

TEACHER_DETAIL table:

TEACHER_ID TEACHER_AGE

25 30

47 35
 83 38

TEACHER_SUBJECT table:

TEACHER_ID SUBJECT

25 Chemistry

25 Biology

47 English

83 Math

83 Computer

Third Normal Form (3NF)

o A relation will be in 3NF if it is in 2NF and not contain any transitive partial dependency.
o 3NF is used to reduce the data duplication. It is also used to achieve the data integrity.
o If there is no transitive dependency for non-prime attributes, then the relation must be in
third normal form.

A relation is in third normal form if it holds atleast one of the following conditions for
every non-trivial function dependency X → Y.

1. X is a super key.
2. Y is a prime attribute, i.e., each element of Y is part of some candidate key.

Example:

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}

69.7M

1.4K

Features of Java - Javatpoint

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

264 India

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}

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

Advantages of Normalization
o Normalization helps to minimize data redundancy.
o Greater overall database organization.
o Data consistency within the database.
o Much more flexible database design.
o Enforces the concept of relational integrity.

Disadvantages of Normalization
o You cannot start building the database before knowing what the user needs.
o The performance degrades when normalizing the relations to higher normal forms, i.e.,
4NF, 5NF.
o It is very time-consuming and difficult to normalize relations of a higher degree.
o Careless decomposition may lead to a bad database design, leading to serious problems.