Week 4: Relational Query Languages and

Database Design

L4.1: Formal Relational Query Languages - Part 1

Relational Algebra
• It's a procedural query language
• Six basic operators:
◦ Selection: σ
◦ Projection: Π
◦ Union: ∪
◦ Difference: −
◦ Intersection: ∩
◦ Cartesian product: ×
◦ Rename: ρ

Selection σ
• Notation: σp (r)
• p is called the selection predicate (a boolean expression - condition)
• r is a relation

σp (r) = {t ∣ t ∈ r and p(t)}

• where p is a formula in propositional calculus consisting of terms connected by ∧ ( AND ) , ∨ ( OR ), and ¬

( NOT )

Projection Π
• Notation: ΠA1 ,A2 ,…,An (r)
• A1 , A2 , … , An are attributes of r
• The result is defined as the relation of k columns obtained by erasing the columns that are not listed.
• Duplicate rows removed from result, sicne relations are sets.

Union ∪
• Notation: r ∪s

r ∪ s = {t ∣ t ∈ r ∨ t ∈ s}

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 • For union:
◦ r and s must have the same number of attributes.
◦ The attributes must be of the same type. (eg: 3rd col of r must be of the same type as 3rd col of s)

Difference −
• Notation: r −s

r − s = {t ∣ t ∈ r ∧ t 
∈ s}

• For difference:
◦ r and s must have the same number of attributes.
◦ The attributes must be of the same type. (eg: 3rd col of r must be of the same type as 3rd col of s)

Intersection ∩
• Notation: r ∩s

r ∩ s = {t ∣ t ∈ r ∧ t ∈ s}

• For intersection:
◦ r and s must have the same number of attributes.
◦ The attributes must be of the same type.
• Note: r ∩ s = r − (r − s)

Cartesian Product ×
• Notation: r ×s

r × s = {t, q ∣ t ∈ r ∧ q ∈ s}

• Assume that attributes of r and s are disjoint (r ∩ s = ϕ)

• If attributes are not disjoint, we can rename them to make them disjoint.
• If r has n attributes and s has m attributes, then r × s has n + m attributes.

Rename ρ
• Allows us to name the attributes of a relation.
• Notation: ρX A1 , A2 , … , An (E)
• renames the attributes of E to A1 , A2 , … , An and the resulting relation is called X .

L4.2: Formal Relational Query Languages - Part 2

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Predicate Logic
• Predicate Logic or Predicate Calculus is an extension of Propositional Logic or Boolean Algebra.
• Tuple Relational Calculus and Domain Relational Calculus are two variants of Predicate Calculus.
• It is a formal system for reasing and expressing statements in terms of predicates, quantifiers, and
variables.
• It extends propositional logic by introducing quantifiers and variables, allowing for more precise and
complex statements to be made.

Predicate
• A predicate is a statement that may be true or false depending on the values of its variables.

Example:

• P (x): "x is a prime number"

• Here, x is the variable.
• "is a prime number" is the predicate.
• The predicate P can be considered as a function. It tells the truth value of the statement for a given value
of x.

In general, a statement involving n variables x1 , x2 , … , xn can be denoted by P (x1 , x2 , x3 , … , xn ) and is

called an n-ary predicate or an n-place predicate.

Quantifiers
• Quantifiers are used to express the amount of truth in a statement.
• There are two types of quantifiers:
◦ Universal Quantifier: ∀
◦ Existential Quantifier: ∃
• Universal Quantifier: ∀
∀xP (x) is read as "For all x, P (x) is true."
◦
• Existential Quantifier: ∃
◦ ∃xP (x) is read as "There exists an x such that P (x) is true."

Tuple Relational Calculus

• It is a non-procedural query language, where each query is of the form:

{t ∣ P (t)}

• t are resulting tuples,

• P (t) is a formula in predicate logic.

It can also use quantifiers:

• ∃t ∈ r(Q(t)) is "there exists a tuple t in r such that Q(t) is true."

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 • ∀t ∈ r(Q(t)) is "for all tuples t in r, Q(t) is true."

Example:
{P ∣ ∃S ∈ Students ∧ (S.CGP A > 8 ∧ P .name = S.name ∧ P .age = S.age)}

• returns the name and age of students with CGPA greater than 8.

Domain Relational Calculus

• It is a non-procedural query language, where each query is of the form:

{< t1 , t2 , … , tn >∣ P (t1 , t2 , … , tn )}

• t1 , t2 , … , tn represent domain variables.

• P (t1 , t2 , … , tn ) is a formula in predicate logic.

Equivalence of RA, TRC, and DRC

Relational
Operation Tuple Calculus Domain Calculus
Algebra

Select σp (r) {t ∣ t ∈ r ∧ p(t)} {< a >∣< a >∈ r ∧ p(a)}

Project Πx(r) {t[x] ∣ t ∈ r} {< x >∣< x >∈ r[x]}

Union r∪s {t ∣ t ∈ r ∨ t ∈ s} {< a >∣< a >∈ r∨ < a >∈ s}

Intersection r∩s {t ∣ t ∈ r ∧ t ∈ s} {< a >∣< a >∈ r∧ < a >∈ s}

Difference r−s {t ∣ t ∈ r ∧ t ∈
/ s} {< a >∣< a >∈ r∧ < a >∈
/ s}

{< x, y >∣< x, y >∈ r[x]

Natural join r⋈s {t ∣ t[x] = s[y] ∧ t ∈ r ∧ s ∈ s}
∧ < x, y >∈ s[y]}

L4.3: Entity-Relationship Model - Part 1

Design Process
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A design:
• satisfies a given functional specification.
• conforms to limitations of the target medium.
• Meets implicit or explicit requirements on performance and resource usage.
• Satisfies implicit or explicit design criteria on the ofrm of the artifact.
• Satisfies restrictions on the design process itself, such as budget or time constraints or the tools available.

Role of Abstraction
• Abstraction is the process of removing irrelevant details from a problem.
• Example: A binary number is hard to remember. But if we convert it to decimal or hexadecimal, it becomes
easier to remember.

Model Building
• A model is an abstraction of a real-world object or system.
• Each model describes some aspect of the object or system.

Design Approach
• Requirement Analysis - Analyse the data needs of the prospective database users.
◦ Planning
◦ System Definition
• Database Designing - Use a modeling framework to create abstraction of the real world.
◦ Logical model - Deciding on a good database schema, business decisions, computer science
decisions etc...
◦ Physical model - Deciding on the physical laout of the database, storage, indexing etc...
• Implementation
◦ Data conversion and loading
◦ Testing and evaluation

Entity-Relationship Model
The Entity-Relationship (ER) model is a conceptual data model used to represent the structure and relationships
between entities (objects, concepts, or things) within a domain. It provides a graphical representation of the
database schema and serves as a foundation for designing and understanding relational databases. Here are
key points about the ER model:

1. Entities
◦ Entities are the fundamental building blocks of the ER model and represent real-world objects or
concepts.
◦ They are depicted as rectangles in the ER diagram and have attributes that describe their properties.
◦ An entity set is a set of entities of same type that share the same properties. Example: set of all
persons, companies, trees, holidays, etc.
2. Attributes
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 ◦ Attributes are characteristics or properties of an entity.
◦ They provide details and information about the entity and are depicted as ovals connected to the
respective entity.
◦ Attributes can be simple (e.g., name, age) or composite (composed of multiple sub-attributes) and can
have a data type.
◦ Attribute types:
▪ Simple (Single-valued)
▪ An attribute that cannot be divided into smaller parts and is not composed of other attributes.
▪ For example: "Name" or "Age" can be simple attributes.
▪ Composite
▪ An aatirbute that is composed of multiple sub-attributes.
▪ For example: An address attribute can have sub-attributes like street, city, state, and postal
code.
▪ Derived
▪ An aatribute whose value can be calculated or derived from other attributes.
▪ For example: "Total Price" can be derived from "Price" and "Quantity".
▪ Multi-valued
▪ An attribute that can hold multiple values for a given instance of an entity.
▪ For example: "Email" attribute in a "Person" entity can have multiple email addresses.
3. Relationships
◦ Relationships represent associations or connections between entities.
◦ They describe how entities interact or relate to each other.
◦ Relationships can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many, and they are depicted as diamonds
connecting the related entities.

An entity set may be of two types:

Strong Entity Sets

• An entity set that contains sufficient attributes to uniquely identify all its entities.
• In other words, a primary key exists for a strong entity set.
• Example: The "Person" entity set can be uniquely identified by its "ID" attribute.

Weak Entity Sets

• An entity set that does not contain sufficient attributes to uniquely identify all its entities.
• In other words, a primary key does not exist for a weak entity set.
• However, it contains a partial key called as a discriminator.
• Discriminator can identify a group of entities from the entity set.
• Since, it doesn't have a primary key, it cannot independently exist in the ER model.
• It features in the model in relationship with another strong entity set. This is called the Identifying
relationship.

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L4.4: Entity-Relationship Model - Part 2

Entity Sets
• Entities can be represented graphically as follows:
◦ Rectangles represent entity sets.
◦ Attributes are listed inside entity rectangle.
◦ Underline indicates primary key attributes.

Instructor student
ID ID
name name
salary tot_cred

Diamond represent relationship sets.

• Relationships can be represented graphically as follows:
◦ Diamonds represent relationship sets.
◦ Lines link attributes to entity sets and entity sets to relationship sets.
◦ Dashed lines indicate attributes of the key for the relationship set.

date

Instructor student
ID ID
advisor
name name
salary tot_cred

Roles
• A role represents the specific part or function played by an entity in a relationship.
• Entities can have different roles in different relationships, and the same entity can play different roles in the
same relationship.
• Roles provide additional context and meaning to the relationship by indicating the responsibilities or
behaviors of the entities involved.

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 course
course_id
course_id
prereq
title
prereq_id
credits

• Here, prereq is the role, which course_id and prereq_id play in the relationship course .

Cardinality Constraints
One-to-One [ ← x→]

• A student is associated with at most one instructor via the relationship advisor.
• An instructor is associated with at most one student via the relationship advisor.

Instructor student
ID ID
advisor
name name
salary tot_cred

Many-to-One [ → ]

• An instructor is associated with at most student via the relationship advisor.

• A student is associated with several (including 0) instructors via the relationship advisor.

Instructor student
ID ID
advisor
name name
salary tot_cred

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Many-to-Many [ ]

• An instructor is associated with several (including 0) students via the relationship teaches.
• A student is associated with several (possibly 0) instructors via the relationship teaches.

Instructor student
ID ID
teaches
name name
salary tot_cred

Total and Partial Participation

• Total participation (indicated by double line) means every entity in the entity set participates in at least one
relationship in the relationship set.
• Partial Participation (indicated by single line) means some entities in the entity set may not participate in
any relationship in the relationship set.

Example:

• Participation of student in teaches relation is total.

• Every student must be taught by at least one instructor.
• Participation of instructor in teaches is partial.

Instructor student
ID ID
teaches
name name
salary tot_cred

Notation for Expressing More complex constraints

• A line may have an associated minimum and maximum number of entities that must participate in a
relationship.
• I...h where I is the minimum and h is the maximum.
◦ A minimum value of 1 indicates total participation.
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 ◦ A maximum value of 1 indicates that the entity participates in at most one relationship.
◦ A maximum value of ∗ indicates no limit.

Instructor student
ID 0...* 1..1 ID
teaches
name name
salary tot_cred

SYNTAX

(Simple attribute)
...
(Composite attribute)
(Simple attribute)
(Simple attribute)
...
{ Multi-valued attribute }
...
Derived attribute ()
...

instructor

ID
name
first_name
middle_initial
last_name
address
street
street_number
street_name
city
state
zip
{ phone_number }
{ email }
date_of_birth
age()

Expressing Weak Entity Sets

• In the ER diagram, a weak entity set is indicated by double rectangle.

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 • We underline the discriminator of a weak entity set with a dashed line.

Instructor student
ID ID
teaches
name name
salary tot_cred

L4.5: Entity-Relationship Model - Part 3

ER features
Non-binary Relationship Sets
• Most relationships sets are binary.
• There are occasions when we need to represent a relationship set that involves more than two entity sets
as non-binary relationship set.

project
...

Instructor student
ID ID
teaches
name name
salary tot_cred

Specialization: ISA
Top-down design process

• We designate sub-groupings within an entity set that are distinctive from other entities in the set.

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 • These sub-groupings become lower-level entity sets that have attributes or participate in relationships that
do not apply to the higher-level entity set.

Attribute Inheritance

• A lower-level entity set inherits all the attribues and relationship participation of the higher-level entity set to
which it is linked.

person
ID
name
street
city

employee student
salary tot_cred

Instructor secretary
rank hours_per_week

• Overlapping: employee and student

• Disjoint: instructor and secretary
• Total and Partial
• instructor IS A employee
• secretary IS A employee
• student IS A person
• employee IS A person

Representing specialization via Schema

• Method 1
◦ Form a schema for the higher-level entity set.
◦ Forma a schema for each lower-level entity set, include primary key of higher-level entity set and local
attributes.
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 Schema attributes

person ID, name, street, city

student ID, tot_cred

employee ID, salary

instructor ID, rank

secretary ID, hours_per_week

◦ Drawback: Getting information about an employee requires accessing two relations.

• Method 2
◦ Form a schema for each entity set with all local and inherited attributes.

Schema attributes

person ID, name, street, city

student ID, name, street, city, tot_cred

employee ID, name, street, city, salary

instructor ID, name, street, city, rank

secretary ID, name, street, city, hours_per_week

◦ Drawback: Redundancy of attributes.

Bottom-up design process

• Combine a number of entity sets that share the same features into a higher-level entity set.
• Specialization and generalization are simple inversions of each other; they are represented in the same
way in an ER diagram.

Aggregation
• Aggregation is a way of representing a relationship between two entities as a single entity.

project

instructor student
proj_guide
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 eval_for

evaluation

• Relationship sets eval_for and proj_guide represents overlapping information.

◦ Enever eval_for corresponds to proj_guide relationship.
◦ However, some proj_guide relationships may not correspond to any eval_for relationships.

We can eliminate this redundancy via aggregation without introducing redundancy.

project

instructor student
proj_guide

eval_for

evaluation

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Now,

• A student is guided by a particular instructor on a particular project.

• A student, instructor, project combination may have an associated evaluation.

Symbols used in ER Notation

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Tutorials

4.1 - Divison Operation

4.2 - Tuple Relational Calculus

4.3 - Translation of ER Digrams into Relational Schemas

4.4 - Case Study on ER Diagram

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