CHAPTER 3

Rational Data Model and Rational Database

Constraint
Outline
◦ The Relational Data Model and Relational
Database Constraints
◦ Relational Model Constraints and Relational
Database Schemas
◦ Update Operations, Transactions and Dealing with
Constraint Violations
The Relational Data Model and Relatio
nal Database Constraints
 
◦ Relational model
◦ First commercial implementations available in early
1980s
◦ Has been implemented in a large number of commercial
system
◦ Hierarchical and network models
◦ Preceded the relational model
Relational Model Concepts 
◦ Represents data as a collection of relations
◦ Table of values
◦ Row
◦ Represents a collection of related data values
◦ Fact that typically corresponds to a real-world entity or
relationship
◦ Tuple
◦ Table name and column names
◦ Interpret the meaning of the values in each row attribute
Relational Model Concepts
Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations 
◦ Domain D
◦ Set of atomic values
◦ Atomic
◦ Each value indivisible
◦ Specifying a domain
◦ Data type specified for each domain
Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations (Cont.)
◦ Relation schema R
◦ Denoted by R(A1, A2, ...,An)
◦ Made up of a relation name R and a list of attributes, A1, A2, ..., An
◦ Attribute Ai
◦ Name of a role played by some domain D in the relation schema R
◦ Example
◦ Using the data type of each attribute
Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations (Cont.)
◦ Degree (or arity) of a relation
◦ Number of attributes n of its relation schema
◦ Example
◦ A relation of degree seven, which stores information about
university students would contain seven attributes describing
each student. as follows:
Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations  (Cont.)
◦ Relation (or relation state)
◦ Set of n-tuples r = {t1, t2, ..., tm}
◦ Each n-tuple t
◦ Ordered list of n values t =<v1, v2, ..., vn
◦ Each value vi, 1 ≤ i ≤ n, is an element of dom(Ai)
or is a special NULL value
Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations (cont’d.) 
◦ Relation (or relation state) r(R)
◦ Mathematical relation of degree n on the domains
dom(A1), dom(A2), ..., dom(An)
◦ Subset of the Cartesian product of the domains that
define R:
◦ r(R)⊆ (dom(A1)×dom(A2)× ... × dom(An))
 Domains, Attributes, Tuples, and
Relations (cont’d.) 
◦ Cardinality
◦ Total number of values in domain
◦ Current relation state
◦ Relation state at a given time
◦ Reflects only the valid tuples that represent a particular state
of the real world
◦ Attribute names
◦ Indicate different roles, or interpretations, for the domain
Domain Constraints
◦ Typically include:
◦ Numeric data types for integers and real numbers
◦ Characters
◦ Booleans
◦ Fixed-length strings
◦ Variable-length strings
◦ Date, time, timestamp
◦ Money
◦ Other special data types
 Key Constraints and Constraints on
NULL Values 
◦ No two tuples can have the same combination of values for
◦  

all their attributes.

◦ Superkey
◦ No two distinct tuples in any state r of R can have the same
value for SK
Key Constraints and Constraints on
NULL Values (Cont)
◦ Key
◦ Superkey of R
◦ Removing any attribute A from K leaves a set of
attributes K’ that is not a superkey of R any more
Key Constraints and Constraints on
NULL Values (Cont)
◦ Key satisfies two properties:
◦ Two distinct tuples in any state of relation cannot
have identical values for (all) attributes in key
◦ Minimal superkey
◦ Cannot remove any attributes and still have
uniqueness constraint in above condition hold
Key Constraints and Constraints on
NULL Values (Cont)
◦ Candidate key
◦ Relation schema may have more than one key
◦ Primary key of the relation
◦ Designated among candidate keys
◦ Underline attribute
◦ Other candidate keys are designated as unique keys
Key Constraints and Constraints on
NULL Values (Cont)
Integrity, Referential Integrity, and
Foreign Keys 
◦ • Entity integrity constraint
◦ No primary key value can be NULL
◦ Referential integrity constraint
◦ Specified between two relations
◦ Maintains consistency among tuples in two relations
Integrity, Referential Integrity, and
Foreign Keys (Cont.)
◦ Foreign key rules:
◦  

◦ The attributes in FK have the same domain(s) as the

primary key attributes PK of R; the attributes FK are said to
reference or refer to the relation R2
◦ A value of FK in a tuple of the current state () either occurs
as a value of PK for some tuple in the current state () or is
NULL. In the former case, we have [FK] = [PK], and we say
that the tuple references or refers to the tuple
Integrity, Referential Integrity, and
Foreign Keys (Cont.)
◦ Diagrammatically display referential integrity
constraints
◦ Directed arc from each foreign key to the relation it
references
◦ All integrity constraints should be specified on
relational database schema
Integrity, Referential Integrity, and
Foreign Keys (Cont.)
Other Types of Constraints

◦ Semantic integrity constraints

◦ May have to be specified and enforced on a
relational database
◦ Use triggers and assertions
◦ More common to check for these types of
constraints within the application programs
Other Types of Constraints (Cont..)
◦ Functional dependency constraint
◦ Establishes a functional relationship among two sets of attributes X and
Y
◦ Value of X determines a unique value of Y
XY
◦ State constraints
◦ Define the constraints that a valid state of the database must satisfy
◦ Transition constraints
◦ Define to deal with state changes in the database
Update Operations, Transactions, and
Dealing with Constraint Violations
◦ Operations of the relational model can be
categorized into retrievals and updates
◦ Basic operations that change the states of relations
in the database:
◦ Insert
◦ Delete
◦ Update (or Modify)
The Insert Operation

◦ Provides a list of attribute values for a new tuple t

that is to be inserted into a relation R
◦ Can violate any of the four types of constraints
◦ If an insertion violates one or more constraints
◦ Default option is to reject the insertion
The Insert Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 1:
◦ Insert <‘Cecilia’,’F’, ‘Kolonsky’, NULL,960-04-05, ‘6357
Windy Lane, Katy, TX’, F, 28000, NULL, 4> into
EMPLOYEE.
◦ Result:
◦ This insertion violates the entity integrity constraint
(NULL for the primary key Ssn), so it is rejected.
The Insert Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 2:
◦ Insert <‘Cecilia’,’F’, ‘Kolonsky’, ‘999887777’,960-04-05,
‘6357 Windy Lane, Katy, TX’, F, 28000, ‘987654321’, 4>
into EMPLOYEE.
◦ Result:
◦ This insertion violates the key constraint because
another tuple with the same Ssn value already exists in
the EMPLOYEE relation, and so it is rejected.
The Insert Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3:
◦ Insert <‘Cecilia’,’F’, ‘Kolonsky’, ‘999887777’,960-04-05, ‘6357
Windy Lane, Katy, TX’, F, 28000, ‘987654321’, 7> into
EMPLOYEE.
◦ Operation 4:
◦ Insert <‘Cecilia’,’F’, ‘Kolonsky’, ‘677678989’,960-04-05, ‘6357
Windy Lane, Katy, TX’, F, 28000, ‘987654321’, 4> into
EMPLOYEE
The Insert Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3 Result:
◦ This insertion violates the referential integrity constraint
specified on Dno in EMPLOYEE because no corresponding
referenced tuple exists in DEPARTMENT with Dnumber = 7.
◦ Operation 4 Result:
◦ This insertion satisfies all constraints, so it is acceptable
 The Delete Operation
◦ Can violate only referential integrity
◦ If tuple being deleted is referenced by foreign keys from other
tuples
◦ Restrict
◦ Reject the deletion
◦ Cascade
◦ Propagate the deletion by deleting tuples that reference the tuple
that is being deleted
◦ Set null or set default
◦ Modify the referencing attribute values that cause the violation
The Deletion Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 1:
◦ Delete the WORKS_ON tuple with Essn =
99887777 and Pno = 10
◦ Result:
◦ This deletion is acceptable and deletes exactly
one tuple.
The Deletion Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 2:
◦ Delete the EMPLOYEE tuple with Ssn = ‘999887777’.
◦ Result:
◦ This deletion is not acceptable, because there are
tuples in WORKS_ON that refer to this tuple.
Hence, if the tuple in EMPLOYEE is deleted,
referential integrity violations will result.
The Delete Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3:
◦ Delete the EMPLOYEE tuple with Ssn = ‘33445555’.
◦ Operation 4:
◦ Delete the PROJECT tuple with Pnumber = ‘10’.
The Delete Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3 Result:
◦ This deletion will result in even worse referential integrity
violations, because the tuple involved is referenced by
tuples from the EMPLOYEE, DEPARTMENT, WORKS_ON, and
DEPENDENT relations.
◦ Operation 4 Result:
◦ This deletion is acceptable and deletes exactly one tuple.
The Update Operation

◦ Necessary to specify a condition on attributes of relation

◦ Select the tuple (or tuples) to be modified
◦ If attribute not part of a primary key nor of a foreign key
◦ Usually causes no problems
◦ the DBMS need only check to confirm that the new value is of
the correct data type and domain
◦ Updating a primary/foreign key
◦ Similar issues as with Insert/Delete
The Update Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 1:
◦ Update the salary of the EMPLOYEE tuple with
Ssn = ‘999887777’ to 28000.
◦ Result:
◦ Acceptable.
The Update Operation (Example)

◦ Operation 2:
◦ Update the Dno of the EMPLOYEE tuple with Ssn
= ‘999887777’ to 7.
◦ Result:
◦ Unacceptable, because it violates referential
integrity.
The Update Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3:
◦ Update the Dno of the EMPLOYEE tuple with Ssn =
‘999887777’ to 1.
◦ Operation 4:
◦ Update the Ssn of the EMPLOYEE tuple with Ssn =
‘999887777’ to ‘987654321’.
The Update Operation (Practices)

◦ Operation 3 Result:
◦ Acceptable.
◦ Operation 4 Result:
◦ Unacceptable, because it violates primary key constraint by
repeating a value that already exists as a primary key in
another tuple; it violates referential integrity constraints
because there are other relations that refer to the existing
value of Ssn.
The Transaction Concept

◦ Transaction
◦ Executing program
◦ Includes some database operations
◦ Must leave the database in a valid or consistent state
◦ Online transaction processing (OLTP) systems
◦ Execute transactions at rates that reach several
hundred per second
Read Material

◦ Chapter 3 of Text book