The Relational Data Model and

Relational Database Constraints

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition

 Chapter Outline
Relational Model Concepts
Relational Model Constraints and Relational
Database Schemas
Update Operations and Dealing with Constraint
Violations

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 2

 Relational Model Concepts
The relational Model of Data is based on the
concept of a Relation.

The model was first proposed by Dr. T.F.

Codd of IBM in 1970 in the following paper:
"A Relational Model for Large Shared Data
Banks," Communications of the ACM, June
1970.

The above paper caused a major revolution in the

field of Database management and earned Ted Codd
the coveted ACM Turing Award.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 3

 Informal Definitions
RELATION: A table of values
A relation may be thought of as a set of rows.
Each row represents a fact that corresponds to a
real-world entity or relationship.
Each row has a value of an item or set of items that
uniquely identifies that row in the table.
Each column typically is called by its column name
or column header or attribute name.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 4

 Informal Definitions
Key of a Relation:
Each row has a value of a data item (or set of items)
that uniquely identifies that row in the table
Called the key
In the STUDENT table, SSN is the key

Sometimes row-ids or sequential numbers are

assigned as keys to identify the rows in a table
Called artificial key or surrogate key

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 5

 Example - Figure 5.1

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 6

 Formal definitions
The Schema (or description) of a Relation:
Denoted by R(A1, A2, .....An)
R is the name of the relation
The attributes of the relation are A1, A2, ..., An
Example:
CUSTOMER (Cust-id, Cust-name, Address, Phone#)
CUSTOMER is the relation name
Defined over the four attributes: Cust-id, Cust-name, Address,
Phone#
Each attribute has a domain or a set of valid
values.
For example, the domain of Cust-id is 6 digit
numbers.
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 7
 Formal definitions
A row is called a tuple, which is an ordered set of values
A column header is called an attribute
Each attribute value is derived from an appropriate domain.
The table is called a relation.
A relation can be regarded as a set of tuples (rows).
The data type describing the types of values an attribute
can have is represented by a domain of possible values.
Each row in the CUSTOMER table is a 4-tuple and
consists of four values, for example.
<632895, "John Smith", "101 Main St. Atlanta, GA 30332",
"(404) 894-2000">
A relation is a set of such tuples (rows).
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 8
 Formal Definitions
A domain has a logical definition.

Example: USA_phone_numbers are the set of 10 digit

phone numbers valid in the U.S.

A domain also has a data-type or a format

defined for it.
For example, the USA_phone_numbers may have a
format: (ddd)-ddd-dddd where each d is a decimal
digit.
Dates have various formats such as month, date,
year or yyyy-mm-dd, or dd mm,yyyy etc.
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 9
 Formal Definitions

The relation is formed over the cartesian product of

the sets; each set has values from a domain

The Cartesian product of two sets A and B is defined

to be the set of all pairs (a, b) where aA and bB . It
is denoted AB , and is called the Cartesian product

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 10

 An Example of Cartesian Product
R S
A B X Y
a1 b1 x1 y1
a2 b2 x2 y2
R S R S
A B X Y A B C D

a1 b1 x1 y1 a1 b1 x1 x2

a1 b1 x2 y2 a1 b1 x2 y2

a2 b2 x1 y1 a2 b2 x1 y1

a2 b2 x2 y2 a2 b2 x2 y2

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 11

 An Example of Cartesian Product
STUDENT ENROLLMENT
SID SName C_NO SID
111 Williams 1000 111
222 Johnes 2000 222
STUDENT ENROLLMENT
STUDENT ENROLLMENT RESULT
SID SName C_NO SID SID SName C_NO SID

111 Williams 1000 111 111 Williams 1000 111

111 Williams 2000 222 111 Williams 2000 222

222 Johns 1000 111 222 Johns 1000 111

222 Johns 2000 222 222 Johns 2000 222

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 12
 Formal Definitions
The degree of a relation is the number of
attributes n of its relation schema.
A relation schema R of degree n is denoted
by
R(A1 , A2 , , An )
The domain of Ai is denoted by dom(Ai).

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 13

 DEFINITION SUMMARY
Informal Terms Formal Terms
Table Relation
Column Attribute/Domain
Row Tuple
Values in a column Domain
Table Definition Schema of a Relation
Populated Table Extension

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 14

 Characteristics of Relations
Ordering of tuples in a relation r(R):
The tuples are not considered to be ordered, even
though they appear to be in the tabular form.
Ordering of attributes in a relation schema
R (and of values within each tuple):
We will consider the attributes in R(A1, A2, ..., An)
and the values in t=<v1, v2, ..., vn> to be ordered .
Values in a tuple: All values are considered atomic
(indivisible). A special null value is used to represent
values that are unknown or inapplicable to certain
tuples.
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 15
CHARACTERISTICS OF RELATIONS- Figure 5.2

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 16

 Relational Integrity Constraints
Constraints are conditions that must hold on all
valid relation states.
There are three main types of constraints in the
relational model:
Key constraints
Entity integrity constraints
Referential integrity constraints
Another implicit constraint is the domain constraint
Every value in a tuple must be from the domain of its
attribute (or it could be null, if allowed for that
attribute)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 17

 Key Constraints
Superkey of R: Is a set of attributes SK of R with the
following condition:
No two tuples in any valid relation state r(R) will have the
same value for SK
That is, for any distinct tuples t1 and t2 in r(R), t1[SK]
t2[SK]
This condition must hold in any valid state r(R)
Key of R:
A "minimal" superkey
That is, a key is a superkey K such that removal of
any attribute from K results in a set of attributes that is
not a superkey (does not possess the superkey
uniqueness property)

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 18

 Key Constraints (continued)
Example: Consider the CAR relation schema:
CAR(State, Reg#, SerialNo, Make, Model, Year)
CAR has two keys:
Key1 = {State, Reg#}
Key2 = {SerialNo}
Both are also superkeys of CAR
{SerialNo, Make} is a superkey but not a key.
In general:
Any key is a superkey (but not vice versa)
Any set of attributes that includes a key is a superkey
A minimal superkey is also a key

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 19

 Key Constraints (continued)
If a relation has several candidate keys, one is chosen
arbitrarily to be the primary key.
The primary key attributes are underlined.
Example: Consider the CAR relation schema:
CAR(State, Reg#, SerialNo, Make, Model, Year)
We chose SerialNo as the primary key
The primary key value is used to uniquely identify each
tuple in a relation and provides the tuple identity
Also used to reference the tuple from another tuple
General rule: Choose as primary key the smallest of
the candidate keys (in terms of size)
Not always applicable choice is sometimes
subjective
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 20
 CAR table with two candidate keys
LicenseNumber chosen as Primary Key

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 21

 Relational Databases and
Relational Database Schemas
Relational Database Schema:
A set S of relation schemas that belong to the same
database.
S is the name of the whole database schema
S = {R1, R2, ..., Rn}
R1, R2, , Rn are the names of the individual
relation schemas within the database S
Following slide shows a COMPANY database schema
with 6 relation schemas

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 22

Schema Diagram for the COMPANY
Relational Database Schema

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 23

Figure 5.6 One possible database state for the COMPANY
relational database schema

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 24

 Entity Integrity
Entity Integrity:
The primary key attributes PK of each relation
schema R in S cannot have null values in any
tuple of r(R).
This is because primary key values are used to identify
the individual tuples.
t[PK] null for any tuple t in r(R)
If PK has several attributes, null is not allowed in any of
these attributes
Note: Other attributes of R may be constrained to
disallow null values, even though they are not
members of the primary key.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 25

 Referential Integrity
A constraint involving two relations.
Used to specify a relationship among tuples in two
relations: the referencing relation and the
referenced relation.
Tuples in the referencing relation R1 have attributes
FK (called foreign key attributes) that reference the
primary key attributes PK of the referenced relation
R2. A tuple t1 in R1 is said to reference a tuple t2 in R2
if t1[FK] = t2[PK].
A referential integrity constraint can be displayed in a
relational database schema as a directed arc from
[Link] to [Link]
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 26
 Displaying a relational database
schema and its constraints
Each relation schema can be displayed as a row of
attribute names
The name of the relation is written above the attribute
names
The primary key attribute (or attributes) will be
underlined
A foreign key (referential integrity) constraints is
displayed as a directed arc (arrow) from the foreign key
attributes to the referenced table
Can also point the primary key of the referenced
relation for clarity
Next slide shows the COMPANY relational schema
diagram

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 27

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 28
 Referential Integrity Constraint
The value in the foreign key column (or columns) FK of
the referencing relation R1 can be either:
1) a value of an existing primary key value of a
corresponding primary key PK in the referenced relation
R2, or
2) a null.
In case (2), the FK in R1 should not be a part of its own
primary key.
Example:
<"John, L,, Smith", 111222333, 1965-10-21, "101 Main St.
Atlanta, GA 30332", M, 42000, 444555666, NULL>
<Mary, J,, Burton", 111111111, 1972-1-18, 23 Maple St.
Atlanta, GA 30310", F, 35000, NULL, 3>

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 29

 Other Types of Constraints
Semantic Integrity Constraints:
based on application semantics and cannot be
expressed by the model per se
Example: the max. no. of hours per employee for all
projects he or she works on is 56 hrs per week
A constraint specification language may have
to be used to express these
SQL-99 allows triggers and ASSERTIONS to
express for some of these

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 30

 Populated database state
Each relation will have many tuples in its current
relation state
The relational database state is a union of all the
individual relation states
Whenever the database is changed, a new state
arises
Basic operations for changing the database:
INSERT a new tuple in a relation
DELETE an existing tuple from a relation
MODIFY an attribute of an existing tuple
Next slide shows an example state for the
COMPANY database
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 31
Populated database state for COMPANY

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 32

 Update Operations on Relations
INSERT a tuple.
DELETE a tuple.
MODIFY a tuple.
Integrity constraints should not be violated by the update
operations.
Several update operations may have to be grouped
together.
Updates may propagate to cause other updates
automatically. This may be necessary to maintain
integrity constraints.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 33

 Update Operations on Relations
In case of integrity violation, several actions can
be taken:
Cancel the operation that causes the violation
(RESTRICT or REJECT option)
Perform the operation but inform the user of the
violation
Trigger additional updates so the violation is
corrected (CASCADE option, SET NULL option)
Execute a user-specified error-correction routine

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 34

Possible violations for each operation
INSERT may violate any of the constraints:
Domain constraint:
if one of the attribute values provided for the new tuple is not
of the specified attribute domain
Key constraint:
if the value of a key attribute in the new tuple already exists
in another tuple in the relation
Referential integrity:
if a foreign key value in the new tuple references a primary
key value that does not exist in the referenced relation
Entity integrity:
if the primary key value is null in the new tuple

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 35

 Possible violations for each operation

DELETE may violate only referential integrity:

If the primary key value of the tuple being deleted is
referenced from other tuples in the database
Can be remedied by several actions: RESTRICT,
CASCADE, SET NULL (see Chapter 8 for more details)
RESTRICT option: reject the deletion
CASCADE option: propagate the new primary key value
into the foreign keys of the referencing tuples
SET NULL option: set the foreign keys of the referencing
tuples to NULL
One of the above options must be specified during
database design for each foreign key constraint

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 36

Possible violations for each operation
UPDATE may violate domain constraint and NOT
NULL constraint on an attribute being modified
Any of the other constraints may also be violated,
depending on the attribute being updated:
Updating the primary key (PK):
Similar to a DELETE followed by an INSERT
Need to specify similar options to DELETE
Updating a foreign key (FK):
May violate referential integrity
Updating an ordinary attribute (neither PK nor FK):
Can only violate domain constraints

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 37

 Summary
Presented Relational Model Concepts
Definitions
Characteristics of relations
Discussed Relational Model Constraints and
Relational Database Schemas
Domain constraints
Key constraints
Entity integrity
Referential integrity
Described the Relational Update Operations and
Dealing with Constraint Violations
Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 38
 In-Class Exercise
(Taken from Exercise 5.15)
Consider the following relations for a database that keeps track of student
enrollment in courses and the books adopted for each course:
STUDENT(SSN, Name, Major, Bdate)
COURSE(Course#, Cname, Dept)
ENROLL(SSN, Course#, Quarter, Grade)
BOOK_ADOPTION(Course#, Quarter, Book_ISBN)
TEXT(Book_ISBN, Book_Title, Publisher, Author)
Draw a relational schema diagram specifying the foreign keys for this
schema.

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 39

 References
[Link]
[Link]

Elmasri/Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, Fifth Edition 40