Normalization

Database Systems: A Practical Approach

to Design, Implementation and
Management
Carolyn Begg, Thomas Connolly

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 Objectives
• Purpose of normalization.

• Problems associated with redundant data.

• Identification of various types of update anomalies such as

insertion, deletion, and modification anomalies.

• How to recognize appropriateness or quality of the design of

relations.

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 Objectives
• How functional dependencies can be used to group attributes
into relations that are in a known normal form.
• How to undertake process of normalization.
• How to identify most commonly used normal forms, namely
1NF, 2NF, 3NF, and Boyce–Codd normal form (BCNF).

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Normalization
• Main objective in developing a logical data model for relational
database systems is to create an accurate representation of the
data, its relationships, and constraints.

• To achieve this objective, must identify a suitable set of

relations.

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Normalization
• Four most commonly used normal forms are first (1NF), second
(2NF) and third (3NF) normal forms, and Boyce–Codd normal form
(BCNF).

• Based on functional dependencies among the attributes of a relation.

• A relation can be normalized to a specific form to prevent possible

occurrence of update anomalies.

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 Data Redundancy
• Major aim of relational database design is to group attributes
into relations to minimize data redundancy and reduce file
storage space required by base relations.

• Problems associated with data redundancy are illustrated by

comparing the following Staff and Branch relations with the
StaffBranch relation.

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Data Redundancy

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 Data Redundancy
• StaffBranch relation has redundant data: details of a branch are
repeated for every member of staff.

• In contrast, branch information appears only once for each branch

in Branch relation and only branchNo is repeated in Staff relation,
to represent where each member of staff works.

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Update Anomalies
• Relations that contain redundant information may potentially
suffer from update anomalies.

• Types of update anomalies include:

• Insertion
• Deletion
• Modification.

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Data Redundancy

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Insertion Anomalies
• New member of staff joins branch B005
• Insert new row into StaffBranch table
• Type wrong address: 163 Main St, Glasgow.
• Database is now inconsistent!

• Establish new branch with no members of staff

• B008, 57 Princes St, Edinburgh
• No staff members, so staffNo must be NULL
• But staffNo is the primary key of the StaffBranch table, so cannot be
NULL!

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Deletion Anomaly
• Mary Howe, staffNo SA9, leaves the company
• Delete the appropriate row of StaffBranch
• This also deletes details of branch B007 where Mary Howe works
• But no-one else works at branch B007, so we no longer know the
address of this branch!

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Modification Anomaly
• Branch B003 has transferred to a new location
• New address is 145 Main St, Glasgow
• Must change three rows of the StaffBranch relation

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Functional Dependency
• Main concept associated with normalization.

• Functional Dependency
• Describes relationship between attributes in a relation.
• If A and B are attributes of relation R, B is functionally dependent on A
(denoted A B), if each value of A in R is associated with exactly one
value of B in R.

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Functional Dependency

• Property of the meaning (or semantics) of

the attributes in a relation.
• Diagrammatic representation:

● Determinant of a functional dependency refers

to attribute or group of attributes on left-hand
side of the arrow.
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Example - Functional Dependency

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Identifying Candidate Keys
• A candidate key is an attribute, or set of attributes, that
uniquely identifies a row
• Must be irreducible
• No part of a candidate can ever be NULL

• An attribute A that functionally determines every other

attribute of the relation is a candidate key
• For each value of A there is exactly one value of each of the other
attributes
• So each value of A must identify a single row

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Identifying Primary Keys
• A primary key is a candidate key chosen to identify rows
uniquely within a table
• Other candidate keys called alternate keys

• Some guidelines on choosing the primary key

• Pick the candidate key with fewest attributes
• Pick the candidate key with shortest length
• Pick the candidate key that makes most sense for the business!

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 Functional Dependency
• Main characteristics of functional dependencies used in
normalization:
• have a 1:1 relationship between attribute(s) on left and right-hand side of
a dependency;
• hold for all time;
• are nontrivial.

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 Functional Dependency
• Complete set of functional dependencies for a given relation can
be very large.

• Important to find an approach that can reduce set to a

manageable size.

• Need to identify set of functional dependencies (X) for a relation

that is smaller than complete set of functional dependencies (Y)
for that relation and has property that every functional
dependency in Y is implied by functional dependencies in X.

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 Functional Dependency
• Set of all functional dependencies implied by a given set of
functional dependencies X called closure of X (written X+).

• Set of inference rules, called Armstrong’s axioms, specifies how

new functional dependencies can be inferred from given ones.

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Functional Dependency
• Let A, B, and C be subsets of the attributes of relation R.
Armstrong’s axioms are as follows:
1. Reflexivity
If B is a subset of A, then A → B
2. Augmentation
If A → B, then A,C → Β,C
3. Transitivity
If A → B and B → C, then A → C

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The Process of Normalization
• Formal technique for analyzing a relation based on its primary
key and functional dependencies between its attributes.
• Often executed as a series of steps. Each step corresponds to a
specific normal form, which has known properties.
• As normalization proceeds, relations become progressively
more restricted (stronger) in format and also less vulnerable to
update anomalies.

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Unnormalized Form (UNF)
• A table that contains one or more repeating groups.

• To create an unnormalized table:

• transform data from information source (e.g. form) into table format with
columns and rows.

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First Normal Form (1NF)
• A relation in which intersection of each row and column contains
one and only one value.

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UNF to 1NF
• Nominate an attribute or group of attributes to act as the key for
the unnormalized table.

• Identify repeating group(s) in unnormalized table which repeats

for the key attribute(s).

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UNF to 1NF
• Remove repeating group by:
• entering appropriate data into the empty columns of rows containing
repeating data (‘flattening’ the table).
Or by
• placing repeating data along with copy of the original key attribute(s) into
a separate relation.

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ClientRental UNF To 1NF By Flattening

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ClientRental Functional Dependencies
• On the ClientRental relation:
• clientNo → cName
• propertyNo → pAddress, rent, ownerNo, oName
• ownerNo → oName
• clientNo, propertyNo → cName, pAddress, rentStart,
rentFinish, rent,
ownerNo, oName
• clientNo, rentStart → cName, propertyNo, pAddress,
rentFinish, rent,
ownerNo, oName
• propertyNo, rentStart → clientNo, cName, pAddress,
rentFinish, rent,
ownerNo, oName

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ClientRental Primary Key
• Candidate keys are
• (clientNo, propertyNo)
• (clientNo, rentStart)
• (propertyNo, rentStart)
• Choose (clientNo, propertyNo) as Primary key

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Client rental 1NF relation

• Write down the ClientRental relation using standard notation

ClientRental (clientNo, propertyNo, cName, pAddress,
rentStart, rentFinish, rent, ownerNo, oName)

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Second Normal Form (2NF)
• Based on concept of full functional dependency:
• A1, … , An and B are attributes of a relation,
• B is fully dependent on A1, … , An if B is functionally dependent on A1, … , An
but not on any proper subset of A1, … , An.

• 2NF - A relation that is in 1NF and every non-primary-key attribute

is fully functionally dependent on the primary key.

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1NF to 2NF
• Identify primary key for the 1NF relation.

• Identify functional dependencies in the relation.

• If partial dependencies exist on the primary key remove them

by placing them in a new relation along with copy of their
determinant.

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ClientRental Example: 1NF to 2NF

• Partial dependencies are:

• clientNo → cName
• propertyNo → pAddress, rent, ownerNo, oName

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ClientRental Example: clientNo → cName

• Create new relation Client, with primary key clientNo

• Remove cName from the ClientRental relation

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ClientRental Example:
propertyNo -> pAddress, rent, ownerNo, oName
• Create new relation PropertyOwner, with primary key propertyNo

●Remove attributes pAddress, rent, ownerNo,

oName from the ClientRental relation

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ClientRental Example: 2NF relations

• Tidy up, and re-name the ClientRental

relation “Rental”

●Write down the 2NF relations:

Client ( clientNo, cName)
PropertyOwner ( propertyNo, pAddress, rent, ownerNo, oName)
Rental ( clientNo, propertyNo, rentStart, rentFinish)

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Third Normal Form (3NF)
• Based on concept of transitive dependency:
• A, B and C are attributes of a relation such that A B and B C,
• then C is transitively dependent on A through B. (Provided that A is not
functionally dependent on B or C).

• 3NF - A relation that is in 1NF and 2NF and in which no non-primary-

key attribute is transitively dependent on the primary key.

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2NF to 3NF
• Identify the primary key in the 2NF relation.

• Identify functional dependencies in the relation.

• If transitive dependencies exist on the primary key remove them

by placing them in a new relation along with copy of their
determinant.

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ClientRental Example: 2NF to 3NF

• Consider the relation:

PropertyOwner ( propertyNo, pAddress, rent, ownerNo, oName)

• We have functional dependencies

• propertyNo → ownerNo
• ownerNo → oName
• So oName is transitively dependent on propertyNo, the primary key

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ClientRental Example: Remove Transitive
Dependency On Primary Key
• Create new relation Owner, with primary key ownerNo and
attribute oName

●Remove oName from PropertyOwner relation

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ClientRental Example: 3NF Relations

• Tidy up, and re-name PropertyOwner

relation “PropertyForRent”

●Write down the 3NF relations:

Client ( clientNo, cName)
Rental ( clientNo, propertyNo, rentStart, rentFinish)
PropertyOwner ( propertyNo, pAddress, rent, ownerNo)
Owner (ownerNo, oName)
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General Definitions of 2NF and 3NF
• Second normal form (2NF)
• A relation that is in 1NF and every non-primary-key attribute is fully
functionally dependent on any candidate key.

• Third normal form (3NF)

• A relation that is in 1NF and 2NF and in which no non-primary-key
attribute is transitively dependent on any candidate key.

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Boyce–Codd Normal Form (BCNF)
• Based on functional dependencies that take into account all
candidate keys in a relation, however BCNF also has additional
constraints compared with general definition of 3NF.

• BCNF - A relation is in BCNF if and only if every determinant is

a candidate key.

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Boyce–Codd normal form (BCNF)
• Difference between 3NF and BCNF is that for a functional
dependency A → B, 3NF allows this dependency in a relation if
B is a primary-key attribute and A is not a candidate key.

• Whereas, BCNF insists that for this dependency to remain in a

relation, A must be a candidate key.

• Every relation in BCNF is also in 3NF. However, relation in 3NF

may not be in BCNF.

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Boyce–Codd normal form (BCNF)
• Violation of BCNF is quite rare.

• Potential to violate BCNF may occur in a relation that:

• contains two (or more) composite candidate keys;
• the candidate keys overlap (ie. have at least one attribute in common).

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BCNF Example
• Consider the relation:
ClientInterview (clientNo, interviewdate, interviewTime,
staffNo, roomNo)

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BCNF Example: Functional dependencies

• Functional dependencies are

fd1: clientNo, interviewdate → interviewTime, staffNo,
roomNo
fd2: staffNo, interviewdate, interviewTime → clientNo
fd3: roomNo, interviewdate, interviewTime → staffNo,
clientNo
fd4: staffNo, interviewdate → roomNo

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BCNF Example

• ClientInterview relation is in 3NF

• Is ClientInterview relation in BCNF?

• fd1: the determinant, (clientNo, interviewdate), is the primary key
• fd2 and fd3: both determinants are candidate keys
• fd4: its determinant is NOT a candidate key

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BCNF Example
• Create new relation StaffRoom with the attributes from fd4:
• Determinant attributes form the primary key of the new relation
• Include dependent attributes in the relation

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BCNF Example
• Remove the dependent attributes of fd4 from the
ClientInterview relation and rename it Interview.

●Write down the BCNF relations:

StaffRoom (staffNo, interviewdate, roomNo)
Interview (clientNo, interviewdate, interviewTime,
staffNo)
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Review of Normalization (UNF to BCNF)

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Review of Normalization (UNF to BCNF)

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Review of Normalization (UNF to BCNF)

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Review of Normalization (UNF to BCNF)

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