Relational Database Model

Relational model can represent as a table with columns and rows. Each row is known as a
tuple. Each table of the column has a name or attribute.

Domain: It contains a set of atomic values that an attribute can take.

Tables − In relational data model, relations are saved in the format of Tables. This format
stores the relation among entities. A table has rows and columns, where rows represents
records and columns represent the attributes.

Tuple − A single row of a table, which contains a single record for that relation is called a
tuple.

Relation instance − A finite set of tuples in the relational database system represents relation
instance. Relation instances do not have duplicate tuples.

Relation schema − A relation schema describes the relation name (table name), attributes,
and their names.

Relation key − Each row has one or more attributes, known as relation key, which can identify
the row in the relation (table) uniquely.

Attribute domain − Every attribute has some pre-defined value scope, known as attribute
domain.

Example: STUDENT Relation

NAME ROLL_NO PHONE_NO ADDRESS AGE

Ram 14795 7305758992 Noida 24

Shyam 12839 9026288936 Delhi 35

Laxman 33289 8583287182 Gurugram 20

Mahesh 27857 7086819134 Ghaziabad 27

Ganesh 17282 9028 9i3988 Delhi 40

Table’s characteristics are:

• A table is perceived as a two-dimensional structure composed of rows and columns.

• Each table row (also known as tuple) represents a single instance of the entity within the
entity set.
• Each column represents an attribute and each column has distinct name.
• Each row/column intersection represents a data value.
• Each table must have an attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies each
row.
• All values in a column must confirm to the same data format.
• Each column has specific range of values known as the domain of the attribute.
• The order of rows and columns is immaterial to the DBMS.

Keys
Keys are one of the basic requirements of a relational database model. It is widely used to
identify the tuples(rows) uniquely in the table. We also use keys to set up relations amongst
various columns and tables of a relational database.

Different Types of Database Keys

• Candidate Key
• Primary Key
• Super Key
• Alternate Key
• Foreign Key
• Composite Key

Candidate Key
The minimal set of attributes that can uniquely identify a tuple is known as a candidate key.
For Example, STUD_NO in STUDENT relation.
• It is a minimal super key.
• It is a super key with no repeated data is called a candidate key.
• The minimal set of attributes that can uniquely identify a record.
• It must contain unique values.
• It can contain NULL values.
• Every table must have at least a single candidate key.
• A table can have multiple candidate keys but only one primary key.
• The value of the Candidate Key is unique and may be null for a tuple.
• There can be more than one candidate key in a relationship.

Example:
STUD_NO is the candidate key for relation STUDENT.

Table STUDENT
STUD_NO SNAME ADDRESS PHONE

1 Shyam Delhi 123456789

STUD_NO SNAME ADDRESS PHONE

2 Rakesh Kolkata 223365796

3 Suraj Delhi 175468965

The candidate key can be simple (having only one attribute) or composite as well.
Example:
{STUD_NO, COURSE_NO} is a composite
candidate key for relation STUDENT_COURSE.

Table STUDENT_COURSE
STUD_NO TEACHER_NO COURSE_NO

1 001 C001

2 056 C005

Primary Key
There can be more than one candidate key in relation out of which one can be chosen as the
primary key. For Example, STUD_NO, as well as STUD_PHONE, are candidate keys for relation
STUDENT but STUD_NO can be chosen as the primary key (only one out of many candidate
keys).
• It is a unique key.
• It can identify only one tuple (a record) at a time.
• It has no duplicate values, it has unique values.
• It cannot be NULL.
• Primary keys are not necessarily to be a single column; more than one column can also
be a primary key for a table.

Example:
STUDENT table -> Student(STUD_NO, SNAME,
ADDRESS, PHONE) , STUD_NO is a primary key

Table STUDENT
STUD_NO SNAME ADDRESS PHONE

1 Shyam Delhi 123456789

2 Rakesh Kolkata 223365796

STUD_NO SNAME ADDRESS PHONE

3 Suraj Delhi 175468965

Super Key
The set of attributes that can uniquely identify a tuple is known as Super Key. For Example,
STUD_NO, (STUD_NO, STUD_NAME), etc. A super key is a group of single or multiple keys
that identifies rows in a table. It supports NULL values.
• Adding zero or more attributes to the candidate key generates the super key.
• A candidate key is a super key but vice versa is not true.
• Super Key values may also be NULL.
Example:
Consider the table shown above.
STUD_NO+PHONE is a super key.

Relation between Primary Key, Candidate Key, and Super Key

Alternate Key
The candidate key other than the primary key is called an alternate key.
• All the keys which are not primary keys are called alternate keys.
• It is a secondary key.
• It contains two or more fields to identify two or more records.
• These values are repeated.
• Eg:- SNAME, and ADDRESS is Alternate keys

Example:
Consider the table shown above.
STUD_NO, as well as PHONE both, are candidate keys for relation STUDENT but
PHONE will be an alternate key (only one out of many candidate keys).

Primary Key, Candidate Key, and Alternate Key

Foreign Key
If an attribute can only take the values which are present as values of some other attribute,
it will be a foreign key to the attribute to which it refers. The relation which is being
referenced is called referenced relation and the corresponding attribute is called referenced
attribute the relation which refers to the referenced relation is called referencing relation
and the corresponding attribute is called referencing attribute. The referenced attribute of
the referenced relation should be the primary key to it.
• It is a key it acts as a primary key in one table and it acts as
secondary key in another table.
• It combines two or more relations (tables) at a time.
• They act as a cross-reference between the tables.
• For example, DNO is a primary key in the DEPT table and a non-key in EMP
•
Example:
Refer Table STUDENT shown above.
STUD_NO in STUDENT_COURSE is a
foreign key to STUD_NO in STUDENT relation.

Table STUDENT_COURSE
STUD_NO TEACHER_NO COURSE_NO

1 005 C001

2 056 C005

It may be worth noting that, unlike the Primary Key of any given relation, Foreign Key can be
NULL as well as may contain duplicate tuples i.e. it need not follow uniqueness constraint. For
Example, STUD_NO in the STUDENT_COURSE relation is not unique. It has been repeated for
the first and third tuples. However, the STUD_NO in STUDENT relation is a primary key and it
needs to be always unique, and it cannot be null.
Relation between Primary Key and Foreign Key

Composite Key
Sometimes, a table might not have a single column/attribute that uniquely identifies all the
records of a table. To uniquely identify rows of a table, a combination of two or more
columns/attributes can be used. It still can give duplicate values in rare cases. So, we need
to find the optimal set of attributes that can uniquely identify rows in a table.
• It acts as a primary key if there is no primary key in a table
• Two or more attributes are used together to make a composite key.
• Different combinations of attributes may give different accuracy in terms of identifying
the rows uniquely.
•
Example:
FULLNAME + DOB can be combined
together to access the details of a student.
Integrity Rules
o Integrity constraints are a set of rules. It is used to maintain the quality of information.
o Integrity constraints ensure that the data insertion, updating, and other processes
have to be performed in such a way that data integrity is not affected.
o Thus, integrity constraint is used to guard against accidental damage to the database.

Types of Integrity Constraint

1. Domain constraints
o Domain constraints can be defined as the definition of a valid set of values for an
attribute.
o The data type of domain includes string, character, integer, time, date, currency, etc.
The value of the attribute must be available in the corresponding domain.

Example:

2. Entity integrity constraints

o The entity integrity constraint states that primary key value can't be null.
o This is because the primary key value is used to identify individual rows in relation and
if the primary key has a null value, then we can't identify those rows.
o A table can contain a null value other than the primary key field.

Example:

3. Referential Integrity Constraints

o A referential integrity constraint is specified between two tables.

o In the Referential integrity constraints, if a foreign key in Table 1 refers to the Primary
Key of Table 2, then every value of the Foreign Key in Table 1 must be null or be
available in Table 2.
Example:

4. Key constraints
o Keys are the entity set that is used to identify an entity within its entity set uniquely.

o An entity set can have multiple keys, but out of which one key will be the primary key.
A primary key can contain a unique and null value in the relational table.

Example: