Phase 2 Of Your Personal Collection Database App

Phase 2 Of Your Personal Collection Database Appl

Phase 2 of your Personal Collection Database Application Mapping from E/R Model to Relational Design

The course project will be spread over five phases over the rest of the semester. Due date: Sunday April 7, 2019. The weight of this project component is 10% of the course grade. Please submit one “pdf†document that includes the following: Entity-â€Relationship to Relational Schema: (a) A copy of your updated E/R Data Model from Phase#1 of your PC-â€DBA. Please use MySQL Workbench or a similar software system to generate your updated diagram. Hand-â€drawn diagrams will not be accepted at this point. The course material on Canvas includes several tutorial videos about the MySQL Workbench. (b) Use the methods for transforming an E/R diagram to Database Relations described in the text or the supplementary lecture notes and videos posted on the course’s Canvas website, to produce a set of relations from your E/R Data Model. Specify your relational schema using the notation described in these resources, and be sure to indicate key attributes. (c) For each Database Relation, add your comments to respond to the following question: Are there any flaws in the relational database schema you get from part (b) above? Normalization: 1. Are there any opportunities to combine relations without introducing redundancy? If so, indicate which, and if not, tell that there are none. 2. Are there any examples relation schemas that violate the Third Normal Form (3NF) or Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)? If so, do you want to decompose them? Please note that in the Design phase, you may knowingly decide to violate 3NF, BCNF or 4NF when you prefer to avoid decomposition of a big relation R, because you anticipate frequent queries on R and if R is decomposed into R1 and R2, then that will lead to frequent expensive joins of R1 and R2. 3. For each opportunity to combine or decompose relations, decide whether or not to do so, and explain your reasoning briefly (e.g., tell what queries you expect will be typical for your database, and tell how the design you pick facilitates them). 4. Is there anything you still don’t like about the schema (e.g., attribute names, relation structure, duplicated information, etc.)? If so, modify the relational schema to something you prefer. 5. You will be working with this schema quite a bit, so it’s worth spending some time to make sure you’re happy with it. Please submit a pdf document that includes your E/R Diagram and your response to the above issues.

Paper For Above instruction

The development of a robust relational database schema from an Entity-Relationship (E/R) model is a critical step in designing an efficient, reliable, and scalable personal collection database application. This process involves translating the conceptual design into a logical structure that supports the anticipated data operations while maintaining data integrity and minimizing redundancy. This paper delineates the steps and considerations involved in this transformation, from updating the E/R diagram to analyzing and refining the resulting relational schema.

Updating the E/R Model

The first step entails revisiting the initial E/R diagram created during Phase 1 to incorporate any modifications or clarifications based on feedback or further analysis. Utilizing tools like MySQL Workbench, the diagram should be explicitly depicted with all entities, attributes, and relationships clearly identified. It is essential that the diagram adheres to best practices, such as naming conventions and proper cardinality notation, to facilitate accurate translation into relations. The updated diagram serves as the foundation for subsequent normalization and schema refinement efforts.

Transforming the E/R Diagram into Relations

Applying the systematic methods for converting E/R diagrams to relational schemas involves identifying entities as relations, with primary keys and attribute dependencies properly mapped. For each entity, a relation is created with its attributes, and key attributes are clearly specified. Relationships are transformed into foreign keys, with participation constraints reflected in referential integrity rules. The notation used for schema depiction should align with the standards discussed in course materials, for instance, emphasizing primary key designation with underlining or bolding, and foreign keys with annotations. This structured approach ensures a clear and logical translation from the conceptual to the logical model.

Analyzing and Refining the Schema

The core of the assignment involves critically evaluating the derived relations for potential flaws. First, opportunities to combine relations should be considered to reduce redundancy and improve query efficiency. For example, if two relations are frequently jointed for common queries and contain overlapping data, their merger might be prudent. Conversely, over-merging can lead to large, unwieldy relations that violate normalization principles.

Next, the schema must be assessed for normalization violations, especially focusing on the Third Normal Form (3NF) and Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF). Relations that contain transitive dependencies or violate these forms need to be decomposed appropriately. However, the decision to decompose should also weigh the performance implications, as excessive normalization might increase join operations, adversely affecting query speed. It is acceptable and sometimes advisable to intentionally denormalize parts of the database if the anticipated workload favors such a structure.

Additionally, all relations should be reviewed for attributes that could be misleading, duplicated, or poorly named. Any such issues warrant schema modification to enhance clarity, consistency, and functionality. This iterative refinement ensures that the schema is not only theoretically sound but also practically effective for ongoing use.

Conclusion

Through systematic translation, critical assessment, and thoughtful refinement, the relational schema derived from the updated E/R diagram can be optimized for performance, scalability, and ease of maintenance. The final schema should balance normalization principles with real-world query patterns, ensuring the personal collection database is both efficient and user-friendly. Documenting these decisions comprehensively in a PDF, including the E/R diagram and justifications, completes the project phase and prepares the schema for implementation.

References

  • Codd, E. F. (1970). A relational model of data for large shared data banks. Communications of the ACM, 13(6), 377-387.