ASSIGNMENT 1

This assignment should be done in groups and submitted on

Google Class by 26th June 2020

1. List the three design goals for relational databases, and explain why each
is desirable.
2. Given the three goals of relational database design, is there any reason to
design a database schema that is in 2NF, but is in no higher-order normal
form?
3. Study the table StaffBranch Table, describe the problems associated
with this type of data representation. Show step by step on how you
achieve a better design that is in BCNF.

4. Give a BCNF decomposition of the given schema using the original set F of
functional dependencies.

Consider the schema R = (A, B, C, D, E, G) and the set F of functional

dependencies:

AB CD B D DE B DEG AB AC DE

R is not in BCNF for many reasons, one of which arises from the functional
dependency AB CD. Explain why AB CD shows that R is not in BCNF
and then use the BCNF decomposition algorithm starting with AB CD to
generate a BCNF decomposition of R. Once that is done, determine
whether your result is or is not dependency preserving, and explain your
reasoning.

5. In the BCNF decomposition algorithm, suppose you use a functional

dependency α → β to decompose a relation schema r(α, β, γ) into r 1 (α,
β) and r 2 (α, γ).

a. What primary and foreign-key constraint do you expect to hold on the

decomposed relations?
b. Give an example of an inconsistency that can arise due to an erroneous
update, if the foreign-key constraint were not enforced on the
decomposed relations above.