CSC241 Database Systems

Lecture # 8
By
Maria Gul

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Components of ER Model
2. Attributes
• The characteristics of an entity are called
attributes.
• E.g., Name, Address, Class and Email of a
student are his attributes.
• All instances of a particular entity class have
same attributes.
• E.g., all students of STUDENT entity class
have the attribute Name, Address, Class and
Email.

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Components of ER Model
2.1 Attribute Domain
• An attribute domain is a set of possible
values for an attribute.
• All attributes have domain.
• Domains may consist of range of values or
some discrete values.
• E.g., domain for Grade Point Average (GPA)
can be from 0 to 4.
• Association of a domain with an attribute
ensures the integrity of database.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
1. Simple Attribute
• An attribute that cannot be divided into
smaller component is called simple
attribute.
• It is also called atomic attribute.
• E.g., person can have only one gender and
one date of birth.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
2. Composite Attribute
• An attribute that can be divided into smaller
component is called composite attribute.
• Example, Address

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes

3. Single-Valued Attribute

• An attribute that may contain single value is

called single-valued attribute.

• Example, Age of a person.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes

4. Multi-Valued Attribute
• An attribute that may contain two or more
values is called multi-valued attribute.
• It is represented by double-line oval.
• Example, A person can have two or more
college degrees.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes

4. Multi-Valued Attribute

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
5. Stored Attribute
• An attribute that is stored in a database is
called stored attribute.
• Most of the attributes are stored attributes.
• These are stored and access from database.
Example

Date_Employed attribute used in EMPLOYEE

entity type used to calculate
Years_Employed

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
6. Derived Attribute
• An attribute that is stored not in a database
but derived from another value is called
derived attribute.
• The other value can be stored in a database
or obtained in some other way.
• Derived attribute is indicated by using an
ellipse with a dashed line.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
6. Derived Attribute
Example , Roll No, Name and Date of Birth of a
student can be stored in database. The Age of
a student can be derived from Date of Birth.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
6. Derived Attribute

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute
• An attribute that identifies an entity instance
among other instances in entity class is
called identifiers attribute.
Example , EMPLOYEE entity class is identified
by his / her EmployeeID etc. these attributes
are called identifiers.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute
• Identifier can be unique or non-unique.
• Unique identifier may identify only one entity
instance.
• Non-unique identifier may identify a set of
instances.
• Example, EmpolyeeID is unique identifier
because it identifies a single employee. But
Department is non-unique identifier because
it identifies all employees who work in a
particular department.
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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute
Types of Identifiers
Simple Identifier
• Identifier that consists of one attribute is
called simple identifier.
• Example, identifier for STUDENT entity type
is Student_ID.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute
Types of Identifiers

Composite Identifier

• Identifier that consists of composite

attribute is called simple identifier.
• Example, ORDERID identifier may consist of
OrderNo and Date.

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Components of ER Model
Types of Attributes
7. Identifiers Attribute
Types of Identifiers

Composite Identifier

• Identifier that consists of composite

attribute is called composite identifier.
• Example, ORDERID identifier may consist of
OrderNo and Date.

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Components of ER Model
7. Identifiers Attribute
Types of Identifiers
Simple Identifier

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Components of ER Model
7. Identifiers Attribute
Types of Identifiers
Composite Identifier

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