Welcome to Mapping
Entities to Tables. After watching this video, you will be able to define entity
relationship diagram
ERD, and relational database. Identify the key
components of ERD, outline the steps involved in
mapping entities to tables, describe the best practices for relational database
design. An ERD is a graphical
representation of the entities and
the relationships between them in a database. It is a modeling technique
used in database design to represent the structure of
a database system visually. The primary components
of an ER diagram include entities, attributes,
and relationships. Here are the key
components of an ERD. Entities represent
real world objects, concepts or things that
store and manage data. Rectangles in an ER diagram
depict these entities. In this example, book
represents an entity. Attributes represent
the characteristics associated with an entity. Ovals inside the
entity rectangle depict these attributes. In the given example, ISBN, title,
author, and published
year are all attributes. Relationships illustrate
how entities interrelate. Let's introduce
another entity in the example, say author. A relationship could be that an author
writes a
book represented by a line connecting
the author and book rectangles in
the ER diagram. The relational database
model provides a well defined framework for managing and manipulating
structured data. In a relational database you organize data
elements in a table. Relationships between the
tables depend on common fields. To design a relational database, begin with an ERD
and then map the ERD to the tables
in a database. The illustration utilizes an ERD for the book entity
as an example. The entity book becomes a
table with the same name book. This step provides the structure for the rows and
columns. However, the table
is still empty. It doesn't contain actual data. The next step involves translating
attributes
into the table. When translated to a table, the attributes of an entity
become columns in that table. For example, if book
had attributes, ISBN, title, and author, these become columns
in the book table. The final step is to add data values to the
table's columns. You can add the relevant
data as shown in the table. The step completes transforming a conceptual entity
into a tangible table
with specific data. You will follow similar
steps for other entities. For example, transform
the entity author into the table and translate
the attributes into columns. Adding data values into the
columns completes the table. Let us now discuss
the best practices for designing a
relational database. The best practices involve
primary key designation, data validation, default values, using views,
concurrency control. Let us discuss the best
practices in detail. Primary key designation. A primary key is an exclusive
identifier allocated to each entry in a table. Designate a primary key
for the book table, such as book ID, to identify each book in
the database uniquely. Data validation, implement
data validation mechanisms to ensure the accuracy
and consistency of the data entered
into the database. The step may involve
checks for data, types, ranges, and formats. For example, ensure that the published
year attribute
for the book entity only accepts numerical
values within a specified range.
Default values. Consider assigning
default values to certain columns to streamline data entry and
enhance the records. For example, set a
default value of "Unknown" for the author
column in the book table to handle cases where the author's information
is not available, use of views, utilize views to present a customized and
simplified
data perspective, especially for complex queries
or reporting purposes. For example, create
a view that combines information from the book
and author tables to present a comprehensive
list of books and their authors without showing
the underlying complexity. Concurrency control, implement concurrency control
mechanisms to manage multiple users access and modifications to the
database concurrently. This step helps prevent data
inconsistency and conflicts. For example, include a "Last modified" timestamp
in the book table. In this video, you
learned that an ERD is a graphical representation of the entities and
the relationships between them in a database. ERD components include entities,
attributes, and relationships. Relational databases
organize data into tables with relationships
based on common fields. Entities become tables
with the same name and attributes become
columns within those tables. Adhering to best practices in relational database
design is crucial for ensuring
the efficiency and maintainability of
the database system.
