Functional Dependency: Transitive, Trivial, Multivalued

What is a Functional Dependency?

Functional Dependency (FD) determines the relation of one attribute to
another attribute in a database management system (DBMS) system. Functional
dependency helps you to maintain the quality of data in the database. A
functional dependency is denoted by an arrow →. The functional dependency
of X on Y is represented by X → Y. Functional Dependency plays a vital role to
find the difference between good and bad database design.

Example:

Employee number Employee Name Salary City

1 Dana 50000 San Francisco

2 Francis 38000 London

3 Andrew 25000 Tokyo

In this example, if we know the value of Employee number, we can obtain

Employee Name, city, salary, etc. By this, we can say that the city, Employee
Name, and salary are functionally depended on Employee number.

Normalization should be part of the database design process. However, it is

difficult to separate the normalization process from the ER modelling process so
the two techniques should be used concurrently.

Use an entity relation diagram (ERD) to provide the big picture, or macro view, of
an organization’s data requirements and operations. This is created through an
iterative process that involves identifying relevant entities, their attributes and their
relationships.

Normalization procedure focuses on characteristics of specific entities and

represents the micro view of entities within the ERD.
Rules of Functional Dependencies
Below given are the Three most important rules for Functional Dependency:

 Reflexive rule –. If X is a set of attributes and Y is_subset_of X, then X holds

a value of Y.
 Augmentation rule: When x -> y holds, and c is attribute set, then ac -> bc
also holds. That is adding attributes which do not change the basic
dependencies.
 Transitivity rule: This rule is very much similar to the transitive rule in
algebra if x -> y holds and y -> z holds, then x -> z also holds. X -> y is called
as functionally that determines y.

Types of Functional Dependencies

 Multivalued dependency:
 Trivial functional dependency:
 Non-trivial functional dependency:
 Transitive dependency:

Multivalued dependency in DBMS

Multivalued dependency occurs in the situation where there are multiple
independent multivalued attributes in a single table. A multivalued dependency
is a complete constraint between two sets of attributes in a relation. It requires
that certain tuples be present in a relation.

Example:

Car_model Maf_year Color

H001 2017 Metallic

H001 2017 Green

H005 2018 Metallic

H005 2018 Blue

H010 2015 Metallic

H033 2012 Gray

In this example, maf_year and color are independent of each other but
dependent on car_model. In this example, these two columns are said to be
multivalue dependent on car_model.

This dependence can be represented like this:

car_model -> maf_year

car_model-> colour

Trivial Functional dependency:

The Trivial dependency is a set of attributes which are called a trivial if the set of
attributes are included in that attribute.

So, X -> Y is a trivial functional dependency if Y is a subset of X.

For example:

Emp_id Emp_name

AS555 Harry

AS811 George

AS999 Kevin

Consider this table with two columns Emp_id and Emp_name.

{Emp_id, Emp_name} -> Emp_id is a trivial functional dependency as Emp_id is

a subset of {Emp_id,Emp_name}.
Non trivial functional dependency in DBMS
Functional dependency which also known as a nontrivial dependency occurs
when A->B holds true where B is not a subset of A. In a relationship, if attribute B
is not a subset of attribute A, then it is considered as a non-trivial dependency.

Company CEO Age

Microsoft Satya Nadella 51

Google Sundar Pichai 46

Apple Tim Cook 57

Example:

(Company} -> {CEO} (if we know the Company, we knows the CEO name)

But CEO is not a subset of Company, and hence it's non-trivial functional
dependency.

Transitive dependency:
A transitive is a type of functional dependency which happens when t is
indirectly formed by two functional dependencies.

Example:

Company CEO Age

Microsoft Satya Nadella 51

Google Sundar Pichai 46

Alibaba Jack Ma 54
{Company} -> {CEO} (if we know the compay, we know its CEO's name)

{CEO } -> {Age} If we know the CEO, we know the Age

Therefore according to the rule of rule of transitive dependency:

{ Company} -> {Age} should hold, that makes sense because if we know the
company name, we can know his age.

Note: You need to remember that transitive dependency can only occur in a
relation of three or more attributes.

What is Normalization?
Normalization is a method of organizing the data in the database which helps
you to avoid data redundancy, insertion, update & deletion anomaly. It is a
process of analyzing the relation schemas based on their different functional
dependencies and primary key.

Normalization is inherent to relational database theory. It may have the effect of

duplicating the same data within the database which may result in the creation
of additional tables.

Advantages of Functional Dependency

 Functional Dependency avoids data redundancy. Therefore same data do
not repeat at multiple locations in that database
 It helps you to maintain the quality of data in the database
 It helps you to defined meanings and constraints of databases
 It helps you to identify bad designs
 It helps you to find the facts regarding the database design

Summary
 Functional Dependency is when one attribute determines another
attribute in a DBMS system.
 Axiom, Decomposition, Dependent, Determinant, Union are key terms for
functional dependency
 Four types of functional dependency are 1) Multivalued 2) Trivial 3) Non-
trivial 4) Transitive
  Multivalued dependency occurs in the situation where there are multiple
independent multivalued attributes in a single table
 The Trivial dependency occurs when a set of attributes which are called a
trivial if the set of attributes are included in that attribute
 Nontrivial dependency occurs when A->B holds true where B is not a
subset of A
 A transitive is a type of functional dependency which happens when it is
indirectly formed by two functional dependencies
 Normalization is a method of organizing the data in the database which
helps you to avoid data redundancy

What Is Normalization?
Normalization is the branch of relational theory that provides design insights. It is
the process of determining how much redundancy exists in a table. The goals of
normalization are to:

 Be able to characterize the level of redundancy in a relational schema

 Provide mechanisms for transforming schemas in order to remove redundancy

Normalization theory draws heavily on the theory of functional dependencies.

Normalization theory defines six normal forms (NF). Each normal form involves a
set of dependency properties that a schema must satisfy and each normal
form gives guarantees about the presence and/or absence of update anomalies. This
means that higher normal forms have less redundancy, and as a result, fewer
update problems.

NORMALIZATION may also be defined as:- it is a database design technique that

reduces data redundancy and eliminates undesirable characteristics like
Insertion, Update and Deletion Anomalies. Normalization rules divides larger
tables into smaller tables and links them using relationships. The purpose of
Normalization in SQL is to eliminate redundant (repetitive) data and ensure
data is stored logically.

The inventor of the relational model Edgar Codd proposed the theory of
normalization with the introduction of the First Normal Form, and he continued
to extend theory with Second and Third Normal Form. Later he joined Raymond
F. Boyce to develop the theory of Boyce-Codd Normal Form.
 Normal Forms
All the tables in any database can be in one of the normal forms we will discuss
next. Ideally we only want minimal redundancy for PK to FK. Everything else
should be derived from other tables. There are five normal forms.

Here is a list of Normal Forms

 1NF (First Normal Form)

 2NF (Second Normal Form)
 3NF (Third Normal Form)
 BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)
 4NF (Fourth Normal Form)
 5NF (Fifth Normal Form)

First Normal Form (1NF)

In the first normal form, only single values are permitted at the intersection of each
row and column; hence, there are no repeating groups.

To normalize a relation that contains a repeating group, remove the repeating

group and form two new relations.

The PK of the new relation is a combination of the PK of the original relation plus
an attribute from the newly created relation for unique identification.

Process for 1NF

We will use the Student_Grade_Report table below, from a School database, as
our example to explain the process for 1NF.
Student_Grade_Report (StudentNo, StudentName, Major, CourseNo,
CourseName, InstructorNo, InstructorName, InstructorLocation, Grade)

 In the Student Grade Report table, the repeating group is the course information. A
student can take many courses.
 Remove the repeating group. In this case, it’s the course information for each
student.
 Identify the PK for your new table.
 The PK must uniquely identify the attribute value (StudentNo and CourseNo).
 After removing all the attributes related to the course and student, you are left with
the student course table (StudentCourse).
 The Student table (Student) is now in first normal form with the repeating group
removed.
 The two new tables are shown below.

Student (StudentNo, StudentName, Major)

StudentCourse (StudentNo, CourseNo, CourseName, InstructorNo,
InstructorName, InstructorLocation, Grade)

How to update 1NF anomalies

StudentCourse (StudentNo, CourseNo, CourseName, InstructorNo,
InstructorName, InstructorLocation, Grade)

 To add a new course, we need a student.

 When course information needs to be updated, we may have inconsistencies.
 To delete a student, we might also delete critical information about a course.

Second Normal Form (2NF)

For the second normal form, the relation must first be in 1NF. The relation is
automatically in 2NF if, and only if, the PK comprises a single attribute.

If the relation has a composite PK, then each non-key attribute must be fully
dependent on the entire PK and not on a subset of the PK (i.e., there must be no
partial dependency or augmentation).

Process for 2NF

To move to 2NF, a table must first be in 1NF.

 The Student table is already in 2NF because it has a single-column PK.

 When examining the Student Course table, we see that not all the attributes are
fully dependent on the PK; specifically, all course information. The only attribute
that is fully dependent is grade.
 Identify the new table that contains the course information.
 Identify the PK for the new table.
 The three new tables are shown below.

Student (StudentNo, StudentName, Major)

 CourseGrade (StudentNo, CourseNo, Grade)
CourseInstructor (CourseNo, CourseName, InstructorNo, InstructorName,
InstructorLocation)

How to update 2NF anomalies

 When adding a new instructor, we need a course.
 Updating course information could lead to inconsistencies for instructor
information.
 Deleting a course may also delete instructor information.

Third Normal Form (3NF)

To be in third normal form, the relation must be in second normal form. Also all
transitive dependencies must be removed; a non-key attribute may not be
functionally dependent on another non-key attribute.

Process for 3NF

 Eliminate all dependent attributes in transitive relationship(s) from each of the
tables that have a transitive relationship.
 Create new table(s) with removed dependency.
 Check new table(s) as well as table(s) modified to make sure that each table has a
determinant and that no table contains inappropriate dependencies.
 See the four new tables below.

Student (StudentNo, StudentName, Major)

CourseGrade (StudentNo, CourseNo, Grade)
Course (CourseNo, CourseName, InstructorNo)
Instructor (InstructorNo, InstructorName, InstructorLocation)

At this stage, there should be no anomalies in third normal form. Let’s look at the
dependency diagram (Figure 12.1) for this example. The first step is to remove
repeating groups, as discussed above.

Student (StudentNo, StudentName, Major)

StudentCourse (StudentNo, CourseNo, CourseName, InstructorNo,

InstructorName, InstructorLocation, Grade)
 To recap the normalization process for the School database, review the
dependencies shown in Figure 12.1.
Figure 12.1 Dependency diagram, by A. Watt.

The abbreviations used in Figure 12.1 are as follows:

 PD: partial dependency

 TD: transitive dependency
 FD: full dependency (Note: FD typically stands for functional dependency. Using
FD as an abbreviation for full dependency is only used in Figure 12.1.)

Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)

When a table has more than one candidate key, anomalies may result even though
the relation is in 3NF. Boyce-Codd normal form is a special case of 3NF. A
relation is in BCNF if, and only if, every determinant is a candidate key.

BCNF Example 1
Consider the following table (St_Maj_Adv).

Student_id Major Advisor

111 Physics Smith

111 Music Chan

320 Math Dobbs

671 Physics White

 803 Physics Smith

The semantic rules (business rules applied to the database) for this table are:

1. Each Student may major in several subjects.

2. For each Major, a given Student has only one Advisor.
3. Each Major has several Advisors.
4. Each Advisor advises only one Major.
5. Each Advisor advises several Students in one Major.

The functional dependencies for this table are listed below. The first one is a
candidate key; the second is not.

1. Student_id, Major ——> Advisor

2. Advisor ——> Major

Anomalies for this table include:

1. Delete – student deletes advisor info

2. Insert – a new advisor needs a student
3. Update – inconsistencies

Note: No single attribute is a candidate key.

PK can be Student_id, Major or Student_id, Advisor.

To reduce the St_Maj_Adv relation to BCNF, you create two new tables:

1. St_Adv (Student_id, Advisor)

2. Adv_Maj (Advisor, Major)

St_Adv table

Student_id Advisor

111 Smith
111 Chan

320 Dobbs

671 White

803 Smith

Adv_Maj table

Advisor Major

Smith Physics

Chan Music

Dobbs Math

White Physics

BCNF Example 2
Consider the following table (Client_Interview).
ClientNo InterviewDate InterviewTime StaffNo RoomNo

CR76 13-May-02 10.30 SG5 G101

CR56 13-May-02 12.00 SG5 G101

CR74 13-May-02 12.00 SG37 G102

CR56 1-July-02 10.30 SG5 G102

FD1 – ClientNo, InterviewDate –> InterviewTime, StaffNo, RoomNo (PK)

FD2 – staffNo, interviewDate, interviewTime –> clientNO (candidate key: CK)

FD3 – roomNo, interviewDate, interviewTime –> staffNo, clientNo (CK)

FD4 – staffNo, interviewDate –> roomNo

A relation is in BCNF if, and only if, every determinant is a candidate key. We
need to create a table that incorporates the first three FDs
(Client_Interview2 table) and another table (StaffRoom table) for the fourth FD.

Client_Interview2 table

ClientNo InterviewDate InterViewTime StaffNo

CR76 13-May-02 10.30 SG5

CR56 13-May-02 12.00 SG5

CR74 13-May-02 12.00 SG37

CR56 1-July-02 10.30 SG5

StaffRoom table

StaffNo InterviewDate RoomNo

SG5 13-May-02 G101

SG37 13-May-02 G102

SG5 1-July-02 G102

Join Dependency:
A Join dependency is generalization of Multivalued dependency.A JD
{R1, R2, ..., Rn} is said to hold over a relation R if R1, R2, R3, ..., Rn is a
lossless-join decomposition of R . There is no set of sound and complete
inference rules for JD.
Inclusion Dependency:
An Inclusion Dependency is a statement of the form that some columns of
a relation
are contained in other columns. A foreign key constraint is an example of
inclusion dependency.

Lossless Join and Dependency Preserving

Decomposition
Last Updated: 28-05-2017
Decomposition of a relation is done when a relation in relational model is not in
appropriate normal form. Relation R is decomposed into two or more relations if
decomposition is lossless join as well as dependency preserving.
Lossless Join Decomposition
If we decompose a relation R into relations R1 and R2,
 Decomposition is lossy if R1 ⋈ R2 ⊃ R
 Decomposition is lossless if R1 ⋈ R2 = R
To check for lossless join decomposition using FD set, following conditions
must hold:
1. Union of Attributes of R1 and R2 must be equal to attribute of R. Each attribute of R
must be either in R1 or in R2.
Att(R1) U Att(R2) = Att(R)
2. Intersection of Attributes of R1 and R2 must not be NULL.
Att(R1) ∩ Att(R2) ≠ Φ
3. Common attribute must be a key for at least one relation (R1 or R2)
Att(R1) ∩ Att(R2) -> Att(R1) or Att(R1) ∩ Att(R2) -> Att(R2)
For Example, A relation R (A, B, C, D) with FD set{A->BC} is decomposed into
R1(ABC) and R2(AD) which is a lossless join decomposition as:
1. First condition holds true as Att(R1) U Att(R2) = (ABC) U (AD) = (ABCD) =
Att(R).
2. Second condition holds true as Att(R1) ∩ Att(R2) = (ABC) ∩ (AD) ≠ Φ
3. Third condition holds true as Att(R1) ∩ Att(R2) = A is a key of R1(ABC)
because A->BC is given.
Dependency Preserving Decomposition
If we decompose a relation R into relations R1 and R2, All dependencies of R either
must be a part of R1 or R2 or must be derivable from combination of FD’s of R1 and
R2.
For Example, A relation R (A, B, C, D) with FD set{A->BC} is decomposed into
R1(ABC) and R2(AD) which is dependency preserving because FD A->BC is a part
of R1(ABC).

Alternative approaches to database design

1. Bottom Up Approach: This approach builds relations on the basis of
the relationships existing among individual attributes. This is not so
commonly used as collecting a large number of attributes initially can
be a very complex task. This approach is also known as Design by
Synthesis.
2. Top Down Approach: This approach is known as Design by
Analysis as it begins with certain relations and then after some
analysis , various rules and methods are applied until all the
desirable properties are met.
Normalization and Database Design
During the normalization process of database design, make sure that proposed
entities meet required normal form before table structures are created. Many real-
world databases have been improperly designed or burdened with anomalies if
improperly modified during the course of time. You may be asked to redesign and
modify existing databases. This can be a large undertaking if the tables are not
properly normalized.

Key Terms and Abbrevations

Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF): a special case of 3rd NF

first normal form (1NF): only single values are permitted at the intersection of each
row and column so there are no repeating groups

normalization: the process of determining how much redundancy exists in a table

second normal form (2NF): the relation must be in 1NF and the PK comprises a
single attribute

semantic rules: business rules applied to the database

third normal form (3NF): the relation must be in 2NF and all transitive
dependencies must be removed; a non-key attribute may not be functionally
dependent on another non-key attribute

4NF (Fourth Normal Form) and 5NF (Fifth Normal Form)

If two or more independent relation are kept in a single relation or we can

say multivalue dependency occurs when the presence of one or more rows in a
table implies the presence of one or more other rows in that same table. Put another
way, two attributes (or columns) in a table are independent of one another, but both
depend on a third attribute. A multivalued dependency always requires at least
three attributes because it consists of at least two attributes that are dependent on a
third.
For a dependency A -> B, if for a single value of A, multiple value of B exists, then
the table may have multi-valued dependency. The table should have at least 3
attributes and B and C should be independent for A ->> B multivalued dependency.
For example,
 PERSON MOBILE FOOD_LIKES

Mahesh 9893/9424 Burger / pizza

Ramesh 9191 Pizza

Person->-> mobile,
Person ->-> food_likes
This is read as “person multidetermines mobile” and “person multidetermines
food_likes.”
Note that a functional dependency is a special case of multivalued dependency. In a
functional dependency X -> Y, every x determines exactly one y, never more than
one.

Fourth normal form (4NF):

Fourth normal form (4NF) is a level of database normalization where there are no
non-trivial multivalued dependencies other than a candidate key. It builds on the first
three normal forms (1NF, 2NF and 3NF) and the Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF).
It states that, in addition to a database meeting the requirements of BCNF, it must
not contain more than one multivalued dependency.
Properties – A relation R is in 4NF if and only if the following conditions are
satisfied:
1. It should be in the Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF).
2. the table should not have any Multi-valued Dependency.
A table with a multivalued dependency violates the normalization standard of Fourth
Normal Form (4NK) because it creates unnecessary redundancies and can
contribute to inconsistent data. To bring this up to 4NF, it is necessary to break this
information into two tables.
Example – Consider the database table of a class whaich has two relations R1
contains student ID(SID) and student name (SNAME) and R2 contains course
id(CID) and course name (CNAME).

Table – R1(SID, SNAME)

SID SNAME

S1 A

S2 B
 Table – R2(CID, CNAME)
Volume 0%

CID CNAME

C1 C

C2 D

When there cross product is done it resulted in multivalued dependencies:

Table – R1 X R2

SID SNAME CID CNAME

S1 A C1 C

S1 A C2 D

S2 B C1 C

S2 B C2 D

Multivalued dependencies (MVD) are:

SID->->CID; SID->->CNAME; SNAME->->CNAME
Joint dependency – Join decomposition is a further generalization of Multivalued
dependencies. If the join of R1 and R2 over C is equal to relation R then we can say
that a join
dependency (JD) exists, where R1 and R2 are the decomposition R1(A, B, C) and
R2(C, D) of a given relations R (A, B, C, D). Alternatively, R1 and R2 are a lossless
decomposition of R. A JD ⋈ {R1, R2, …, Rn} is said to hold over a relation R if R1,
R2, ….., Rn is a lossless-join decomposition. The *(A, B, C, D), (C, D) will be a JD of
R if the join of join’s attribute is equal to
the relation R. Here, *(R1, R2, R3) is used to indicate that relation R1, R2, R3 and so
on are a JD of R.
Let R is a relation schema R1, R2, R3……..Rn be the decomposition of R. r( R ) is
said to satisfy join dependency if and only if

Example –

Table – R1

COMPANY PRODUCT

C1 pendrive

C1 mic

C2 speaker

C2 speaker

Company->->Product

Table – R2

AGENT COMPANY

Aman C1

Aman C2

Mohan C1

Agent->->Company

Table – R3

AGENT PRODUCT
 Aman pendrive

Aman mic

Aman speaker

Mohan speaker

Agent->->Product

Table – R1⋈R2⋈R3

COMPANY PRODUCT AGENT

C1 pendrive Aman

C1 mic Aman

C2 speaker speaker

C1 speaker Aman

Agent->->Product

Fifth Normal Form / Projected Normal Form (5NF):

A relation R is in 5NF if and only if every join dependency in R is implied by the

candidate keys of R. A relation decomposed into two relations must have loss-less
join Property, which ensures that no spurious or extra tuples are generated, when
relations are reunited through a natural join.
Properties – A relation R is in 5NF if and only if it satisfies following conditions:
1. R should be already in 4NF.
2. It cannot be further non loss decomposed (join dependency)
Example – Consider the above schema, with a case as “if a company makes a
product and an agent is an agent for that company, then he always sells that product
for the company”. Under these circumstances, the ACP table is shown as:

Table – ACP
 AGENT COMPANY PRODUCT

A1 PQR Nut

A1 PQR Bolt

A1 XYZ Nut

A1 XYZ Bolt

A2 PQR Nut

The relation ACP is again decompose into 3 relations. Now, the natural Join of all the
three relations will be shown as:

Table – R1

AGENT COMPANY

A1 PQR

A1 XYZ

A2 PQR

Table – R2

AGENT PRODUCT

A1 Nut
 A1 Bolt

A2 Nut

Table – R3

COMPANY PRODUCT

PQR Nut

PQR Bolt

XYZ Nut

XYZ Bolt

Result of Natural Join of R1 and R3 over ‘Company’ and then Natural Join of R13
and R2 over ‘Agent’and ‘Product’ will be table ACP.
Hence, in this example, all the redundancies are eliminated, and the decomposition
of ACP is a lossless join decomposition. Therefore, the relation is in 5NF as it does
not violate the property of lossless join.

Summary

 Database designing is critical to the successful implementation of a

database management system that meets the data requirements of an
enterprise system.
 Normalization in DBMS helps produce database systems that are cost-
effective and have better security models.
 Functional dependencies are a very important component of the
normalize data process
 Most database systems are normalized database up to the third normal
forms.
 A primary key uniquely identifies are record in a Table and cannot be null
 A foreign key helps connect table and references a primary key