Lecture 4

Normalization
Purpose of Normalization

Normalization is a technique for producing a

set of suitable relations that support the data
requirements of an enterprise.

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Purpose of Normalization
Characteristics of a suitable set of relations
include:
– the minimal number of attributes necessary
to support the data requirements of the
enterprise;
– attributes with a close logical relationship
are found in the same relation;
– minimal redundancy with each attribute
represented only once with the important
exception of attributes that form all or part
of foreign keys.
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Purpose of Normalization

The benefits of using a database that has a

suitable set of relations is that the database will
be:
– easier for the user to access and maintain the
data.
– take up minimal storage space on the
computer.

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How Normalization Supports Database
Design

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies

Major aim of relational database design is to

group attributes into relations to minimize data
redundancy.

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies

Potential benefits for implemented

database include:
– Updates to the data stored in the database
are achieved with a minimal number of
operations thus reducing the opportunities
for data inconsistencies.
– Reduction in the file storage space required
by the base relations thus minimizing costs.

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies

Problems associated with data redundancy are

illustrated by comparing the Staff and Branch
relations with the StaffBranch relation.

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies
StaffBranch relation has redundant data; the
details of a branch are repeated for every
member of staff.

In contrast, the branch information appears

only once for each branch in the Branch
relation and only the branch number
(branchNo) is repeated in the Staff relation, to
represent where each member of staff is
located.

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Data Redundancy and Update Anomalies

Relations that contain redundant information

may potentially suffer from update anomalies.

Types of update anomalies include

– Insertion
– Deletion
– Modification

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Lossless-join and Dependency Preservation
Properties

Two important properties of decomposition.

– Lossless-join property enables us to find any
instance of the original relation from
corresponding instances in the smaller
relations.
– Dependency preservation property enables us
to enforce a constraint on the original
relation by enforcing some constraint on
each of the smaller relations.

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Functional Dependencies

Important concept associated with

normalization.

Functional dependency describes relationship

between attributes.

For example, if A and B are attributes of

relation R, B is functionally dependent on A
(denoted A → B), if each value of A in R is
associated with exactly one value of B in R.
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Characteristics of Functional Dependencies
Property of the meaning or semantics of the
attributes in a relation.

Diagrammatic representation.

The determinant of a functional dependency

refers to the attribute or group of attributes on
the left-hand side of the arrow.
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An Example Functional Dependency

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Example Functional Dependency that holds
for all Time
Consider the values shown in staffNo and
sName attributes of the Staff relation (Slide 9).

Based on sample data, the following functional

dependencies appear to hold.

staffNo → sName
sName → staffNo

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Example Functional Dependency that holds
for all Time

However, the only functional dependency that

remains true for all possible values for the
staffNo and sName attributes of the Staff
relation is:

staffNo → sName

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Characteristics of Functional Dependencies

Determinants should have the minimal

number of attributes necessary to
maintain the functional dependency with
the attribute(s) on the right hand-side.

This requirement is called full functional

dependency.

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Characteristics of Functional Dependencies

Full functional dependency indicates that

if A and B are attributes of a relation, B
is fully functionally dependent on A, if B
is functionally dependent on A, but not
on any proper subset of A.

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Example Full Functional Dependency
Exists in the Staff relation (see Slide 9).

staffNo, sName → branchNo

True - each value of (staffNo, sName) is

associated with a single value of branchNo.

However, branchNo is also functionally

dependent on a subset of (staffNo, sName),
namely staffNo. Example above is a partial
dependency. 20
Characteristics of Functional Dependencies
Main characteristics of functional
dependencies used in normalization:
– There is a one-to-one relationship between
the attribute(s) on the left-hand side
(determinant) and those on the right-hand
side of a functional dependency.
– Holds for all time.
– The determinant has the minimal number of
attributes necessary to maintain the
dependency with the attribute(s) on the
right hand-side.
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Transitive Dependencies
Important to recognize a transitive dependency
because its existence in a relation can
potentially cause update anomalies.

Transitive dependency describes a condition

where A, B, and C are attributes of a relation
such that if A → B and B → C, then C is
transitively dependent on A via B (provided
that A is not functionally dependent on B or C).

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Example Transitive Dependency
Consider functional dependencies in the
StaffBranch relation (see Slide 9).

staffNo → sName, position, salary, branchNo,

bAddress
branchNo → bAddress

Transitive dependency, branchNo → bAddress

exists on staffNo via branchNo.

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The Process of Normalization

Formal technique for analyzing a relation

based on its primary key and the functional
dependencies between the attributes of that
relation.

Often executed as a series of steps. Each step

corresponds to a specific normal form, which
has known properties.

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Identifying Functional Dependencies
Identifying all functional dependencies
between a set of attributes is relatively simple if
the meaning of each attribute and the
relationships between the attributes are well
understood.

This information should be provided by the

enterprise in the form of discussions with users
and/or documentation such as the users’
requirements specification.

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Identifying Functional Dependencies

However, if the users are unavailable for

consultation and/or the documentation is
incomplete then depending on the database
application it may be necessary for the
database designer to use their common sense
and/or experience to provide the missing
information.

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Example - Identifying a set of functional
dependencies for the StaffBranch relation

Examine semantics of attributes in

StaffBranch relation (see Slide 9). Assume that
position held and branch determine a member
of staff’s salary.

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Example - Identifying a set of functional
dependencies for the StaffBranch relation

With sufficient information available, identify

the functional dependencies for the
StaffBranch relation as:

staffNo → sName, position, salary, branchNo,

bAddress
branchNo → bAddress
bAddress → branchNo
branchNo, position → salary
bAddress, position → salary 28
Example - Using sample data to identify
functional dependencies.
Consider the data for attributes denoted A, B,
C, D, and E in the Sample relation.

Important to establish that sample data values

shown in relation are representative of all
possible values that can be held by attributes
A, B, C, D, and E. Assume true despite the
relatively small amount of data shown in this
relation.

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Example - Using sample data to identify
functional dependencies.

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Example - Using sample data to identify
functional dependencies.

Function dependencies between attributes A to

E in the Sample relation.

A→C (fd1)
C→A (fd2)
B →D (fd3)
A, B → E (fd4)

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Identifying the Primary Key for a Relation
using Functional Dependencies

Main purpose of identifying a set of functional

dependencies for a relation is to specify the set
of integrity constraints that must hold on a
relation.

An important integrity constraint to consider

first is the identification of candidate keys, one
of which is selected to be the primary key for
the relation.

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Example - Identify Primary Key for
StaffBranch Relation

StaffBranch relation has five functional

dependencies.

The determinants are staffNo, branchNo,

bAddress, (branchNo, position), and
(bAddress, position).

To identify all candidate key(s), identify the

attribute (or group of attributes) that uniquely
identifies each tuple in this relation.
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Example - Identifying Primary Key for
StaffBranch Relation

All attributes that are not part of a candidate

key should be functionally dependent on the
key.

The only candidate key and therefore primary

key for StaffBranch relation, is staffNo, as all
other attributes of the relation are functionally
dependent on staffNo.

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Example - Identifying Primary Key for
Sample Relation
Sample relation has four functional
dependencies.

The determinants in the Sample relation are A,

B, C, and (A, B). However, the only
determinant that functionally determines all
the other attributes of the relation is (A, B).

(A, B) is identified as the primary key for this

relation.
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The Process of Normalization

As normalization proceeds, the relations

become progressively more restricted
(stronger) in format and also less vulnerable to
update anomalies.

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The Process of Normalization

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The Process of Normalization

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Unnormalized Form (UNF)

A table that contains one or more repeating

groups.

To create an unnormalized table

– Transform the data from the information
source (e.g. form) into table format with
columns and rows.

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First Normal Form (1NF)

A relation in which the intersection of each row

and column contains one and only one value.

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UNF to 1NF

Nominate an attribute or group of attributes to

act as the key for the unnormalized table.

Identify the repeating group(s) in the

unnormalized table which repeats for the key
attribute(s).

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UNF to 1NF

Remove the repeating group by

– Entering appropriate data into the empty
columns of rows containing the repeating
data (‘flattening’ the table).
– Or by
– Placing the repeating data along with a copy
of the original key attribute(s) into a
separate relation.

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Second Normal Form (2NF)

Based on the concept of full functional

dependency.

Full functional dependency indicates that if

– A and B are attributes of a relation,
– B is fully dependent on A if B is functionally
dependent on A but not on any proper
subset of A.

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Second Normal Form (2NF)

A relation that is in 1NF and every non-

primary-key attribute is fully functionally
dependent on the primary key.

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1NF to 2NF

Identify the primary key for the 1NF relation.

Identify the functional dependencies in the

relation.

If partial dependencies exist on the primary

key remove them by placing them in a new
relation along with a copy of their determinant.

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Third Normal Form (3NF)

Based on the concept of transitive dependency.

Transitive Dependency is a condition where

– A, B and C are attributes of a relation such that
if A → B and B → C,
– then C is transitively dependent on A through
B. (Provided that A is not functionally
dependent on B or C).

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Third Normal Form (3NF)

A relation that is in 1NF and 2NF and in which

no non-primary-key attribute is transitively
dependent on the primary key.

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2NF to 3NF

Identify the primary key in the 2NF relation.

Identify functional dependencies in the

relation.

If transitive dependencies exist on the primary

key remove them by placing them in a new
relation along with a copy of their dominant.

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General Definitions of 2NF and 3NF
Second normal form (2NF)
– A relation that is in first normal form and
every non-primary-key attribute is fully
functionally dependent on any candidate key.

Third normal form (3NF)

– A relation that is in first and second normal
form and in which no non-primary-key
attribute is transitively dependent on any
candidate key.
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