CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

The Enhanced ER
(EER) Model
Chapter 8

Fall 2014

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System
Concepts (5/6) (Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ),
Database Systems: Complete Book (Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases

Rice University Data Center

Announcements
Assignment 2 is due on Nov 7
Midterm 2 is on Nov 12

Mid-semester survey (extended to Nov 5)

Start: what would you like me to start doing to help you excel in the
course?
Stop: what would you like me to stop doing that is not helping you
learn?
Continue: what am I doing that is helping you learn? I will try to do
more of it.

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Enhanced Entity-Relationship (EER) Model

ER model concepts are sufficient for representing
many database schemas for traditional database
applications

However, designers of database applications have

tried to design more accurate database schemas that
reflect the data properties and constraints more
precisely
This was particularly important for newer
applications of database technology

Engineering design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM)

Telecommunications
Complex software systems
Geographic information systems (GIS)

Enhanced Entity-Relationship (EER) Model

These types of databases have more complex requirements
than traditional applications
This has led to the development of additional semantic data
modeling concepts that were incorporated into conceptual
data models such as the ER model
In this chapter, we describe features that have been proposed
for semantic data model
Can enhance ER model to include these concepts
This has led to the creation of the Enhanced ER (EER) model
7

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Outline
EER model includes all the modeling concepts of ER that
were presented on Lecture 13
In addition, it includes concepts of subclass and
superclass
It also includes related concepts of specialization and
generalization
Constraints and Characteristics

Another concept included in the EER model is that of a

category or union type used to represent a collection of
objects (entities)
Union of different entity types

Subclasses, Superclasses and Inheritance

First concept: subtype or subclass
Earlier we discussed that an entity type is used to represent
both a type of entity and the entity set or collection of
entities of that type that exist on the database
Example
EMPLOYEE describes the type (that is attributes and
relationships) of each employee entity, and also refers to the
current set of EMPLOYEE entities in the COMPANY
database

In many cases, an entity type has numerous

subgroupings or subtypes of its entities that are
meaningful and need to be represented explicitly
These subtypes are significant to the database application
9

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Subclasses, Superclasses and Inheritance

Example: EMPLOYEE entity type may be distinguished further
into

EMPLOYEE entity type is called

SECRETARY
ENGINEER
TECHNICIAN
MANAGER
SALARIED_EMPLOYEE
HOURLY_EMPLOYEE

superclass or supertype
.
.
.
Each of these subgroupings is

subclass or subtype

Each subclass is a subset of entities that belong to the

EMPLOYEE entity set (every entity that is a member of one of
these subgroupings is also an employee)
10

Subclasses, Superclasses and Inheritance

We will call the relationship between a superclass and any one
of its subclasses a
superclass/subclass
supertype/subtype or
class/subclass relationship

These are also called IS-A relationships

SECRETARY IS-A EMPLOYEE,
TECHNICIAN IS-A EMPLOYEE, .

Example: EMPLOYEE/SECRETARY and

EMPLOYEE/TECHNICIAN are two class/subclass
relationships
Remember: a member entity of the subclass represents the
same real-world entity as some member of the superclass
That is, a SECRETARY entity Joan Logano is also the
EMPLOYEE Joan Logano
Subclass member is the same as the entity in the superclass, but
in a distinct specific role

11

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Subclasses, Superclasses and Inheritance

Type inheritance
The type of an entity is defined by the attributes it possess
and the relationship types in which it participates
Since an entity in the subclass represents the same realworld entity from the superclass, it should possess values
for its specific attributes as well as values of its attributes as a
member of the superclass
An entity that is a member of a subclass inherits
all the attributes of the entity as a member of the superclass
all the relationships in which the superclass participates
12

Subclasses, Superclasses and Inheritance

An Entity CANNOT exist in the database merely by
being a member of a subclass; it must also be a
member of the superclass

A member of the superclass can be optionally

included as a member of any number of its
subclasses

13

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Subclasses and Superclasses Example

A salaried employee who is also an engineer belongs to
the two subclasses:
ENGINEER, and
SALARIED_EMPLOYEE

A salaried employee who is also an engineering

manager belongs to the three subclasses:
MANAGER,
ENGINEER, and
SALARIED_EMPLOYEE

It is not necessary that every entity in a superclass

be a member of some subclass

14

Specialization
Specialization is the process of defining a set of
subclasses of an entity type
The set of subclasses that forms a specialization is defined
on the basis of some distinguishing characteristic of the
entities in the superclass

We may have several specializations of the same

entity type based on different characteristics
Example:
{SECRETARY, ENGINEER, TECHNICIAN} is a specialization of the
superclass EMPLOYEE that distinguishes among employee entities
based on the job type
{SALARIED_EMPLOYEE, HOURLY_EMPLOYEE} is another
specialization that distinguishes among employees entities based on
the method of pay
15

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Specialization (Top-Down)
The subset symbol on each
line connecting a subclass to
the
circle
indicates
the
direction of the superclass /
subclass relationship
Subclass can define:
Specific attributes
Specific relationship types

specific or
local attributes

specific
relationship
type

16

Specialization (Top-Down)

An entity
represents
connected
superclass
twice)

that belongs to a subclass

the same real-world entity
to it in the EMPLOYEE
(even though it is shown

17

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Specialization (Top-Down)
Why include class/subclass relationships and
specialization in a data model?
1. Certain attributes may apply to some but not all
entities of the superclass
Example: SECRETARY subclass has local attribute Typing_speed
where an ENGINEER has Eng_type

2. Some relationship types may be participated in only by

entities that are members of the subclass
Example: HOURLY_EMPLOYEE can belong to a trade union via
the BELONGS_TO relationship type

18

Specialization (Top-Down)
In summary, the specialization process
allows us to do the following:
Define a set of subclasses of an entity type
Establish additional specific attributes with each
subclass
Establish additional specific relationship types

between each subclass and other entity types or

other subclasses
19

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Generalization (Bottom Up)

We can think of a reverse process of abstraction in
which
we suppress the differences among several entity types,
identify their common features, and
generalize them into a single superclass

Generalization is functionally the inverse of the

specialization process
Generalization is the process of defining a more
general entity type from given entity types
20

Generalization (Bottom Up)

Example
{CAR, TRUCK} can be viewed as a specialization of VEHICLE, rather
than viewing VEHICLE as a generalization of CAR and TRUCK
We can view EMPLOYEE as a generalization of SECRETARY,
TECHNICIAN, and ENGINEER

21

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

In some specializations, we can determine exactly the entities that
will become members of each subclass by placing a condition on
the value of some attribute of the superclass
These subclasses are called predicate-defined (or condition-defined)
subclasses

Example: EMPLOYEE entity type has an attribute Job_type, we

can then specify the condition of membership in the SECRETARY
subclass by the condition (Job_type = Secretary) we call this
defining predicate of the subclass
This condition is a constraint specifying that exactly those entities of the
EMPLOYEE entity type whose attribute value for Job_type is Secretary
belong to the subclass
Predicate condition is place next to the line that connects the subclass to
the specialization circle
22

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

Attribute-defined specialization:
If all subclasses in a specialization have their membership
condition on the same attribute of the superclass, the
specialization is called an attribute-defined specialization
The attribute is called the defining attribute of the
specialization

We display an attribute-defined specialization by

placing the defining attribute name next to the arc
from the circle to the superclass
User-Defined subclass: when we do not have a condition for
determining membership in a class
23

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

10

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

Two other constraints may apply to a
specialization
Disjointness (or disjointedness) constraint
Completeness (or totalness) constraint

24

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

Two other constraints may apply to a specialization
1. Disjointness (or disjointedness) constraint
Specifies that the subclasses of the specialization must be
disjoint
That is, an entity can be a member of at most one of the
subclasses of the specialization
Specified in EER diagram by d in the circle
If the subclasses are not constrained to be disjoint, their sets of
entities may be overlapping
The same real-world entity may be member of more than one
subclass of the specialization
This case, which is the default, is displayed by placing an o in the
circle
25

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

11

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

Two other constraints may apply to a specialization
2. Completeness (or totalness) constraint
Total specialization: specifies that every entity in the superclass
must be a member of at least one subclass in the specialization
On EER diagram: use double line to connect superclass to the circle
Example: if every EMPLOYEE must be either an
HOURLY_EMPLOYEE or a SALARIED_EMPLOYEE

Partial specialization: allows an entity not to belong to any of

the subclasses
On EER diagram: use single line to connect superclass to the circle
Example: if some EMPLOYEE entities do not belong to any of the
subclasses {SECRETARY, ENGINEER, TECHNICIAN}
26

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

27

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

12

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

In general, a superclass that was identified through the generalization

process is usually total, because the superclass is derived from the
subclasses and hence contains only the entities that are in the subclass
28

Constraints on Specialization and Generalization

Hence, we have four types of

specialization/generalization:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Disjoint, total
Disjoint, partial
Overlapping, total
Overlapping, partial

29

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

13

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Specialization/Generalization Hierarchies, Lattices

A subclass may itself have further subclasses specified on
it, forming a hierarchy or a lattice of specializations
Specialization hierarchy has a constraint that every
subclass has only one superclass (called single
inheritance); this is basically a tree structure or strict
hierarchy
In a specialization lattice, a subclass can be subclass of
more than one superclass (called multiple inheritance)
31

Specialization/Generalization Hierarchies, Lattices

32

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

14

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Specialization/Generalization Hierarchies, Lattices

Leaf node is a class that has no subclasses of its
own
A shared subclass is subclass in more than one
distinct superclass/subclass relationships, where
each relationships has a single superclass
(multiple inheritance)

Notice that the existence of at least one shared

subclass leads to a lattice, otherwise, its a
hierarchy
33

Specialization/Generalization Hierarchies, Lattices

34

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

15

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Category (UNION TYPE)

All of the superclass/subclass relationships we have seen so
far have a single superclass
In some cases, we need to model a single superclass/subclass
relationship with more than one superclass
Such a subclass is called a category or UNION TYPE

Example: Database for vehicle registration, vehicle owner

can be a person, a bank (holding a lien on a vehicle) or a
company
Category (subclass) OWNER is a subset of the union of the three super
classes COMPANY, BANK and PERSON
A category member must exist in at least one its super classes
35

Category (UNION TYPE)

36

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

16

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Category (UNION TYPE)

Comparison with Shared Subclass
We can compare a UNION TYPE (OWNER) with
shared subclass (ENGINEERING_MANAGER)
The latte is a subclass of each of the three
superclasses ENGINEER, MANAGER and
SALARIED_EMPLOYEE
So, an entity that is a member of
ENGINEERING_MANAGER must exist in all three (e.g. an
engineering manager must be an ENGINEER, a
MANAGER, and a SALARIED_EMPLOYEE)

However, a category is a subset of the union of its

superclasses. That is, an entity that is a member of
OWNER must exist in only one of the superclasses
37

Category (UNION TYPE)

Shared Subclass ENGINEERING_MANAGER

38

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

17

CS 338: Computer Applications in Business: Databases (Fall 2014)

Category (UNION TYPE)

Attribute inheritance works more selectively in the case of
union type or category.
Can be total or partial

For example, OWNER entity inherits attributes of a

COMPANY, a PERSON OR a BANK
A shared subclass such as ENGINEERING_MANAGER
inherits ALL the attributes of its superclasses
Some modeling methodologies do not have union types

39

EER
Example

40

1992-2014 by Addison Wesley & Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning

Slides adapted and modified from Fundamentals of Database Systems (5/6) (Elmasri et al.), Database System Concepts (5/6)
(Silberschatz et al.), Database Systems (Coronel et al.), Database Systems (4/5) (Connolly et al. ), Database Systems: Complete Book
(Garcia-Molina et al.)

18