Relational Database Concept

• Dr E. F. Codd proposed the relational model for database systems in 1970

• It is the basis for the relational database management system(RDBMS).

• The relational model consists of the following:

o Collection of objects or relations

o Set of operators to act on the relations

o Data Integrity for accuracy and consistency

Relational Model
The principles of the relational model were first outlined by Dr. E.F. Codd in a Jume 1970 paper
called “A relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks”. In this paper, Dr. Codd
proposed the relational model for the database.

The more popular models used at the time were hierarchical and network, or even simple flat file
data structures. Relational database management systems soon became very popular especially
for their ease of use and flexibility in structure. In addition , a number of innovative vendors, such
as Oracle, supplemented the RDBMS with a suite of powerful application development and user
products, providing a total solution.

Components of the relational Model

• Collections of objects or relations that store the data

• A set of operators that can act on the relations to produce other relations

• Data integrity for accuracy and consistency

39822578.doc 1-8
 Definition of a Relational Database
A relational database is a collection of relations or two-dimensional tables.

Database

EMP DEPT
EMPNO ENAME DEPTNO DEPTNO DNAME LOC
7839 King 10 10 Accounting New York
7698 Blake 30 20 Research Dallas
7782 Clark 10 30 Sales Chicago
7566 Jones 20 40 Operations Boston

A relational database is a collection of relations or two-dimensional tables to store information.

For Example, you might want to store information about all the employees in your company. In a
relational database, you create several tables to store different pieces of information about your
employees, such as an employee table, a department table and a salary table

39822578.doc 2-8
 Relational Database Terminology
2 3 4

EMPNO ENAME JOB MGR HIREDATE SAL COMM DEPTNO

6
7839 KING PRESIDENT 17-NOV-81 5000 10
7698 BLAKE MANAGER 7839 11-MAY-81 2850 30
7782 CLARK MANAGER 7839 10-JUN-81 2450 10
7566 JONES MANAGER 7839 12-APR-81 2975 20
7654 MARTIN SALESMAN 7698 18-SEP-81 1250 30
7499 ALLENA SALESMAN 7698 10-FEB-81 1600 300 30
7544 TURNER SALESMAN 7698 18-SEP-81 1500 5 0 30
7900 JAMES CLERK 7698 03-DEC-81 950 30
7521 WARD SALESMAN 7698 22-FEB-81 1250 500 30
7902 FORD ANALYST 7566 03-DEC-81 3000 20
7369 SMITH CLERK 7902 17-DEC-80 800 20
7788 SCOTT ANALYST 7566 19-DEC-82 3000 20
7376 ADAMS CLERK 7788 12-JAN-83 1100 20
1 7934 MILLER CLERK 7782 23-JAN-82 1300 10

Terminology Used in a Relational Database

A relational database can contain one or many tables. A table is the basic storage structure of an
RDBMS. A table holds all the data necessary about something in the real world – for example
employees, invoices, customers.

The table shows the contents of the EMP table or relation. The numbers indicate the following:

1. A single row or representing all data required for a particular employee. Each row in a
table should be identified by a primary key, which allows no duplicate rows. The order of rows
is insignificant; specify the row order when the data is retrieved.

2. A column or attribute containing the employee number which is also the primary key. The
employee number identifies a unique employee in the EMP table. A primary key must contain
a value.

3. A column that is not a key value. A column represents one kind of data in a table; in the
example, the job title of all the employees. Column order is insignificant when storing data;
specify the column order when the data is retrieved.

4. A column containing the department number, which is also a foreign key. A foreign key is
a column that defines how tables relate to each other. A foreign key refers to a primary key or
a unique key in another table. In the example, DEPTNO uniquely identifies a department in
the DEPT table.

5. A field can be found at the intersection of a row and a column. There can be only one
value in it.

6. A field may have no value in it. This is called a null value. In the EMP table, only
employees who have a role of salesman have a value in the COMM (commission) field.

39822578.doc 3-8
 Relating Multiple Tables

• Each row of data in a table is uniquely identified by a primary key (PK).

• You can logically relate data from multiple tables using foreign keys (FK).

EMP DEPT
EMPNO ENAME DEPTNO DEPTNO DNAME LOC
7839 King 10 10 Accounting New York
7698 Blake 30 20 Research Dallas
7782 Clark 10 30 Sales Chicago
7566 Jones 20 40 Operations Boston

Each table contains data that describes exactly one entity. For example, the EMP table contains
information about employees. Categories of data are listed across the top of each table, and
individual cases are listed below. Using a table format, you can readily visualize, understand and
use information.

Because data about different entities is stored in different tables, you may need to combine two or
more tables to answer a particular question. For example, yon may need to know the location of
the department where an employee works. In this scenario, you need information from the EMP
table (which contains data about employees) and the DEPT table (which contains information
about departments). An RDBMS enables you to relate the data in one table to the data in another
by using foreign key. Foreign key is a column or a set of columns that refer to a primary key in the
same table or another table.

The ability to relate data in one table so data in another enables you to organize information in
separate, manageable units. Employee data can be kept logically distinct from department data
by storing it in a separate table.

Guidelines for Primary Keys and Foreign Keys

• No duplicate values are allowed in a primary key.

• Primary keys generally cannot be changed.
• Foreign keys are based on data values and are purely logical, not physical pointers.
• A foreign key value must match an existing primary key value or unique key value or else be
null.
• You cannot define foreign keys without existing primary (unique) keys.

39822578.doc 4-8
 Relational Database Properties

A relational database:

• Can be accessed and modified by executing structured query language

(SQL) statements

• Contains a collection of tables with no physical pointers

• Uses a set of operators

Properties of a Relational Database

In relational database, you do not specify the access route to the tables, and yon do not need to
know how data is arranged physically.

To access the database, you execute a structured query language (SQL) statement, which is the
American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standard language operating upon relational
databases. The language contains a large set of operators for partitioning and combining
relations. Database can be modified by using the SQL statements.

Structured Query Language

SQL allows you to communicate with the server and has the following advantages

• Efficient

• Easy to learn and use

• Functionally complete (SQL allows you to define, retrieve, and manipulate data in the
tables)

39822578.doc 5-8
 PL/SQL

PL/SQL is a technology employed by the Oracle Server and by certain Oracle tools. Blocks of
PL/SQL are passed to and processed by a PL/SQL engine, which may reside within the tool or
within the Oracle Server. The engine used depends on where the PL/SQL is being invoked.

When you submit PL/SQL blocks from a Pro* program, user-exit, SQL*Plus, or Server Manager,
the PL/SQL engine in the Oracle Server process them. It separates out the SQL statements and
sends them individually to the SQL statements executor.

A single transfer is required to send the block from the application to the Oracle Server, thus
improving performance, especially in a client-server network. PL/SQL code can also be
stored in the Oracle Server as Subprograms that can be referenced by any number of
applications connected to the database.

Tables Used in the Course

The following three tables will be used in this course:

• EMP table, which gives details of all the employees

• DEPT table, which gives details of all the departments

• SALGRADE table, which gives details of salaries for various grades

The structure and data for all the tables is as follows:

EMP Table

 Structure:

Name Null? Type

EMPNO NOT NULL NUMBER(4)

ENAME VARCHAR2 (10)
JOB VARCHAR2 (9)
MGR NUM3ER(4)
DATE DATE
SAL NUMBER(7,2)
COMM NUMBER(7,2)
DEPTNO NOT NULL NUMBER(2)

39822578.doc 6-8
 Data

EMPNO ENAME JOB MGR HIREDATE SAL COMM DEPTNO

7839 KING PRESIDENT 17-NOV-81 5000 10

7698 BLAKE MANAGER 7839 11-MAY-81 2850 30
7782 CLARK MANAGER 7839 10-JUN-81 2450 10
7566 JONES MANAGER 7839 12-APR-81 2975 20
7654 MARTIN SALESMAN 7698 18-SEP-81 1250 30
7499 ALLENA SALESMAN 7698 10-FEB-81 1600 300 30
7544 TURNER SALESMAN 7698 18-SEP-81 1500 0 30
7900 JAMES CLERK 7698 03-DEC-81 950 30
7521 WARD SALESMAN 7698 22-FEB-81 1250 500 30
7902 FORD ANALYST 7566 03-DEC-81 3000 20
7369 SMITH CLERK 7902 17-DEC-80 800 20
7788 SCOTT ANALYST 7566 19-DEC-82 3000 20
7376 ADAMS CLERK 7788 12-JAN-83 1100 20
7934 MILLER CLERK 7782 23-JAN-82 1300 10

DEPT Table

 Structure

Name Null? Type

DEPTNO NOT NULL NUMBER(2)

DNAME VARCHAR2(14)
LOC VARCHAR2(13)

 Data

DEPTNO DNAME LOC

10 ACCOUNTING NEW YORK

20 RESEARCH DALLAS
30 SALES CHICAGO
40 OPEBATIONS BOSTON

SALGRADE Table

 Structure

Name Null? Type

GRADE NUMBER
LOSAL NUMBER
HISAL NUMBER

 Data

GRADE LOSAL HISAL

1 700 1200
2 1201 1400
3 1401 2000
4 2001 3000

39822578.doc 7-8
 5 3001 9999

39822578.doc 8-8