5.CSI2004-ADBMS_Module1__EER2
5.CSI2004-ADBMS_Module1__EER2
Management Systems
Extended E-R Model
Extended E-R Features
Extended ER is a high-level data model that
incorporates the extensions to the original ER
model.
Enhanced ER models are high level models
that represent the requirements and
complexities of complex databases.
The extended E-R features are
Specialization
Generalization
Aggregation
Specialization
Top-down design process: The process of designating
subgroupings within an entity set is called
specialization.
These subgroupings become lower-level entity sets that
have attributes or participate in relationships that do not
apply to the higher-level entity set.
Depicted by a triangle component labeled ISA (E.g.
customer “is a” person).
The ISA relationship also referred to as superclass -
subclass relationship
Attribute inheritance – a lower-level entity set inherits
all the attributes and relationship participation of the
higher-level entity set to which it is linked.
Specialization Example
Specialization Example
• In terms of an E-R
diagram, specialization is
depicted by a hollow
arrow-head pointing
from the specialized entity
to other entity
• We refer to this
relationship as the ISA
relationship, which stands
for “is a” and represents,
for example, that an
instructor “is a”
employee
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Specialization Example
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Specialization Example
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Specialization Example
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Representing Specialization via
Schemas
Method 1:
Form a schema for the higher-level entity
Form a schema for each lower-level entity set, include
primary key of higher-level entity set and local attributes
schema attributes
person ID, name, street, city
student ID, tot_cred
employee ID, salary
schema attributes
person ID, name, street, city
student ID, name, street, city, tot_cred
employee ID, name, street, city, salary
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Generalization
• The database designer may have first identified:
• instructor entity set with attributes instructor id,
instructor name, instructor salary, and rank.
• secretary entity set with attributes secretary id,
secretary name, secretary salary, and hours per week.
• There are similarities between the instructor entity set
and the secretary entity set in the sense that they have
several attributes that are conceptually the same across
the two entity sets: namely, the identifier, name, and
salary attributes.
• This commonality can be expressed by generalization,
which is a containment relationship that exists between a
higher-level entity set and one or more lower-level entity
sets.
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Generalization
Design Constraints on a
Specialization/Generalization
Disjointness Constraint:
Specifies that the subclasses of the
specialization must be disjoint:
an entity can be a member of at most one of
the subclasses of the specialization
Specified by d in EER diagram
If not disjoint, specialization is overlapping:
that is the same entity may be a member of
more than one subclass of the specialization
Specified by o in EER diagram
Design Constraints on a
Specialization/Generalization
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Design Constraints on a
Specialization/Generalization
Completeness Constraint:
Total specifies that every entity in the
superclass must be a member of some subclass
in the specialization/generalization
Shown in EER diagrams by a double line
Partial allows an entity not to belong to any
of the subclasses
Shown in EER diagrams by a single line
Design Constraints on a
Specialization/Generalization
Partial generalization is the default. We can specify total
generalization in an ER diagram by adding the keyword
total in the diagram and drawing a dashed line from the
keyword to the corresponding hollow arrow-head to
which it applies (for a total generalization), or to the set of
hollow arrow-heads to which it applies (for an
overlapping generalization).
The student generalization is total: All student entities
must be either graduate or undergraduate. Because the
higher-level entity set arrived at through generalization is
generally composed of only those entities in the lower-
level entity sets, the completeness constraint for a
generalized higher-level entity set is usually total
Design Constraints on a
Specialization/Generalization
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Aggregation
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Alternative ER Notations
Alternative ER Notations
Chen IDE1FX
(Crows feet notation)
Example
Example:
Subclasses and Superclasses