Chapter 6. Data Modeling

Software Development Life
Cycle
Chapter 6. Data Modeling
6-1
Chapter 6 Outline
 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD).

- Elements of ERD
- The Data Dictionary and Metadata
 Creating an Entity Relationship Diagram.
 Validating an ERD.
6-2
INTRODUCTION
 In this chapter, we discuss how the data are organized and

presented.
 A data model is a formal way of representing the data
that are used and created by a business system.
 During analysis (this Chapter), analysts draw a Logical
data model which shows the logical organization of data
without indicating how it is stored, created, or
manipulated.
 During design (Chapter 11), analysts draw a physical data
model to reflect how the data will physically be stored in
databases or files.
6-3
(cont’d)
 Topics of this chapter:

- Creating an entity relationship diagram (ERD).
- Normalization, a technique that helps analysts validate the
data models.
- How data models balance, or interrelate, with the process
models.
6-4
THE ENTITY-RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM (ERD)
 An entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is a picture showing the

information that is created, stored, and used by a business
system.
 Entities lists similar kinds of information
 Lines drawn between entities represent relationships among
the data.
 Special symbols communicate high-level business rules.
6-5
Reading an Entity Relationship Diagram
6-6
Elements of an Entity Relationship Diagram
6-7
Entity
 The entity is the basic building block for a data model. It is a

person, place, event, or thing about which data is collected.
 Entities represent something for which there exist multiple
instances, or occurrences.
- E.g., John Smith could be an instance of the
customer entity.
6-8
(cont’d)
6-9
Attributes
An attribute is some type of information that is

captured about an entity.
Attributes are nouns that are listed with an entity.
One or more attributes can serve as the entity
identifier - the attribute(s) that can uniquely
identify one instance of an entity.
Concatenated identifier - several attributes are
combined to uniquely identify an instance.
6-10
(cont’d)
Choices for Identifiers
6-11
Relationships
 Relationships are associations between entities.

 Every relationship has a parent entity and a child entity.
 Relationships should be labeled with active verbs.
6-12
Cardinality
 A relationship has cardinality which is the ratio of parent

instances to child instances.
 The 1:1 relationship means that one instance of the
parent entity is associated with one instance of the child
entity.
 The 1:N relationship means that a single instance of a
parent entity is associated with many instances of a child
entity.
 The M:N relationship means that many instances of a
parent entity can relate to many instances of a child
entity.
6-13
(cont’d)
Example of M:N Relationship
6-14
Modality
 A relationship has modality of null or not null, which

refers to whether or not an instance of a child entity
can exist without a related instance in the parent
entity.
 Null means that an instance of a child entity can exist
without a related instance in the parent entity.
 Not Null means that an instance of a child entity can’t
exist without a related instance in the parent entity.
6-15
The Data Dictionary and Metadata
 A data dictionary contains the information about the entities,

attributes, and relationships on the ERD, or metadata.
 Metadata is data about data.
 Metadata is stored in the data dictionary so it can be shared by
developers and users throughout the SDLC.
6-16
(cont’d)
Example of Data Dictionary Entry for Entity
6-17
(cont’d)
Example of Data Dictionary Entry for Attributes
6-18
(cont’d)
Example of Data Dictionary of Entry for Relationship
6-19
(cont’d)
Types of Metadata Captured by the Data Dictionary
6-20
CREATING AN ENTITY RELATIONSHIP
DIAGRAM (ERD)
 Drawing the ERD is an iterative process of trial and revision.
 The basic steps in building an ERD:
1. Identify the entities;
2. add the appropriate attributes to each entity; and
3. draw relationships among entities.
6-21
Step 1: Identify the Entities
 The entities should represent the major

categories of information that you need to store
in your system.
If you begin the data model using a use case,
look at the major inputs and outputs of the use
case.
If the process models are available, look at the
data stores, external entities, and data flows.
6-22
Step 2: Add Attributes and Assign Identifiers
 The information that describes each entity

becomes its attributes.
 Check in the CASE repository of the process model for details
on data flows and data stores.
 Check the data requirements of the requirements definition.
 Use requirements elicitation techniques (e.g., interview and

document analysis).
 One or more of the attributes will become the
entity’s identifier.
6-23
Step3: Identify Relationships
 The last step in creating ERDs is to determine how the entities

are related to each other.
 Lines are drawn between the entities that have relationships.
 Each relationship is labeled, and cardinality and modality are
assigned.
6-24
Advanced Syntax
 Three special types of entities:

 Independent Entity
 Can exist without the help of another entity.
 The identifiers is created from the entity’s own
attributes.
 Attributes from other entities are not needed to
uniquely identify instances of these entities.
6-25
(cont’d)
Dependent Entity
There are situations when a child entity does
require attributes from the parent entity to
uniquely identify an instance. In these cases, the
child entity is called a dependent entity, and its
identifier consists of at least one attributes from
the parent entity.
(E.g., the Chemical Request entity in Figure 6.1).
6-26
(cont’d)
 Intersection Entity
It exists in order to capture some
information about the relationship between
two other entities. Typically, intersection
entities are added to a data model to store
information about two entities sharing an
M : N relationship.
6-27
(cont’d)
 There are three steps involved in adding an intersection entity:

Step 1. Remove the M:N relationship line and insert a new entity
(intersection entity) in between the two existing ones.
Step 2. Add two 1:N relationships to the model.
Step 3. Name the intersection entity.
6-28
(cont’d)
Resolving an M:N Relationship
6-29
VALIDATING AN ERD
 General design guidelines.

 Normalization.
 Check the ERD against the process models to make sure that
both model balance each other.
6-30
Design Guidelines
6-31
Normalization
 Normalization is a technique that can help analysts validate the

data models.
 It is a process whereby a series of rules are applied to a logical
data model to determine how well formed it is.
6-32
(cont’d)
Normalization Steps
6-33
Balancing ERDs with DFDs
The process models and data models are interrelated.

Although the process model focuses on the business
processes, it contains two data components – the data and
the data store.
These two data components of the DFDs need to balance
with the ERDs.
The DFD data components need to correspond with the
ERD’s data stores (i.e., entities) and the data elements that
comprise the data flows (i.e., attributes) depicted on the
data model.
6-34
(cont’d)
 Many CASE tools provide features of identifying problems

with balance between DFDs and ERDs; however, it is
important to understand how to identify problems on
your own.
 Check your DFDs and ERDs to make sure all data
components correspond between DFDs and ERDs.
 A useful tools to clearly depict the interrelationship
between process and data models is the CRUD matrix
(create, read, update, delete matrix).
6-35
(cont’d)
A Portion of a DFD and the CRUD Matrix
6-36
SUMMARY
 Basic Entity Relationship Diagram Syntax

- Entity describes people, places, or things.
- Attribute is some type of information about the entity.
- Relationship conveys the associations between entities.
 Creating an ERD
- Identify the entities.
- Add the attributes to each entity.
- Draw relationships among entities.
 Validating an ERD
- Normalization
- CRUD matrix
6-37

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What is an entity relationship diagram (ERD) and what are its main components?

What is an entity relationship diagram (ERD) and what are its main components?

What are the different types of relationships that can exist between entities?

What are the different types of relationships that can exist between entities?

Software Development Life

Chapter 6. Data Modeling

 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD).

 In this chapter, we discuss how the data are organized and

 Topics of this chapter:

 An entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is a picture showing the

 The entity is the basic building block for a data model. It is a

An attribute is some type of information that is

Choices for Identifiers

 Relationships are associations between entities.

 A relationship has cardinality which is the ratio of parent

Example of M:N Relationship

 A relationship has modality of null or not null, which

 A data dictionary contains the information about the entities,

Example of Data Dictionary Entry for Entity

Example of Data Dictionary Entry for Attributes

Example of Data Dictionary of Entry for Relationship

Types of Metadata Captured by the Data Dictionary

 The entities should represent the major

 The information that describes each entity

 Use requirements elicitation techniques (e.g., interview and

 The last step in creating ERDs is to determine how the entities

 Three special types of entities:

 There are three steps involved in adding an intersection entity:

Resolving an M:N Relationship

 General design guidelines.

 Normalization is a technique that can help analysts validate the

The process models and data models are interrelated.

 Many CASE tools provide features of identifying problems

A Portion of a DFD and the CRUD Matrix

 Basic Entity Relationship Diagram Syntax

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