Unit II

Structure of Relational Databases

 Types of keys
Key plays an important role in relational database; it
is used for identifying unique rows from table. It
also establishes relationship among tables.
There are various types of keys used in RDBMS.
• Primary Key
• Super Key
• Candidate Key
• Alternate Key
• Composite Key
• Foreign Key
 Primary Key
A primary is a column or set of columns
in a table that uniquely identifies tuples
(rows) in that table.
 Points to think
• The value of primary key should be unique
for each row of the table. Primary key
column cannot contain duplicate values.
• Primary key column should not contain
nulls.
• Primary keys are not necessarily to be a
single column; more than one column can
also be a primary key for a table. For
e.g. {Stu_Id, Stu_Name}collectively can
play a role of primary key
 properties
• Stable: The value of a primary key must not change or should not become
null Through out the life of an entity. A stable primary key helps to keep the
model stable.
For example: if we consider a patient record, the value for the primary key
(Patientnumber) must not change with time as would happen with the age
field.
• Minimal: The primary key should be composed of the minimum number of
fields that ensures the occurrences are unique.
• Definitive: A value must exist for every record at creation time. Because an
entity occurrence cannot be substantiated unless the primary key value also
exists.
• Accessible: Anyone who wants to create, read or delete a record must be
able to see the Primary key value.
 example
CustomerNo FirstName LastName
1 Sally Thompson
2 Sally Henderson
3 Harry Henderson
4 Sandra Wellington

CustomerNo is the primary key.

 Foreign key
• Foreign keys are the columns of a table that
points to the primary key of another table.
They act as a cross-reference between
tables.
• A foreign key means that values in one table
must also appear in another table.
• The referenced table is called the parent
table while the table with the foreign key is
called the child table. The foreign key in the
child table will generally reference a
primary key in the parent table.
 Candidate key
The minimal set of attribute which can uniquely identify
a tuple is known as candidate key. For Example,
STUD_NO in STUDENT relation.
• The value of Candidate Key is unique and non-null for
every tuple.
• There can be more than one candidate key in a relation.
For Example, STUD_NO as well as STUD_PHONE both are
candidate keys for relation STUDENT.
• The candidate key can be simple (having only one
attribute) or composite as well. For Example, {STUD_NO,
COURSE_NO} is a composite candidate key for relation
STUDENT_COURSE.
SSecurityNo EmployeeNo FirstName LastName DateOfBirth DateEmployed

AF-23432334 1 Manny Tomanny 12 Apr 1966 01 May 1999

DQ-65444444 2 Rosanne Kolumns 21 Mar 1977 01 Jan 2000

GF-54354543 3 Cas Kade 01 May 1977 01 Apr 2002

JK-34333432 4 Norma Lyzation 03 Apr 1966 01 Apr 2002

VB-48565444 5 Juan Tomani 12 Apr 1966 01 Apr 2002

FG-23566553 6 Del Eats 01 May 1967 01 May 2004

 Super key
• The set of attributes which can
uniquely identify a tuple is known as
Super Key. For Example, STUD_NO,
(STUD_NO, STUD_NAME ) etc.
• Adding zero or more attributes to
candidate key generates super key.
• A candidate key is a super key but
vice versa is not true.
 Alternate key
• The candidate key other than primary key
is called as alternate key. For Example,
STUD_NO as well as STUD_PHONE both
are candidate keys for relation STUDENT
but STUD_PHONE will be alternate key
(only one out of many candidate keys).

Candidate key
PK
Alternate keys
 Super Key

• A superkey is either a single or a combination of

attributes that can be used to uniquely identify a
database record. A table might have many
combinations that create superkeys.
Rules
• Every CK is a super key.
• Every SK can’t be a CK.
• Minimal SK is the CK.
• Super key=CK +Zero or More Attributes
 example
Eid Name Salary
1 Alex 40,000
2 Carel 50,000
3 Alex 40,000
4 Null 50,000
 Composite key
• A key that consists of more than one attribute
to uniquely identify rows (also known as
records & tuples) in a table is called composite
key. It is also known as compound key.
cust_Id order_Id product_code product_count

C01 O001 P007 23

C02 O123 P007 19

C02 O123 P230 82

C01 O001 P890 42

 views
View is the simply subset of table which are stored
logically in a database means a view is a virtual table
in the database whose contents are defined by a
query.

Views are used for security purpose in databases,

views restricts the user from viewing certain column
and rows means by using view we can apply the
restriction on accessing the particular rows and
columns for specific user.

A view can be read only view- insertion and updation

is not allowed.
Database views are created using
the CREATE VIEW statement. Views
can be created from a single table,
multiple tables or another view.