ERM

Question 1

Entity

Answer 1

Object of interest to the end user

Question 2

Attribute

Answer 2

Characteristic of an entity

Question 3

Required Attribute

Answer 3

Must have a value

Question 4

Optional Attribute

Answer 4

Does not require a value

Question 5

Attribute Domain

Answer 5

Set of possible values for a given attribute

Question 6

Identifiers

Answer 6

One or more attributes that uniquely identify each entity instance.
aka Primary Keys

Question 7

Relational Schema

Answer 7

Shorthand notation for table structure

Question 8

Composite Identifier

Answer 8

A PK composed of one or more attribute(s)

Question 9

Participants

Answer 9

Entities that participate in a relationship.

STUDENT takes a CLASS

Question 10

Connectivity

Answer 10

Describes the relationship classification between entities

Question 11

Cardinality

Answer 11

Min and Max number of entity occurrences associated with one occurrence of the related entity. Shows as (x,y).
Enforced by the application software rather than by DBMS.

Question 12

Business Rules

Answer 12

Concise statements of the organization’s policies or procedures that form the data environment

Question 13

Relationship Degree

Answer 13

Number of entities associated with a relationship

Question 14

Iterative Process

Answer 14

Based on repetition of processes and procedures

Question 15

Design Standards

Answer 15

Standards that guide in developing logical structures that minimize data redundancies

Question 16

Processing Speed

Answer 16

Emphasizes fewer relationships to improve processing speed

Question 17

Information Requirements

Answer 17

Timely information / reporting needs could require sacrificing design standards and transaction processing speed