ACG 3401 – EXAM 3 REVIEW STUDY GUIDE
These topics are a guide to study for the exam. Topics outside the ones listed here may be tested in the exam.
Chapter 3
• UML Diagrams
o Specifications for UML maintained by the Object Management Group, a not-for-profit
consortium of computer industry members.
o Building blocks: Classes (separately identifiable collections of things about which the
organization wants to collect and store information), Associations (depict the relationships
between two classes), Multiplicities (describe the minimum and maximum number of times
instances of one class can be associated with instances in another class)
• UML Class Models for Relational Database
o Generalization Relationships: allow grouping of things that share common characteristics. It
can reduce redundancy since the shared characteristics are in the grouped class. (ex: general
auto characteristics would be in the Auto class/table and specific characteristics if sports cars,
for ex. would be in the Sports Car class/table.
o Aggregation Relationships: describe classes that are usually connected, such as players on a
team. However, players could exist separately.
o Composition Relationships: describe classes that are connected, such as chapters in a book. in
this case, chapters could not exist separately.
o Map Classes to Tables – first step.
o step 2. Map class attributes to table fields and assign primary keys
o step 3. Map associations to foreign keys – the maximum multiplicities on each side of an
association determine the foreign key placement (a one-to-many relationship occurs when
the maximum multiplicity on each side of the association is 1, and, in general, one-to-one
relationships will also be implemented with a foreign key. )
▪ foreign key is posted toward the “many” side of the association
, o step 4. create new tables to implement many-to-many relationships
o step 5. implement relationships among tables.
Chapter 4
• Fundamentals of Relational Databases: Primary keys, foreign keys, linking tables, multiplicities,
normalization
o Primary Key (PK)- attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies a specific row
in a table.
o Foreign Key (FK) – attribute in one table that is a primary key in another table.
o Entity integrity rule – primary key of a table must have data values (cannot be null)
o referential integrity rule – data value for a foreign key must either be null or match one of the
data values that already exist in the corresponding table.
o Linking Table – Create for many-to-many relationships
o Multiplicities – Minimums (can one record in A exist without a corresponding record in B?) &
Maximums (can at least one record in A be related to more than one record in B?)
o Normalization – Functional dependency (ex. student name is functionally dependent on UIN
because if I know the UIN then I know the Student name)
▪ 1st Normal Form - you have 2-dimensional tables with rows & columns. Each column
corresponds to 1 attribute of the table. One entry in each cell. Each row has a unique
identifier (primary key). Each row represents a unique instance and must be different
in some way from any other row (no duplicate rows are possible). All entries in any
column must be of the same kind.
▪ 2nd Normal Form – the table in 1st normal form and every non-key attribute is a
function of the entire primary key.
▪ 3rd Normal Form – the dataset is in 2nd normal form AND there are no transitive
dependencies (no dependencies between non-key attributes). Another way of saying
this is every non-key attribute is only a function of the primary key for ex. in the
student dataset, if I know the UIN I know the students first name. HOWEVER, knowing
other information in the dataset won’t tell me the student’s first name. Therefore,
first name is ONLY a function of UIN.
• Enterprise Systems
o Also known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, are commercialized information
systems that integrate and automate business processes across a firm’s value chain located
within and across organizations.
o typically uses a relational data model as a basis for the information system.
o Use of primary and foreign keys links the hundreds of tables that form the basis for the
enterprise system.
o accommodate the integration and support of the various business processes and information
needs of a company by integrating multiple modules to help a manufacturer or other business
These topics are a guide to study for the exam. Topics outside the ones listed here may be tested in the exam.
Chapter 3
• UML Diagrams
o Specifications for UML maintained by the Object Management Group, a not-for-profit
consortium of computer industry members.
o Building blocks: Classes (separately identifiable collections of things about which the
organization wants to collect and store information), Associations (depict the relationships
between two classes), Multiplicities (describe the minimum and maximum number of times
instances of one class can be associated with instances in another class)
• UML Class Models for Relational Database
o Generalization Relationships: allow grouping of things that share common characteristics. It
can reduce redundancy since the shared characteristics are in the grouped class. (ex: general
auto characteristics would be in the Auto class/table and specific characteristics if sports cars,
for ex. would be in the Sports Car class/table.
o Aggregation Relationships: describe classes that are usually connected, such as players on a
team. However, players could exist separately.
o Composition Relationships: describe classes that are connected, such as chapters in a book. in
this case, chapters could not exist separately.
o Map Classes to Tables – first step.
o step 2. Map class attributes to table fields and assign primary keys
o step 3. Map associations to foreign keys – the maximum multiplicities on each side of an
association determine the foreign key placement (a one-to-many relationship occurs when
the maximum multiplicity on each side of the association is 1, and, in general, one-to-one
relationships will also be implemented with a foreign key. )
▪ foreign key is posted toward the “many” side of the association
, o step 4. create new tables to implement many-to-many relationships
o step 5. implement relationships among tables.
Chapter 4
• Fundamentals of Relational Databases: Primary keys, foreign keys, linking tables, multiplicities,
normalization
o Primary Key (PK)- attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies a specific row
in a table.
o Foreign Key (FK) – attribute in one table that is a primary key in another table.
o Entity integrity rule – primary key of a table must have data values (cannot be null)
o referential integrity rule – data value for a foreign key must either be null or match one of the
data values that already exist in the corresponding table.
o Linking Table – Create for many-to-many relationships
o Multiplicities – Minimums (can one record in A exist without a corresponding record in B?) &
Maximums (can at least one record in A be related to more than one record in B?)
o Normalization – Functional dependency (ex. student name is functionally dependent on UIN
because if I know the UIN then I know the Student name)
▪ 1st Normal Form - you have 2-dimensional tables with rows & columns. Each column
corresponds to 1 attribute of the table. One entry in each cell. Each row has a unique
identifier (primary key). Each row represents a unique instance and must be different
in some way from any other row (no duplicate rows are possible). All entries in any
column must be of the same kind.
▪ 2nd Normal Form – the table in 1st normal form and every non-key attribute is a
function of the entire primary key.
▪ 3rd Normal Form – the dataset is in 2nd normal form AND there are no transitive
dependencies (no dependencies between non-key attributes). Another way of saying
this is every non-key attribute is only a function of the primary key for ex. in the
student dataset, if I know the UIN I know the students first name. HOWEVER, knowing
other information in the dataset won’t tell me the student’s first name. Therefore,
first name is ONLY a function of UIN.
• Enterprise Systems
o Also known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, are commercialized information
systems that integrate and automate business processes across a firm’s value chain located
within and across organizations.
o typically uses a relational data model as a basis for the information system.
o Use of primary and foreign keys links the hundreds of tables that form the basis for the
enterprise system.
o accommodate the integration and support of the various business processes and information
needs of a company by integrating multiple modules to help a manufacturer or other business
