Re: Need some help on Normalization

On Oct 12, 2:16 am, hpuxrac <johnbhur..._at_sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On Oct 10, 9:01 am, Lollie <techtechx..._at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > You identify the following attributes, in part, for the Employee
> > entity:
> >     Employee number (Primary key)
> >     Full name
> >     Phone number
> >     Supervisor number
>
> > What change should you make to ensure that the entity is normalized to
> > the 1st normal form (1NF)?
>
> > A) Separate the full name into first, middle (optional), and last
> > names.
> > B) Use a different primary key value.
> > C) Move the supervisor to a different table.
> > D) Separate the phone number into separate fields.
>
> > I see the table as looking like this:
> > *Emp # (PK)     Full name              Phone#           Supervisor#*
> > 123                     Joe Smith              123-4567           1
> > 888                     John Doe                555-1212           2
> > 316                     Jack Pi                  888-8080           1
> > 451                     Suzy Q                  457-7410           3
>
> > Anybody have any comments?  Thanks is advance - is there an answer
>
> Sounds like homework to me.
>
> What do you think 1NF, 2NF and 3NF are exactly?
>
> How about 1nf specifically?
>
> Anything about atomic values and/or repeating groups?

So I take it you side with Codd on the issue of "atomicity"? ;) To me, this entity looks like it may already be in 1NF, it all depends on how the domains are defined, exactly in line with William Robertson's argument. However, the question is formulated in a way that suggests its author is in agreement with Codd on atomic values and just chose a bit controversial example to demonstrate the concept.

Regards,

   Vladimir M. Zakharychev
   N-Networks, makers of Dynamic PSP(tm)    http://www.dynamicpsp.com Received on Sun Oct 12 2008 - 03:55:13 CDT