Given the basic ER and relational models, which of the following is INCORRECT?

20122023

Given the basic ER and relational models, which of the following is INCORRECT?

Answer: C. In a row of a relational table, an attribute can have more than one valueCorrect choice (the incorrect statement): In a row of a relational table, an attribute can have more than one value Why this is incorrect: The basic…

  1. A.

    An attribute of an entity can have more than one value

  2. B.

    An attribute of an entity can be composite

  3. C.

    In a row of a relational table, an attribute can have more than one value

  4. D.

    In a row of a relational table, an attribute can have exactly one value or a NULL value

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Correct answer: C

Correct choice (the incorrect statement): In a row of a relational table, an attribute can have more than one value

Why this is incorrect:

  • The basic relational model (and First Normal Form) requires each attribute in a tuple to hold a single (atomic) value or NULL.

  • The ER model does allow multivalued and composite attributes; when mapping an ER schema to relations you must convert multivalued attributes into separate relations or columns.

  • Typical representation: if an entity has multiple phone numbers, create a separate relation such as Phone(student_id, phone_number) so each row stores one atomic phone_number value.

Takeaway: The statement claiming that a relational table attribute can hold more than one value contradicts the atomic-value requirement of the basic relational model, so that statement is incorrect.

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