In Relational Model, which type of constraint does not allow composite and…

2024

In Relational Model, which type of constraint does not allow composite and multivalued attributes?

Answer: B. Domain constraintsIn the relational model, every attribute is defined over a domain: the set of atomic (indivisible) and single-valued permissible values for that attribute. A…

  1. A.

    Entity integrity constraints

  2. B.

    Domain constraints

  3. C.

    Referential integrity constraints

  4. D.

    Uniqueness constraints

  5. E.

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Correct answer: B

In the relational model, every attribute is defined over a domain: the set of atomic (indivisible) and single-valued permissible values for that attribute. A domain constraint requires every attribute's value to be drawn from such an atomic domain, which is exactly what excludes composite attributes (attributes built from sub-parts) and multivalued attributes (attributes holding more than one value at once).

Applying this here: among the given constraint types, only a domain constraint restricts what an attribute's domain may look like at the value level. Because a relational attribute's domain must contain atomic values only, any composite or multivalued attribute coming from an ER design must be decomposed into atomic attributes, or moved into a separate relation, before it can satisfy this constraint. So domain constraints are the rule that disallows them.

The other constraint types govern different things entirely:

  • Entity integrity constraint: requires a relation's primary key to be unique and not NULL. It says nothing about whether an attribute's domain is atomic.

  • Referential integrity constraint: requires a foreign key value to match an existing primary key value in the referenced relation, or be NULL. It governs cross-relation consistency, not attribute structure.

  • Uniqueness (key) constraint: requires values of a candidate-key attribute to be distinct across tuples. It says nothing about atomicity either.

So the constraint that disallows composite and multivalued attributes is the domain constraint.

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