AN APPROACH FOR DECOMPOSING N-ARY DATA RELATIONSHIPS

One of the most significant challenges in the use of entity relationsh ip data models is in deciding whether to use a single relationship bet ween several entities or a set of simpler relationships to represent a complex association, A practical eight-step approach is presented for analysis of n-ary relationships and decomposition into simpler relati onships where appropriate, Relational database design concepts form th e basis for this approach, An extended specification of cardinality co nstraints is used to support the decomposition approach and to ensure applicability to a variety of modeling styles, This approach defines a fundamental analysis skill for data modeling practitioners. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.