Database Management System

Database Design Project

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY School of Technology and Engineering

Department of Computer Science and Cybersecurity

CIS350 Database Management Systems

DATABASE DESIGN PROJECT

15 POINTS

During Weeks 1, 2, and 3, you will be working in small teams to complete a Database Design

Project. There will be a deliverable due at the end of each week for Weeks One through

Three. Please ensure you read the Database Design Project overview below.

I am expecting numerous discussions before you submit your project. It will not be a good idea to

delay working on these project assignments close to the due date as that might result in a poor

design and thus poor grades. However, it remains your responsibility to initiate these discussions

among your team members using BrightSpace Session or any other means (ZOOM) that you find

workable. In case you want to discuss your project with me you can do so either by setting up an

appointment or during scheduled chat sessions.

Your first step is to identify the application domain your team would like to focus your

database project. It is suggested that you pick an application that you will enjoy working with

since you will be stuck with it for the next three weeks! Try to pick an application that is relatively

substantial, but not too enormous. For example, when expressed in the entity-relationship model,

you might want your team’s design to have in the range of five or so entity types, and a similar

number of relationships. In the past, I have accepted as reasonable those designs where the total

number of entity types plus relationships was in the 8-14 range but have questioned others. You

should certainly include different kinds of relationships (e.g., many-one, many-many) and different

kinds of data (strings, integers, etc.), but your application is not required to use weak entity types

if they are not appropriate for your application.

Please only have one team member submit (ONE SUBMISSION PER TEAM) the following on

or before the deadline each week in Word format.

DELIVERABLE #1: 3 Points. Due (Sunday, April 9, 2023, 11:55 PM)

Description of the domain/application and its database that you propose to work with for three

weeks. Your description should be brief and relatively informal (TWO to THREE Pages). If there

are any unique or particularly difficult aspects of your proposed application, please point them out.

Your description will be graded only on suitability and conciseness. Be sure to include a Report

Title Page with your Team Name, the names of the individuals that are part of the team, the

submission date, and your Domain’s Title. Do not include a description of the entities, attributes,

relationships, or database design.

Note: Please keep in mind that the above-submitted description will be used for conceptual

database design (ER-Diagram) for deliverable #2 during Week #2 so make sure to include all the

details in your description that you will later be used to identify entity types, attributes, relationship

Database Design Project

types and/or weak entity types as well as Cardinality Ratio and participation constraint for ER-

Diagram design.

DELIVERABLE #2: 7 Points. Due (Sunday, April 16, 2023, 11:55 PM)

An entity-relationship diagram (ER-Diagram) for your proposed database from the description that

you provided for deliverable #1. Do not forget to underline key attributes and include cardinality

ratio and participation constraint. If there are weak entity types, indicate them by double lines, as

described in the class.

Note: If you have revised your deliverable #1 based on my comments/feedback you received for

deliverable #1, then you need to resubmit your deliverable #1’s project description again with

deliverable #2. However, your revised description will not be graded again but it will serve as a

reference for grading your conceptual database design (ER-Diagram).

DELIVERABLE #3: 5 Points. Due (Sunday, April 23, 2023, 11:55 PM)

Using the steps (Described in the class and textbook) translate your ER Diagram to a set of

relations. Please be sure to underline the primary keys. Normalize your relations to the highest

possible form. For each opportunity to combine or decompose relations, decide whether or not to

do so, and briefly explain your reasoning for doing so.

Note: If you have revised your Deliverable #2 based on my comments/feedback then you need to

resubmit your revised ER-Diagram again with deliverable #3. I will not grade deliverable #2 again

but it will serve as a reference while grading deliverable #3 final relational schema.