Chapter 4

Enhanced Entity-Relationship and UML Modeling

Multiple-Choice Questions:
1) _______ is the process of defining a set of subclasses of an entity type.
a) Generalization b) Expansion c) Specialization d) Division

2) _______ is the process of removing differences among several entity types, identify their
common features and creates a single superclass.
a) Generalization b) Expansion c) Specialization d) Division

3) Superclasses and subclasses are shown as ______ in EER diagrams.

a) lines b) rectangles c) ovals d) diamonds

4) Creating subclass by placing a condition on the value of some attribute of superclass is called
_______ subclass.
a) attribute-defined b) user-defined c) system-defined d) predicate-defined

5) When the condition for determining membership in a subclass is determined by users, it is

called ______.
a) attribute-defined b) user-defined c) system-defined d) predicate-defined

6) If all subclasses in a specialization have their membership condition on same attribute of

superclass, the specialization is called _______.
a) attribute-defined b) user-defined c) system-defined d) predicate-defined

7) _______ constraint specifies that an entity can be a member of at most one of the subclass of
the specialization.
a) overlap b) total c) partial d) disjoint

8) _______ constraint specifies that an entity can be a member of more than one subclass of the
specialization.
a) overlap b) total c) partial d) disjoint

9) _______ constraint specifies that an entity in superclass must be a member of at least one
subclass of the specialization.
a) overlap b) total c) partial d) disjoint

10) _______ constraint specifies that an entity in superclass need not belong to any of the
subclasses.
a) overlap b) total c) partial d) disjoint

11) A class that has no subclasses of its own is called ______ node.
a) root b) leaf c) middle d) weak

12) A subclass with more than one superclass leads to a _____ inheritance.
a) multiple b) single c) multi-level d) binary
13) A specialization _______ has the constraint that every subclass participates as a sublass in only
one class / subclass relationship, resulting in a tree structure.
a) lattice b) cube c) hierarchy d) graph

14) In specialization ________, a subclass can be a subclass in more than one class / subclass
relationship.
a) lattice b) cube c) hierarchy d) graph

15) A single superclass / subclass relationship with more than one superclass representing different
entity types creates subclass called as _______.
a) Intersection b) Join c) Add d) Union

TRUE or FALSE:
1. An entity can be a member of subclass but not a member of superclass. (T/F)
2. An entity can exist in any number of subclasses. (T/F)
3. Every entity in a superclass must be a member of some subclass. (T/F)
4. An entity in a subclass does not possess attributes of its superclass. (T/F)
5. There can be several specializations of same entity type. (T/F)
6. A subclass cannot have its own specific attributes and relationships. (T/F)
7. In a superclass/subclass relationship the entity in the subclass is same as the entity
in the superclass. (T/F)
8. A double line is used to represent a partial specialization in EER diagram. (T/F)
9. A superclass that was identified through the generalization process usually is total. (T/F)
10. A subclass cannot have further subclasses specified on it. (T/F)
11. An entity exists in only one leaf node of the hierarchy. (T/F)
12. In a specialization hierarchy or lattice a subclass inherits the attributes of all its
predecessor superclases all the way to the root. (T/F)
13. Existence of at least one shared subclass leads to hierarchy. (T/F)
14. A shared subclass has multiple inheritance. (T/F)

Match the following constraints:

1. Specialization hierarchy An entity need not belong to any of the subclasses 5

2. Specialization lattice A subclass can be a subclass in more than one 2

class/subclass relationships

3. Disjoint An entity can be a member of more than one subclass 4

4. Overlap Every subclass participates as a subclass in only one 1

class/subclass relationship

5. Partial Every entity of superclass must be a member of at least 6

one subclass

6. Total An entity can be a member of at most one of the 3

subclasses of the specialization
Select which of the four possible constraints on specialization apply to the following:

SECRETARY SECRETARY

Disjoint, Total Disjoint, Total

e1 Disjoint, Partial e1 Disjoint, Partial
e2 e2
e3 Overlap, Total e5 Overlap, Total
EMPLOYEE e4 EMPLOYEE
Overlap, Partial Overlap, Partial

e1 ENGINEER e1 ENGINEER
e2 e2
e3 e3
e4 e5 e4 e5
e5 e6 e5 e6
e6 e7 e6 e7
e7 e7
e8 e8
e9 e9
e10 e10
TECHNICIAN TECHNICIAN

e6
e7 e7
e8 e8
e9 e9
e10

SECRETARY
Disjoint, Total SECRETARY
Disjoint, Total
Disjoint, Partial Disjoint, Partial
e1 Overlap, Total e1 Overlap, Total
e2 e2
e3 Overlap, Partial e3
Overlap, Partial
EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE e4

ENGINEER
e1 e1 ENGINEER
e2 e2
e3 e4 e3
e4 e5 e4 e5
e5 e6 e5 e6
e6 e7 e6
e7 e7
e8 e8
e9 e9
e10 e10
TECHNICIAN TECHNICIAN

e8
e9 e8
e10 e9
Select which of the four possible constraints on specialization apply to the following:

GRADUATE Disjoint, Total GRADUATE Disjoint, Total

STUDENT STUDENT
Disjoint, Partial Disjoint, Partial

e1
Overlap, Total Overlap, Total
STUDENT STUDENT
Overlap, Partial Overlap, Partial
e2 e2
e1 e1

e2 e3 e2 e3

e3 e4 e3 e4

e4 e4

e5 e5

e6 e6
e7 e7
UNDERGRADUATE UNDERGRADUATE
e8 STUDENT e8 STUDENT

e5

e6 e6

e7 e7

e8 e8

Disjoint, Total Disjoint, Total

GRADUATE GRADUATE
STUDENT Disjoint, Partial STUDENT Disjoint, Partial
Overlap, Total Overlap, Total
e1
STUDENT Overlap, Partial STUDENT Overlap, Partial
e2 e2
e1 e3 e1 e3

e2 e4 e2 e4

e3 e5 e3 e5

e4 e4

e5 e5

e6 e6
e7 e7
UNDERGRADUATE UNDERGRADUATE
e8 STUDENT e8 STUDENT

e4 e4

e5 e5

e6 e6

e7 e7
e8
Answer the following questions based on the EER diagram of COMPANY database:

1. An EMPLOYEE can be a SECRETARY and also an ENGINEER. (T/F)

2. An EMPLOYEE can be a SALARIED_EMPLOYEE but not an
HOURLY_EMPLOYEE. (T/F)
3. An EMPLOYEE must be either a SECRETARY, a TECHNICIAN, or an ENGINEER. ( T / F )
4. All the EMPLOYEEs must MANAGE a PROJECT. (T/F)
5. All the EMPLOYEEs must be either a SALARIED_EMPLOYEE or a
HOURLY_EMPLOYEE. (T/F)
6. The key attribute of ENGINEER is EngType. (T/F)
7. The key attribute of SALARIED_EMPLOYEE is SSn. (T/F)
8. The attributes of EMPLOYEE entity are ___________________________________________.
9. The attributes of ENGINEER entity are ___________________________________________.
10. The attributes of SALARIED_EMPLOYEE entity are ________________________________.

Answer the following questions based on the EER diagram of UNIVERSITY database:

1. A PERSON can be an EMPLOYEE and also a STUDENT. (T/F)

2. A PERSON cannot be an EMPLOYEE and also a GRADUATE_STUDENT. (T/F)
3. An EMPLOYEE can be a STAFF and also a FACULTY. (T/F)
4. A RESEARCH_ASSISTANT is also an EMPLOYEE. (T/F)
5. A STUDENT must be either a GRADUATE_STUDENT or an
UNDERGRADUATE_STUDENT but not both. (T/F)
6. A RESEARCH_ASSISTANT can be a GRADUATE_STUDENT. (T/F)
7. A STUDENT cannot be an ALUMNUS. (T/F)
8. The key attribute of STAFF entity is Position. (T/F)
9. The attributes of ALUMNUS entity are ___________________________________________.
10. The attributes of RESEARCH_ASSITANT entity are ________________________________.