Attributes

• properties that describe characteristics of an entity - assumed all instances of a given entity have the same attributes

  • use atomic attributes, those that cannot be divided further (e.g., not composite attributes (e.g., use last name & first name, not name)
  • do not use derived attributes (attributes that can be calculated using other attributes; e.g., age)
  • use single value attributes not multi-valued (e.g., medication1, medication2, etc.)
  • multi-valued attributes, if they have their own important attributes should be elevated to entities

e.g., attributes of the entity STUDENT might include name, address, etc.

birth date

first name

last name

photo

phone #

STUDENT

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