Cardinality Constraint-

 

Before you go through this article, make sure that you have gone through the previous article on Introduction to ER Diagrams.

 

Cardinality constraint defines the maximum number of relationship instances in which an entity can participate.

 

Types of Cardinality Ratios-

 

There are 4 types of cardinality ratios-

 

 

1. Many-to-Many cardinality (m:n)
2. Many-to-One cardinality (m:1)
3. One-to-Many cardinality (1:n)
4. One-to-One cardinality (1:1 )

 

Also read- Relationship Sets in DBMS and Entity Sets in DBMS

 

1. Many-to-Many Cardinality-

 

By this cardinality constraint,

• An entity in set A can be associated with any number (zero or more) of entities in set B.
• An entity in set B can be associated with any number (zero or more) of entities in set A.

 

Symbol Used-

 

 

Example-

 

Consider the following ER diagram-

 

 

Here,

• One student can enroll in any number (zero or more) of courses.
• One course can be enrolled by any number (zero or more) of students.

 

2. Many-to-One Cardinality-

 

By this cardinality constraint,

• An entity in set A can be associated with at most one entity in set B.
• An entity in set B can be associated with any number (zero or more) of entities in set A.

 

Symbol Used-

 

 

Example-

 

Consider the following ER diagram-

 

 

Here,

• One student can enroll in at most one course.
• One course can be enrolled by any number (zero or more) of students.

 

3. One-to-Many Cardinality-

 

By this cardinality constraint,

• An entity in set A can be associated with any number (zero or more) of entities in set B.
• An entity in set B can be associated with at most one entity in set A.

 

Symbol Used-

 

 

Example-

 

Consider the following ER diagram-

 

 

Here,

• One student can enroll in any number (zero or more) of courses.
• One course can be enrolled by at most one student.

 

4. One-to-One Cardinality-

 

By this cardinality constraint,

• An entity in set A can be associated with at most one entity in set B.
• An entity in set B can be associated with at most one entity in set A.

 

Symbol Used-

 

 

Example-

 

Consider the following ER diagram-

 

 

Here,

• One student can enroll in at most one course.
• One course can be enrolled by at most one student.

 

Next Article- Participation Constraints

 

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