Introduction
The Montreal College Championship is an annual soccer event involving various teams from neighborhoods across the city. The championship requires a robust database to manage information related to players, teams, sponsors, and schools. This guide will help you through the steps to create an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) that serves as a blueprint for this database.
Step 1: Understand the Business Case
Before diving into the ERD, it’s crucial to understand the specific requirements and constraints of the Montreal College Championship. This involves knowing what entities are involved, what information needs to be stored, and what relationships exist among these entities.
Here is the case information supplied with the assignment:
• Montreal College Championship is a yearly soccer championship. Each neighborhood in the city has one team in this championship that is named for that neighborhood. The city council plans to develop a database to help track players and their colleges, sponsors, and teams.
• Each team has a maximum of 18 and a minimum of 12 players.
• It is not mandatory to have a player in the team, as long as the team is registered with the championship.
• No player can join the championship without being part of a team and cannot play for multiple teams.
• Each team can have one to three sponsors, and each sponsor can support multiple teams.
• Each team has a number assigned to it automatically at the beginning of the championship.
• It is important for the teams to follow the guidelines regarding the age of the players.
• In case of emergencies, teams are required to contact the schools of the players. Players will not be registered without contact information of their school.
Step 2: Identify Key Entities and Attributes
Based on the business case, identify the key entities that will be part of the ERD. For the Montreal College Championship, for example Team, player, and others. Then, since each entity will have specific attributes, identify those in the case. For example, the Team entity may have attributes like TeamID, TeamName, and AgeGuidelines. Also start looking to identify any transitional entities that may be required to avoid having any many-to-many relations. Transitional entities, also referred to a bridge or junction, may be added later, once you start seeing many-to-many relations in your ERD.
Step 3: Define the Scope
Determine the boundaries of the database you are going to design. Decide what processes or aspects of the championship the database will cover. This will help you focus on the most relevant entities and relationships. You will determine this by reading the information about the case.
Step 4: Establish Relationships and Cardinality
The next step is to establish the relationships between the entities. For example, a Team can have multiple Players, but each Player is associated with one Team. The cardinality of this relationship would be one-to-many.
Step 5: Draft the ERD
Before using any ERD software, sketch the ERD on paper. Place entities as rectangles and connect them with lines to indicate relationships. Add lines for relationships and annotate the lines with cardinality. Keep in mind the type of ERD we learned in class and that is described in the PowerPoints and the coursebook, as there are many different types. Our do not have diamonds , just entities, and relations with cardinalities.
Remember the 7 rules we saw in class:
1. Every entity must have a PK (primary key)
2.If there is no PK for an entity then you need to create one
3.A relationship between entities is always PK to FK (foreign key)
4.Only one relationship between any two entities
5.Relationships must have a cardinality on both ends
6.Many-to-many cardinalities are NOT ALLOWED and if they occur must be replaced by a transitional entity, also referred to a bridge or junction
7.No entity should be without any relationships
Step 6: Use an ERD Tool
There are various software tools available for creating ERDs, such as Lucidchart, Microsoft Visio, and draw.io. In this assignment, you are required to use VISIO to formalize your diagram. Import the entities, attributes, and relationships you’ve identified into the tool and arrange them according to best practices. Visio is available to all students on uCertify. Here’s a guide to help you:
- Go to uCertify and open Visio. You will find it in Hands-On Labs, under Visio Sandbox (item 3.1) in the labs section.
- Start the Visio sandbox in the VISIO menu on the bottom left hand side.
- Select Visio on the desktop and click twice
- Ignore any licensing message
- Open a new Visio document and select the ERD template.
- Use the shapes pane to drag and drop elements like entities and relations onto the canvas.
- Make you you have the correct cardinalities
Step 7: Validate the ERD
After creating the initial version of the ERD, it’s essential to validate it to ensure it meets the business requirements. This often involves consulting with stakeholders or experts who are familiar with the championship’s organizational aspects. You might also consider asking ChatGPT to help you validate your diagram.
Step 8: Make Revisions
Based on the feedback received, make any necessary revisions to the ERD. This could involve adding new entities, removing unnecessary attributes, or changing the nature of relationships.
Step 9: Finalize and Share
Once you’ve made all necessary revisions , share it with your team. Don’t forget to submit it later following the instructions.
Conclusion
Creating an ERD is a critical step in the database design process. It provides a visual representation of the data structure, making it easier to understand, communicate, and implement. By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating a comprehensive ERD for the Montreal College Championship, ensuring that all data management needs are met effectively.