WGU C170 CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE
atomic attribute
An attribute that cannot be further subdivided to produce meaningful components. For
example, a person's last name attribute cannot be meaningfully subdivided.
atomicity
The transaction property that requires all parts of a transaction to be treated as a single,
indivisible, logical unit of work. All parts of a transaction must be completed or the entire
transaction is aborted.
Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF)
A special type of third normal form (3NF) in which every determinant is a candidate key.
A table in BCNF must be in 3NF. See also determinant.
denormalization
A process by which a table is changed from a higher-level normal form to a lower-level
normal form, usually to increase processing speed. Denormalization potentially yields
data anomalies.
dependency diagram
A representation of all data dependencies (primary key, partial, or transitive) within a
table.
determinant
Any attribute in a specific row whose value directly determines other values in that row.
See also Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF).
first normal form (1NF)
The first stage in the normalization process. It describes a relation depicted in tabular
format, with no repeating groups and a primary key identified. All nonkey attributes in
the relation are dependent on the primary key.
fourth normal form (4NF)
A table is in 4NF if it is in 3NF and contains no multiple independent sets of multivalued
dependencies.
granularity
The level of detail represented by the values stored in a table's row. Data stored at its
lowest level of granularity is said to be atomic data.
nonkey attribute
See nonprime attribute.
nonprime attribute
An attribute that is not part of a key.
normalization
A process that assigns attributes to entities so that data redundancies are reduced or
eliminated.
partial dependency
A condition in which an attribute is dependent on only a portion (subset) of the primary
key.
repeating group
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE
atomic attribute
An attribute that cannot be further subdivided to produce meaningful components. For
example, a person's last name attribute cannot be meaningfully subdivided.
atomicity
The transaction property that requires all parts of a transaction to be treated as a single,
indivisible, logical unit of work. All parts of a transaction must be completed or the entire
transaction is aborted.
Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF)
A special type of third normal form (3NF) in which every determinant is a candidate key.
A table in BCNF must be in 3NF. See also determinant.
denormalization
A process by which a table is changed from a higher-level normal form to a lower-level
normal form, usually to increase processing speed. Denormalization potentially yields
data anomalies.
dependency diagram
A representation of all data dependencies (primary key, partial, or transitive) within a
table.
determinant
Any attribute in a specific row whose value directly determines other values in that row.
See also Boyce-Codd normal form (BCNF).
first normal form (1NF)
The first stage in the normalization process. It describes a relation depicted in tabular
format, with no repeating groups and a primary key identified. All nonkey attributes in
the relation are dependent on the primary key.
fourth normal form (4NF)
A table is in 4NF if it is in 3NF and contains no multiple independent sets of multivalued
dependencies.
granularity
The level of detail represented by the values stored in a table's row. Data stored at its
lowest level of granularity is said to be atomic data.
nonkey attribute
See nonprime attribute.
nonprime attribute
An attribute that is not part of a key.
normalization
A process that assigns attributes to entities so that data redundancies are reduced or
eliminated.
partial dependency
A condition in which an attribute is dependent on only a portion (subset) of the primary
key.
repeating group
