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Other
Normal Forms: |
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Fourth Normal Form (4NF) – Why
is this normal form never now required? |
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The
fourth normal form states:
"In a many to many relationship, independent entities can not
be stored in the same table."
Since
this form was developed in 1970; and as it only applies to many
to many relationships; which are not allowed in modern relational
databases – unlike in hierarchical databases from 20 years ago,
when M:N was common – this form is nowadays ‘technically’ redundant.
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Fifth
Normal Form
(5NF)
- Used for abnormally large databases. |
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Here
is
one final
form of Normalisation
which is very
occasionally
applied, but it is probably not required to get the maximum
functionality out of any
'normal'
data
structure or database
application. |
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The
fifth normal form states:
"The original tables must be reconstructed from the tables
into which it has been broken down."
In practice
the only benefit of applying this rule is for very large data schemas;
it removes
the inevitable duplicate columns in data tables, and ensures that
all of the table structures created are only as large as they must
be. It is good practice to apply this rule, if the database under
development is very large e.g. millions of records.
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Sixth
& Seventh Normal Form (6NF & 7NF)
–These are purely mathematical, never used in practice. |
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NORMALISATION
SUMMARY: |
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So to summarise Normal Forms - the
first three Normal Forms are really all you need to know. As you
will by now have realised these first three are complicated enough
and they are sufficient for any general business database application.
To be able to Normalise data effectively, then you need to practice
as this is the only way to learn properly.
To consolidate
your understanding of the Normalisation process; it is recommended
that you have a go at the interactive Database
and Normalisation exercises. Have fun with
the Exercises and help yourself learn Normalisation by doing them
all.
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<<<Back
to Third Normal Forms |
Click here
to start at the first exercise
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