BIS 245 Week 3 Lab – Visio ERD
Part A: Create a Visio ERD from Data Requirements and Business Rules
Step 1: Open Visio
a. Open Microsoft Office, Visio application or
b. If you are using Citrix, click on Microsoft Office Applications folder to start
Visio.
Step 2: Identify and create the entities
a. Open a new blank Database Model Diagram.
b. Save the file as YourName_Lab3.vsd.
c. Based on the information provided below, create the necessary entities for the Pages in Time database. If you need assistance to create the entities, refer to labs from Weeks 1 and 2.
Pages in Time
Pages in Time is a small bookstore carrying a variety of books. The
owners have decided to computerize the books available through the
store so that they can determine more easily what books are on
hand and which books need to be special ordered to meet customer
needs. Because customers do not always remember the name of a
desired book, the owners want to be able to look for books by author
or by type (genre). They also want to be able to find the publisher?s
information using the system so that they can order books more
easily.
After visiting with the owners, you have gathered the following
information on data requirements and business rules to develop a
conceptual design (ERD), prepare it for conversion to an Access
database, and then create the actual database.
DATA REQUIREMENTS
You have determined that you will need at least the following entities
to resolve the relationships that exist in the data.
CUSTOMERS
ID
Name (store data in its smallest parts)
Phone
Address (store data in its smallest parts)
Phone Number
E-mail Address
Preferred Contact Method
ORDERS
Number
Date
Received Date
Customer Contacted (Yes or No)
BOOKS
ISBN Number
Title
Purchase Price
Year Published
Fiction or Nonfiction
Type (Genre)
In stock
AUTHOR
ID
Name (store data in smallest parts!)
Short Biography
PUBLISHER
ID
Name
Address
Phone number
Contact Person
Fax Number
Website
Step 3: Identify and create attributes (fields)
NOTE: Because you are creating your diagram in Visio, it will be easier to create the attributes prior to the relationships.
a. Refer to the data requirements from Step 2 of this lab. If you have not
already created the attributes (fields) in your ERD, add them at this time.
b. Be sure that you store data in its smallest parts.
c. Save your file, and continue to Step 4.
Step 4: Identify and designate the keys
a. Detemine whether an attribute exists in each table that will satisfy the requirements of a primary key. If no appropriate field exists, create a field for this purpose.
b. Check the Primary Key property for the field in each table using the Visio column properties.
Step 5: Identify the relationships
a. Using the information below on the business rules for Pages in Time, create the relationships between the entities created in Step 2.
b. Notice that when Many-to-Many relationships exist, you will need to create associative entities.
c. For any associative entities created, enter necessary fields. You may also need to designate or create a primary key.
BUSINESS RULES
Business rules help determine the relationships between data that
should help you design the relationships between your entities.
1. Each customer can place many orders over time, but each order is
placed by only one customer.
2. Each order may include many books, and a book may be included
on many orders.
3. Each book may have multiple authors, and each author may have
written multiple books.
4. Each book has only one publisher, but a publisher may publish
many books.
Step 6: Determine and specify the data types
a. Using the information below, select the data type for each attribute (field) in your diagram, and set the type in the attribute properties.
As the data types and field lengths are not included in the data
requirements, you should make a selection based on your knowledge
of the type of data and approximation of length required. The Visio
and Access data type equivalents are shown below:
Access
Visio
Number
Integer
Text
Text
Memo
LongText
Date/Time
DateTime
Currency
Currency
Yes/No
Binary
AutoNumber
Long
Hyperlink
No equivalentuse Text
Step 7: Modify the Visio Settings to show the Data type and field size in the
diagram.
a. Change your Visio settings so that these appear on the actual diagram. To do this, go to the Database ribbon, Display Options. In the Display Options dialog box, select the Table tab. You will then change the data types to Show Physical. Click the OK button to apply the new setting. They data types will then appear in your diagram. Note that you may need to move the entities so that they are easily viewed as they are now larger.
b. Be sure to save the final version of your file.
End of Part A
Part B: Create the Access Database from the ERD
Preparation
Open the Visio file created in Part A of this lab, you will reference this file in Part
B.
Step 1: Start MS Access and Open a New Blank Database.
a. Create a new Blank Database; refer to the Week 2 Lab for more detailed
instructions.
b. Save the database as YourNameLab3.
c. Note: If you are unsure how to complete any steps in this iLab, refer to the previous weeks iLabs.
Step 2: Create the Tables
a. Based on the Visio diagram from Part A, create the tables for your database.
b. Enter the field names and the data type.
c. Designate the primary keys for each table
d. Set the attribute properties as needed for
a. Field length
b. Required
Step 3: Create the relationships
a. Open the database relationships window.
b. Based on the Visio diagram from Part A, create the relationships for your
database.
c. Be sure to enforce referential integrity for each relationship.
Save your file.
End of Part B
