Analysis Design Entity Table Relationship Foreign Key Attribute Column Unique Identifier Primary Key Unique Key Database Development Process Phase Objectives Conceptual data modeling Define and model the things of significance about which the business needs to know or hold information and the relationships between them. The conceptual model should be built independently of any future implementation issues. Nouns used to describe entities Specific pieces of information which need to be known An entity should have attributes All entities must have attributes or they are not entities. Remember the definition of an entity .
Attributes are the way information about entities are stored.
If an entity does not have multiple instances then it is probably not an entity but rather an attribute of another entity. This is not a hard and fast rule but is very unusual. Each instance of an entity must be uniquely identifiable from other instances of the same entity. Identifying and Modeling Entities Follow the steps below to help you identify and model entities from a set of interview notes or other documentation. Examine each noun.