Types of Attributes in DBMS

In this article you will know about Types of Attributes in DBMS

Types of attributes

Attributes attached to an entity can be of various types.

Simple

The attribute that cannot be further divided into smaller parts and represents the basic meaning is called a simple attribute. For example: The ‘First name’, ‘Last name’, age attributes of a person entity represent a simple attribute.

Composite

Attributes that can be further divided into smaller units and each individual unit contains a specific meaning.

For example:-The NAME attribute of an employee entity can be sub-divided into First name, Last name and Middle name.

Single valued

Attributes having a single value for a particular entity. For Example, Age is a single valued attribute of a student entity.

Multivalued

Attributes that have more than one values for a particular entity is called a multivalued attribute. Different entities may have different number of values for these kind of attributes. For multivalued attributes we must also specify the minimum and maximum number of vales that can be attached. For Example phone number for a person’entity is a multivalued attribute.

Stored

Attributes that are directly stored in the data base. For example, ‘Birth date’ attribute of a person.

Derived

Attributes that are not stored directly but can be derived from stored attributes are called derived attributes. For Example, The years of services of a “person’ entity can be determined from the current date and the date of joining of the person. Similarly, total salary of a “person can be calculated from ‘basic salary’ attribute of a person’. Types of Attributes in DBMS