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Fourth Normal Form (4NF) addresses Multi-Valued Dependencies (MVD) in database tables, requiring that a table be in Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) and free of non-trivial MVDs not implied by a candidate key. The purpose of 4NF is to eliminate redundancy caused by independent multi-valued facts about the same entity. To achieve 4NF, tables are decomposed into separate tables to isolate each independent multi-valued relationship.

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3 views1 page

1.3

Fourth Normal Form (4NF) addresses Multi-Valued Dependencies (MVD) in database tables, requiring that a table be in Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) and free of non-trivial MVDs not implied by a candidate key. The purpose of 4NF is to eliminate redundancy caused by independent multi-valued facts about the same entity. To achieve 4NF, tables are decomposed into separate tables to isolate each independent multi-valued relationship.

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Mudasir
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44️⃣ Fourth Normal Form (4NF)

4NF deals with a dependency called the Multi-Valued Dependency (MVD).

Definition: A relation (table) is in 4NF if it is already in Boyce-Codd Normal Form


(BCNF) and contains no non-trivial Multi-Valued Dependencies other than those
implied by a candidate key.

Purpose: To eliminate redundancy caused when a table contains two or more


independent multi-valued facts about the same entity.

Multi-Valued Dependency (A→→B): This occurs when, for a single value of attribute
A, there exists a set of multiple values for attribute B, and this set of B values
is independent of any other attribute in the table (other than A).

The Problem (Violation of 4NF): If a table R has a multi-valued dependency A→→B and
a multi-valued dependency A→→C, where B and C are independent of each other, the
table stores all possible combinations (A, B, C), leading to massive redundancy (a
"Cartesian product" effect).

4NF Decomposition
To achieve 4NF, the table is losslessly decomposed into separate tables, isolating
each independent multi-valued relationship.

Original Table (Not 4NF) Example


Course Instructor
DB101 Smith
DB101 Smith
DB101 Jones
DB101 Jones
Constraint: A Course has multiple Instructors AND multiple Textbooks, and the sets
of Instructors and Textbooks are independent of each other.

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Decomposed Tables (In 4NF)


Course-Instructor Course-Textbook
Course Instructor
DB101 Smith
DB101 Jones

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