Entity-relationship model

How it is used

Used during database planning and documentation. It helps teams discuss tables, keys, cardinality, and business rules before implementation.

Example sentences

1. Before writing any SQL, the analysts reviewed the entity-relationship model to confirm how invoices, customers, and payments should connect.

   Here the model serves as a planning view of data structure, clarifying which real-world objects exist and how they relate.

2. The entity-relationship model revealed a missing link between invoices and customers before we created the database tables.

   The conceptual model helps the team notice an absent relationship before implementing the database schema.

Common collocations

• entity-relationship model diagram
• create an entity-relationship model
• entity-relationship model for a database
• review the entity-relationship model

Related terms

• SQLStructured Query Language: the standard language used to create tables and to read, add, change and delete data in relational databases.
• tableA structure in a relational database that stores data about one kind of thing in rows and columns, for example all customers or all orders.

More terms: Databases and Persistence

• column
• query
• relational database
• DBMS
• primary key
• foreign key
• SELECT statement
• WHERE clause
• join
• schema
• transaction
• data type