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Surrogate key. A surrogate key (or synthetic key, pseudokey, entity identifier, factless key, or technical key[citation needed]) in a database is a unique identifier for either an entity in the modeled world or an object in the database. The surrogate key is not derived from application data, unlike a natural (or business) key.
Natural key. A natural key (also known as business key [1] or domain key [2]) is a type of unique key in a database formed of attributes that exist and are used in the external world outside the database (i.e. in the business domain or domain of discourse ). [3] In the relational model of data, a natural key is a superkey and is therefore a ...
Codd's twelve rules [1] are a set of thirteen rules ( numbered zero to twelve) proposed by Edgar F. Codd, a pioneer of the relational model for databases, designed to define what is required from a database management system in order for it to be considered relational, i.e., a relational database management system (RDBMS).
In relational database management systems, a unique key is a candidate key. All the candidate keys of a relation can uniquely identify the records of the relation, but only one of them is used as the primary key of the relation. The remaining candidate keys are called unique keys because they can uniquely identify a record in a relation.
In a relational database, a weak entity is an entity that cannot be uniquely identified by its attributes alone; therefore, it must use a foreign key in conjunction with its attributes to create a primary key. The foreign key is typically a primary key of an entity it is related to. The foreign key is an attribute of the identifying (or owner ...
Unique identifier. A unique identifier ( UID) is an identifier that is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for those objects and for a specific purpose. [1] The concept was formalized early in the development of computer science and information systems. In general, it was associated with an atomic data type .
More formally, a primary key is a choice of candidate key (a minimal superkey); any other candidate key is an alternate key. A primary key may consist of real-world observables, in which case it is called a natural key , while an attribute created to function as a key and not used for identification outside the database is called a surrogate key .
Composite key. In database design, a composite key is a candidate key that consists of two or more attributes, [1] [2] [3] (table columns) that together uniquely identify an entity occurrence (table row). A compound key is a composite key for which each attribute that makes up the key is a foreign key in its own right. [citation needed]