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What to do if weak entity set does not have a primary key?

Asked by Ben Phillips Oct 4, 2022 2.5K views 1 answer
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 I have come across two different definitions of weak entities, which may sometimes be contradictory.


1) Weak entity is an entity which cannot exist without some other (owner) entity.

2) Weak entity does not have a primary key, but rather a partial key, and can be only uniquely identified by combining this partial key with a foreign key from the owner entity.


Which one of these is true? Let us take the example of Customers->Orders relationship, where Orders have a unique OrderID. Here an Order cannot exist without a Customer, however it still has its own primary key. Would it be a strong or a weak entity then?

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