EDUCBA

EDUCBA

MENUMENU
  • Free Tutorials
  • Free Courses
  • Certification Courses
  • 360+ Courses All in One Bundle
  • Login
Home Data Science Data Science Tutorials Database Management Tutorial Hierarchical Database Model
Secondary Sidebar
Database Management Tutorial
  • DataBase Management
    • Text Data Mining
    • Roles of Database Management System in Industry
    • SQL Server Database Management Tools
    • Databricks CLI
    • Database administrator skills
    • Database Management Systems Advantages
    • Database Testing Interview Questions
    • Netezza Database
    • Data Administrator
    • Database Administrator
    • Data manipulation
    • Database Management Software
    • DataStage
    • Types of Database Models
    • Types of Database
    • Hierarchical Database Model
    • Relational Database
    • Relational Database Advantages
    • Operational Database
    • What is RDBMS?
    • Data Masking Tools
    • Database Security
    • Data Replication
    • Bitmap Indexing
    • Second Normal Form
    • Third Normal Form
    • Fourth Normal Form
    • Data Definition Language
    • Data Manipulation Language
    • Data Control Language
    • Transaction Control Language
    • Dataset Normalization
    • jdbc connection
    • Conceptual Data Model
    • Entity-Relationship Model
    • Relational Database Model
    • Sequential File Organization
    • Teradata Create Table
    • Teradata Database
    • Centralized Database
    • Data Storage in Database
    • Thomas write Rule
    • DBA Interview Questions
    • What is JDBC?
    • jdbc hive
    • Apriori Algorithm
    • JDBC Architecture
    • JDBC Interview Questions
    • Datastage Interview Questions
    • Wildcard Characters
    • Distributed Database System
    • Multidimensional Database
  • TSQL Basic
    • TSQL
    • What is T-SQL
    • T-SQL Commands
    • T-SQL String Functions
    • TSQL Interview Questions

Related Courses

SQL Certification Course

PL/SQL Certification Course

Oracle Certification Course

Hierarchical Database Model

By Priya PedamkarPriya Pedamkar

Hierarchical Database Model

Introduction to Hierarchical Database Model

Hierarchical Database Model, as the name suggests, is a database model in which the data is arranged in a hierarchical tree edifice. As it is arranged based on the hierarchy, every record of data tree should have at least one parent, except for the child records in the last level, and each parent should have one or more child records. The Data can be accessed by following through the classified structure, always initiated from the Root or the first parent. Hence this model is named as Hierarchical Database Model.

What is Hierarchical Database Model

It is a data model in which data is represented in the tree-like structure. In this model, data is stored in the form of records which are the collection of fields. The records are connected through links and the type of record tells which field is contained by the record. Each field can contain only one value.

It must have only one parent for each child node but parent nodes can have more than one child. Multiple parents are not allowed. This is the major difference between the hierarchical and network database model. The first node of the tree is called the root node. When data needs to be retrieved then the whole tree is traversed starting from the root node. This model represents one- to- many relationships.

Let us see one example: Let us assume that we have a main directory which contains other subdirectories. Each subdirectory contains more files and directories. Each directory or file can be in one directory only i.e. it has only one parent.

Start Your Free Data Science Course

Hadoop, Data Science, Statistics & others

Hierarchical Database Model root node

Here A is the main directory i.e. the root node. B1 and B2 are their child or subdirectories. B1 and B2 also have two children C1, C2 and C2, C3 respectively. They may be directories or other files. This depicts one- to- many relationships.

Uses of Hierarchical Database Model

The uses of the database model are as explained here.

A Hierarchical database model was widely used during the Mainframe Computers Era. Today, it is used mainly for storing file systems and geographic information. It is used in applications where high performance is required such as telecommunications and banking. A hierarchical database is also used for Windows Registry in the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is useful where the following two conditions are met:

  1. The data should be in a hierarchical pattern i.e. parent-child relationship must be present.
  2. The data in a hierarchical pattern must be accessed through a single path only.

Advantages

Few advantages are listed below.

All in One Data Science Bundle(360+ Courses, 50+ projects)
Python TutorialMachine LearningAWSArtificial Intelligence
TableauR ProgrammingPowerBIDeep Learning
Price
View Courses
360+ Online Courses | 50+ projects | 1500+ Hours | Verifiable Certificates | Lifetime Access
4.7 (86,354 ratings)
  • Data can be retrieved easily due to the explicit links present between the table structures.
  • Referential integrity is always maintained i.e. any changes made in the parent table are automatically updated in a child table.
  • Promotes data sharing.
  • It is conceptually simple due to the parent-child relationship.
  • Database security is enforced.
  • Efficient with 1: N relationships.
  • A clear chain of command or authority.
  • Increases specialization.
  • High performance.
  • Clear results.

Disadvantages

Below are some of the disadvantages given.

  • If the parent table and child table are unrelated then adding a new entry in the child table is difficult because additional entry must be added in the parent table.
  • Complex relationships are not supported.
  • Redundancy which results in inaccurate information.
  • Change in structure leads to change in all application programs.
  • M: N relationship is not supported.
  • No data manipulation or data definition language.
  • Lack of standards.
  • Poor flexibility
  • Communication barriers
  • Organizational Disunity.
  • Rigid structure

Features

Some features are pointed out below:

  • Many to many relationships: It only supports one – to – many relationships. Many to many relationships are not supported.
  • Problem in Deletion: If a parent is deleted then the child automatically gets deleted.
  • Hierarchy of data: Data is represented in a hierarchical tree-like structure.
  • Parent-child relationship: Each child can have only one parent but a parent can have more than one children.
  • Pointer: Pointers are used for linking records that tell which is a parent and which child record is.
  • Disk input and output is minimized: Parent and child records are placed or stored close to each other on the storage device which minimizes the hard disk input and output.
  • Fast navigation: As parent and child are stored close to each other so access time is reduced and navigation becomes faster.
  • Predefined relationship: All relations between root, parent and child nodes are predefined in the database schema.
  • Re-organization difficulty: Hierarchy prevents the re-organization of data.
  • Redundancy: One to many relationships increases redundancy in the data which leads to the retrieval of inaccurate data.

Examples

Let us take an example of college students who take different courses. A course can be assigned to an only single student but a student can take as many courses as they want therefore following one to many relationships.

 Example

Now we can represent the above hierarchical model as relational tables as shown below:

Student Table:

Student Table

Course Table:

Course Table1

In this manner, the hierarchical model can be represented in relational tables and vice versa can also be done.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed the hierarchical database model in detail which depicts the parent-child relationship which makes it easy to represent data and understand the concept easily. It was mostly used in times of mainframe computers but still, it is used in many fields where high performance and easy concepts are the parameters. So the hierarchical model is efficient for one to many relationships and is widely used in recording file system data.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Hierarchical Database Model. Here we discussed the basic concepts, uses, features with advantages & disadvantages of the Hierarchical Database Model. You can also go through our other suggested articles to learn more –

  1. What is Ansible?
  2. What is MySQL Database
  3. Is Big Data a Database?
  4. Types of Database Models
Popular Course in this category
All in One Software Development Bundle (600+ Courses, 50+ projects)
  600+ Online Courses |  3000+ Hours |  Verifiable Certificates |  Lifetime Access
4.6
Price

View Course

Related Courses

SQL Training Program (7 Courses, 8+ Projects)4.9
PL SQL Training (4 Courses, 2+ Projects)4.8
Oracle Training (14 Courses, 8+ Projects)4.7
0 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Primary Sidebar
Footer
About Us
  • Blog
  • Who is EDUCBA?
  • Sign Up
  • Live Classes
  • Corporate Training
  • Certificate from Top Institutions
  • Contact Us
  • Verifiable Certificate
  • Reviews
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  •  
Apps
  • iPhone & iPad
  • Android
Resources
  • Free Courses
  • Database Management
  • Machine Learning
  • All Tutorials
Certification Courses
  • All Courses
  • Data Science Course - All in One Bundle
  • Machine Learning Course
  • Hadoop Certification Training
  • Cloud Computing Training Course
  • R Programming Course
  • AWS Training Course
  • SAS Training Course

ISO 10004:2018 & ISO 9001:2015 Certified

© 2022 - EDUCBA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CERTIFICATION NAMES ARE THE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

EDUCBA
Free Data Science Course

SPSS, Data visualization with Python, Matplotlib Library, Seaborn Package

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA Login

Forgot Password?

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA
Free Data Science Course

Hadoop, Data Science, Statistics & others

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

EDUCBA

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Let’s Get Started

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

Loading . . .
Quiz
Question:

Answer:

Quiz Result
Total QuestionsCorrect AnswersWrong AnswersPercentage

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more