Relationships and Domains › Relationships in the Physical Model › Identifying Relationships in a Physical Model

Identifying Relationships in a Physical Model

An identifying relationship is a relationship between two tables in which an instance of a child table is identified through its association with a parent table, which means the child table is dependent on the parent table for its identity and cannot exist without it. In an identifying relationship, one instance of the parent table is related to multiple instances of the child.

In IDEF1X notation, an identifying relationship line is drawn as a solid line with a diamond or a filled circle at either end of the line.

In IE notation, an identifying relationship line is drawn as a solid line with crows feet.

You can create an identifying relationship when you add a relationship using the Relationships editor, on the diagram window, or using the Model Explorer.