The problem with nulls in this table is resolved with a minor change in the logical design of the database. Because the attributes in this employee table are a combination of those that apply to all tuples and those that do not, the relationship is similar to that of a simple entity supertype and subtype, the difference being that the attribute in question, salary, is not unique: all employees receive a salary.
The following tables resolve the problem of multiple simultaneous semantics for the original employee table by taking projections from the original employee table:
| emp_num | emp_name | dept_num | hire_date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PK | |||
| 214 | Smith | 32 | 09-12-1989 |
| 447 | Lau | 15 | 05-30-1993 |
| 103 | Hossein | 09 | 09-13-1984 |
| 500 | Nakamura | 11 | 06-09-1997 |
| 713 | Schroeder | 24 | 10-29-2001 |
| emp_num | salary |
|---|---|
| PK | |
| 214 | 56150 |
| 103 | 29775 |
| 500 | 84932 |