Simple/composite attributes It is important to note whether an attribute is simple or composite (see Section 11.3.1). Composite attributes are made up of simple attributes. For example, the address attribute can be simple and hold all the details of an address as a single value, such as, ‘115 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, G11 6YG’. However, the address attribute may also represent a composite attribute, made up of simple attributes that hold the address details as separ- ate values in the attributes street (‘115 Dumbarton Road’), city (‘Glasgow’), and postcode (‘G11 6YG’). The option to represent address details as a simple or composite attribute is determined by the users’ requirements. If the user does not need to access the separate components of an address, we represent the address attribute as a simple attribute. On the other hand, if the user does need to access the individual components of an address, we represent the address attribute as being composite, made up of the required simple attributes.