Chapter 4

Organizing and Manipulating the Data in Databases

Discussion Questions
4-1.
There are several other database management systems available to users, including
MySQL, Oracle, FoxPro, Avanquest Database Professional, Microsoft SA SQL, Filemaker Pro 7,
Eltron Card Database, and IBM DB2.
4-2.
The different data types available in Access include: Text, Memo, Number,
Date/Time, Currency, AutoNumber, and Yes/No. You can also create hyperlinks and OLE
(object link and embed) objects. The types of numbers you can create in Access include byte,
Integer, Long Integer, Single, Double, ReplicationID (typically used to expand autonumber fields
in replicated databases), and Decimal.
4-3.

This problem requires students to create their own Salesperson table

4-4.
Database management systems (DBMS) are computer software packages that
enable users to create, maintain, query, retrieve, manipulate, and output the data stored in a
database. A DBMS is not the same thing as a database. Rather, a DBMS is a set of software
programs that interfaces between the database and users or user programs. Because,
database management systems are computer programs, they are softwarenot hardware.
4-5.
Data definition languages (DDLs) are the special programming languages of DBMSs
that enable users to design the physical structure of database records. Thus, a DDL enables
users to specify the number of data fields for each record in a table, the name for each field, and
(for Access) a data type for each fieldfor example, text or numeric. The DDL also enables
users to further specify the length of each field (for text data types) or the type of number (e.g.,
Integer) for numeric data types.
4-6.
The act of linking database tables to one another enables users to extract relevant
information from them. For example, a database user might want to prepare a list of suppliers,
with a sub-list of all products available from each supplier. A database developer might create
two tables for such an application: (1) a table of suppliers and (2) a table of products. If the
designer stores the supplier code in each product record, the user could then view or print the
desired list. In Access, a user links tables to one another using the Relationships window.
Chapter 4 describes how to do this. (The fields do not have to have the same name, but they
must have identical data types.) Access then enables the user to create queries based upon
the linked tables, and can then present the joined information requested by the usere.g., the
report described above.
4-7.
Data validation is the process of ensuring that the data input into the data fields of a
database record are accurate and complete. Data validation is important because it causes the
system to test input data for common errors and reject values that violate the defined validation
rules. This helps an organization avoid the costs and confusion caused by such errors. Experts
estimate that it costs ten times as much to correct bad data already stored in a database as it
does to correct simple errors at the time they are caught during input. Examples of Access data
validation tests discussed in the text include the automatic tests that check for consistent data
types, using input masks to help users input data correctly, using drop-down lists (combo boxes)

SM 4.1

of predefined data, specifying default values for repetitive data entries, and creating data
validation rules.
Enforcing referential integrity is yet another database control with data-validation characteristics.
This ensures that users to not delete the one record joined in a one-to-many relationship with
other recordsfor example, deleting an invoice with existing line items. It also automatically
disallows a users attempt to link a many record with a non-existent parent recordfor
example, creating invoice detail lines for a non-existent invoice.
4-8.
Data manipulation languages or DMLs enable users to define processes for
accessing, updating, replacing, deleting, and protecting database records from unauthorized
use. Most database management systems include proprietary DMLs that allow users to create
queries, forms, reports, and macros that in turn enable users to view, update, delete, or output
selected database information. Thus, a DML is that part of a DBMS that enables users to tell the
system how to manipulate the underlying data in a database.
4-9.
SQL is an acronym for structured query language. SQL and Access queries are
similar in that both enable users to construct queries that answer user questions about database
information. Thus, both SQL and Access enable users to construct query commands that
extract the same information from a databasefor example, a list of all students in a certain
course in the current semester. The primary difference between SQL and Access is that SQL
requires users to create queries in text-driven language while Access provides a graphical user
interface to frame their questions. Access is among the many database management systems
that actually translate user queries into SQL statements.
4-10.
Online analytical processing is a query tool that enables database users to extract
information from databases efficiently. Thus, OLAP allows users to search and retrieve
complex, processed information and is especially notable for its drill-down capabilities. Pivot
tables are multidimensional tables that enable their users to change the categorization
parameters. In a sales application, for example, a pivot table might show dollar sales volume for
a specific sales region of the country, classified by product line and months of the year (three
dimensions). If the user changes the sales region, new information appears for the chosen
alternate. Similarly, if the user selects a new product line, a new pivot table might show the
monthly sales levels for each product in that product line. Thus, pivot tables are among the
useful tools that OLAP provides to show useful information. But these are not the only tools that
OLAP provides. Others include statistical analyses (means, median, and frequency
distributions), trend analyses, linear regressions, and graphical charts.
4-11.
Both sorting and indexing records accomplish the same task: displaying or printing
database records in ascending or descending sequence as determined by a specific data field.
Sorting records requires the database to physically re-write the records on disk. In contrast,
indexing records requires the database to create an ordered list of disk addresses. Indexing
thus provides the user with the same visual result as sorting, but eliminates the need to
physically re-arrange a databases records on disk. Indexing therefore typically takes less time
to performespecially for larger databases.
4-12.
Data mining provides users with analytical tools for detecting trends or relationships
among seemingly uncorrelated datatypically marketing data. For example, identifying
patterns in customer purchasing behavior may enable a marketing department to streamline its
marketing efforts by uncovering relationships between customer preferences and their
demographics. Accounting uses of data mining techniques include predicting future sales for
SM 4.2

budgeting purposes, performing audit tasks such as searching for forensic information,
assessing payment trends by tax payers, or detecting trends in such areas as bad debts. (For
an interesting article on this subject, see: S. A. Fadairo, et al., Using Data Mining to Ensure
Payment Integrity Journal of Government Financial Management Vol. 57, No. 2 (Summer,
2008), pp. 22-24.)
4-13.
Cloud computing is a form of Internet-based computing. Instead of applications
being stored on individual workstations, software is provided through the Internet, processing
occurs on a web of computers, and information is ultimately sent to the users computer. Cloud
computing allows firms to outsource components of their AISs and expand systems at lower
costs than would be necessary if systems were built in-house.
4-14.
A data warehouse is a repository of historical information that a firm or governmental
agency can collect during the normal course of conducting its business. Data warehouses are
similar to databases in that they classify and store data systematically and can help users
extract information for business uses. The major differences between data warehouses and
databases are that the information in data warehouses may be stored in multiple databases,
often spans multiple accounting periods, and is generally arranged with the purpose of
supporting complex queries from external users.
4-15. Data warehouses enable employees to access valuable information on a corporate-wide
basis, often from areas outside their immediate domains. These data repositories therefore
help users answer complex questions in a timely manner, marketing personnel identify
purchasing trends or pinpoint customer needs, and can ultimately yield a high return on
investment for the firm. But data warehouses are not for every organization. One factor that
may deter companies from building data warehouses is the difficulty in collecting and storing
diverse information in consistent, useful, and systematic waysespecially where the design
process consumes large amounts of organizational resources.

Problems
4-16.
This problem is about the Query Corporation. It requires students to create a simple
database table, using data supplied in Figure 4-19.
A suggested record structure is:
Field Name

Size

Type

Decimal Digits

LNAME
FNAME
SSN
DEPT
PAYRATE
OTIME

20
20
9
1
4
1

alphanumeric
alphanumeric
alphanumeric
numeric
numeric
yes/no

none
2

a) The employees in Department 5 are: Chapin, Finn, Halpin, Laurin, Maglio, Turner, and
Zorich.
b) There are three employees with a first name of Brenda: Reeder, Turner, and Bloom.

SM 4.3

c) The employees with pay rates over $6.50 are: Cunningham, Chapin, McLean, Welsh, Duffy,
and Turner.
d) The employees eligible for overtime are: Adcox, Bloom, Chapin, Cunningham, Daniels,
Davis, Finn, Halpin, Harper, Kozar, Laurin, Maglio, McGuire, Morgan, Reeder, and Zorich.
4-17.
This problem requires students to search the Internet for articles on data warehousing
and use of such warehouse in accounting. Reasons why companies create data warehouses and
use of such warehouse in accounting are discussed in the chapter.
4-18.
This problem requires students to search the Internet for articles on online analytical
processing and also the connection between OLAP and databases. Reasons why businesses
use OLAP are discussed in the chapter.
4-19.
a)

This problem is about the Marcia Felix Corporation

A suggested record structure is:
Field Name

Size

Type

Decimal Digits

Employ_Name
Employ_IDNum
Apt_Score
Depart_ID
Pay_Rate
Employee_Gender

20
4
2
2
4
1

alphanumeric
numeric
numeric
alphanumeric
numeric
alphanumeric

none
none
2

b-d)

see the following pages

e)

Average pay rate:

$8.02

f)

Average female pay rate:

Average male pay rate:

$8.16
$7.95

g)

Females scoring over 70:

none
Males scoring over 50:
Langley, Baker, Moore,
Jackson, Markham, Garrow, Conrad, Pettinari, Bliss,
Barrett, and Erickson

SM 4.4

b) Records sorted by department.

Employee
Number

Score on
Aptitude
Test

MCGUIRE, TANA B

4052

55

9.20

GARROW, SCOTT D

8753

61

7.40

MARKHAM, KYLE R

6766

62

7.90

BAKER, JEFFREY L

1692

73

7.50

FRANTZ, HEIDI L

6390

55

6.90

PETTINARI, DARIN M

1222

56

8.40

ERICKSON, KURT N

2217

53

8.50

BARRETT, RAYMOND G

3444

53

7.45

MONACH, SHERI L

8082

48

9.10

BOWERS, PAUL D

2084

42

5.90

NELSON, JOHN R

5873

46

7.40

HARDENBROOK, LISA A

7427

40

6.70

CHEUNG, WAI KONG

8183

55

7.80

CONRAD, MARK E

8317

58

9.60

JACKSON, GREG W

4091

67

8.90

DRISCOLL, DAVID M

5210

47

7.70

BLISS, DONALD W

6713

55

6.80

DAILY, REBECCA E

2336

45

8.90

LYNCH, SHERENE D

7857

66

8.90

LUBINSKI, TRAVIS M

3865

37

7.50

LANGLEY, JERRY W

3262

86

9.40

BUCHANAN, CINDY

3735

41

7.80

PAPEZ, PETER M

7799

41

8.30

MOORE, MICHAEL S

2431

67

8.50

Employee Name

SM 4.5

Department
ID

Current
Pay Rate

Sex

c) Records sorted by test score.

Employee
Number

Score on
Aptitude
Test

LUBINSKI, TRAVIS M

3865

37

7.50

HARDENBROOK, LISA A

7427

40

6.70

PAPEZ, PETER M

7799

41

8.30

BUCHANAN, CINDY

3735

41

7.80

BOWERS, PAUL D

2084

42

5.90

DAILY, REBECCA E

2336

45

8.90

NELSON, JOHN R

5873

46

7.40

DRISCOLL, DAVID M

5210

47

7.70

MONACH, SHERI L

8082

48

9.10

BARRETT, RAYMOND G

3444

53

7.45

ERICKSON, KURT N

2217

53

8.50

MCGUIRE, TANA B

4052

55

9.20

FRANTZ, HEIDI L

6390

55

6.90

CHEUNG, WAI KONG

8183

55

7.80

BLISS, DONALD W

6713

55

6.80

PETTINARI, DARIN M

1222

56

8.40

CONRAD, MARK E

8317

58

9.60

GARROW, SCOTT D

8753

61

7.40

MARKHAM, KYLE R

6766

62

7.90

LYNCH, SHERENE D

7857

66

8.90

MOORE, MICHAEL S

2431

67

8.50

JACKSON, GREG W

4091

67

8.90

BAKER, JEFFREY L

1692

73

7.50

LANGLEY, JERRY W

3262

86

9.40

Employee Name

SM 4.6

Department
ID

Current
Pay Rate

Sex

d) Records sorted by last name within department.

Employee
Number

Score on
Aptitude
Test

BAKER, JEFFREY L

1692

73

7.50

FRANTZ, HEIDI L

6390

55

6.90

GARROW, SCOTT D

8753

61

7.40

MARKHAM, KYLE R

6766

62

7.90

MCGUIRE, TANA B

4052

55

9.20

BARRETT, RAYMOND G

3444

53

7.45

BOWERS, PAUL D

2084

42

5.90

ERICKSON, KURT N

2217

53

8.50

MONACH, SHERI L

8082

48

9.10

NELSON, JOHN R

5873

46

7.40

PETTINARI, DARIN M

1222

56

8.40

CHEUNG, WAI KONG

8183

55

7.80

HARDENBROOK, LISA A

7427

40

6.70

BLISS, DONALD W

6713

55

6.80

CONRAD, MARK E

8317

58

9.60

DAILY, REBECCA E

2336

45

8.90

DRISCOLL, DAVID M

5210

47

7.70

JACKSON, GREG W

4091

67

8.90

LUBINSKI, TRAVIS M

3865

37

7.50

LYNCH, SHERENE D

7857

66

8.90

BUCHANAN, CINDY

3735

41

7.80

LANGLEY, JERRY W

3262

86

9.40

MOORE, MICHAEL S

2431

67

8.50

PAPEZ, PETER M

7799

41

8.30

Employee Name

SM 4.7

Department
ID

Current
Pay Rate

Sex

Case Analyses
4-20.

BSN Bicycles I (Creating a Database from Scratch with Microsoft Access)

1. The resources, events, and agents for this case are as follows:
Resources: inventory and cash
Events:
sales, cash receipts, purchases, and cash payments
Agents:
the companys employees (sales personnel, cashiers, and purchasing
agents) customers, and vendors.
E-R diagram is on the following page
2. Examples of data fields for each of these tables:
cash:
account #, cash type, beginning balance, authorized personnel
inventory purchases:
purchase order #, item #, item name, quantity purchased, vender ID, vendor name
vendor cash payments:
check #, vendor ID, vendor name, purchase order #, amount
vendors:
vendor ID, vendor name, street address, city, state, zip code, contact person, phone #,
and fax #
employees:
employee ID, first name, middle initial, last name, department #, street address
(probably not needed inasmuch as there are only three individuals in the company)
inventory table:
item #, item description, units (e.g., dozens), unit cost, unit retail sales price, quantity on
hand
vendor purchases/inventory (join) table:
purchase order #, item #, quantity purchased
customers:
First name, Last name, Customer #, Street Address, City, State, Zip Code, Home phone
number, Work phone number, Cell phone number, Credit Card type (e.g., Visa), credit
card number, credit card expiration date
customer invoices:
invoice #, invoice date, invoice amount
Database tables for the purchasing process are:
cash, purchases, cash payments, vendors, and employees. There should also be a
table for the purchases/inventory relationship as this is a many-to-many relationship.
3. This part of the case requires students to create several records for each table.
4. This part of the case requires students to create relationships for each of the various tables.
5. This part of the case requires students to print hard copies of each table in data sheet view
and also to create a report, documenting their relationships.

SM 4.8

SM 4.9

4-21.

Furry Friends Foundation I (Creating a New Database from Scratch)

This case introduces students to a relational database. It requires them to set up the database,
create tables, and connect them using relationships.
1.

2. The Contributor ID is used as the primary key for the FFF contributor table. The key is
unique and a donation statement can be produced for each contributor for his or her use
when filing state or federal taxes.
3. Each student will need to add a unique contributor ID, their last name, first name, street
address, city, state, zip and phone number using the correct formats.
4. The relationships between the tables are joined by Contributor ID in the Contributor File and
Donation File. The link between the Donation File and the Animal Code File is the Animal
Code.

5. See 1 above for each table and 4 for the relationship diagram. You will want to check to see
that each student has entered his or her own information as required in 3.

SM 4.10

4-22.

Bonnie P Manufacturing Company (Data Validation Using a DBMS)

1. Create a record structure as specified in the problem. The primary key should be the Social
Security numbernot the last name. The Required? setting for each data field must be
changed to yes.
2. This problem requires the following validation rules:
Data field
Work Phone extension:
Pay rate:
No. of tax exemptions:
Department Code:

Validation Rule
>100 And <999
>=7.75 And <=29.85
<=10
"A" Or "B" Or "C"

Validation text
see below
see below
see below
see below

3. Example records:

Last
Name
Anderson
Baker
Chapman

First
Name
Andrew
Barbara
Carolyn

Social
Security
Number
123-45-6789
234-56-7890
345-67-8899

Home Phone
(111) 222-3333
(222) 333-4444
(333) 444-4567

4. Examples of validation text messages:

SM 4.11

Work Phone
Extension
123
143
456

Pay Rate
$ 9.90
$ 10.20
$ 22.35

Tax
Exemptions
1
2
3

Department
A
B
C

4-23.

Clifford Cohen University (Enforcing Referential Integrity)

1. Suggested data types for each field in the database tables are as follows:
Table
Car Registration Table

Ticket File Table

Parking Violations Code Table

Data field
Social Security Number
Last Name
First Name
Phone Number
License Plate State
License Plate Number
Ticket Number
License Plate State
License Plate Number
Date
Violations Code
Code
Fine
Explanation

Data type
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Numeric (Integer)
Text
Text
Date
Text
Text
Numeric (floating point)
Text

2. This part of the case requires students to create three records in the car registration table
and three records in the Parking Violations Code table.
3. This part of the case requires students to create at least three parking tickets for each car
registrant. Students must also print these.
4. This part of the case requires students to create a record in the ticket file that contains a
non-existent ticket code in the parking Violations Code file. They should be able to do this
because no safeguards have yet been installed to stop them.
5. This part of the case requires students to link the tables together and to enforce referential
integrity.
6. The student should now be able to view the linked records.
7. This part of the case requires students to again create a record in the ticket file that contains
a non-existent ticket code in the parking Violations Code file. Now, they should not be able
to do so because the database system enforces referential integrity.
8. This part of the case requires students to attempt to delete a record from the Parking
Violations code table. They should not be able to do so because the database system
enforces referential integrity.
9. This part of the case requires students to create an example of the parking violations by
type report described in the case. The format for such a report is not specified for this case,
but students should have little trouble creating one in Access if they are provided a little
additional instruction and guided to use Access Report Wizard.

SM 4.12

4-24

BSN Bicycles II (Creating Queries in Access)

1 and 2.

Create a database of records. This is a continuation of Case 4-20.

3. Create a query that selects all customers living in Virginia. The results depend upon the
underlying data that each student creates. However, the construct for this query is:

4. Create a query that selects all customers living in zip code 12345. The selected records will
depend upon the underlying data that each student creates. However, the construct for this
query is:

SM 4.13

5. Create a query that selects all customers living in Virginia with zip code 12345. The resulting
records depend upon the underlying data that each student creates. However, the construct
for this query is:

6.
Create a
query
that

selects all credit customers. The resulting records will depend upon the underlying data that
each student creates. However, the construct for this query is:

4.25.

Furry Friends Foundation II (Creating Queries for Databases)

1. This is a continuation of Case 4-21.

2. This requires students to create three records using their own name and contributions to the
three different categories of dogs, cats, and unspecified. The results depend upon the
underlying data that each student creates.
3. Create a query of all contributors donating to cats. The results should include the entry that
the student made for himself/herself. The construct for this query is:

SM 4.14

SM 4.15

4. Create a query of all contributors who donated over $50. If the student made contributions
over $50, the donation will also be reflected in this query. The construct for this query is:

5. Create a query of all contributors who donated over $100 to dogs. If the student made a
contribution over $100 to dogs, it will be reflected in this query. The construct for this query
is:

SM 4.16