School of Computing and Mathematics

Examination Session 2, 2015

ITC556 Database Systems

Sample Exam + Solutions
This paper is for Distance Education (Distance), Study Centre Sydney and Study Centre
Melbourne students.
EXAM CONDITIONS:
This is a closed book exam
Notes are NOT permitted in the Exam
No dictionary permitted
The student may NOT retain the question paper

WRITING TIME:

2 hours plus 10 minutes reading time

Writing is permitted during reading time

MATERIALS SUPPLIED BY UNIVERSITY:

1 x 12 page answer booklet

1 x General purpose answer sheet (GPAS)

MATERIALS PERMITTED IN EXAMINATION: Ruler - any type

2B Pencil/Eraser
(No electronic aids are permitted e.g. laptops, phones)

NUMBER OF QUESTIONS:

VALUE:

50%

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
1. Enter your name and student number and sign the space provided below.
2. This is a closed book examination; therefore no written material, reference books or notes will
be permitted in the examination room.
3. The examination paper, together with all answer booklets, must be returned at the completion
of the examination.
4. Question 1 consists of 20 multiple choice questions, each worth 1 mark. The answers to
these must be marked on the GPAS supplied with a 2B pencil.
5. Questions 2-5 consist of short and long answer questions. The marks allocated to each
question are indicated. Write your answers in the answer booklet provided.
6. You should answer ALL questions.

STUDENT NAME: . STUDENT ID: .

SIGNATURE .

QUESTION 1

(20 marks in total)

Each question is worth 1 mark

It is to be answered using a 2B pencil on the General Purpose Answer Sheet provided, by
filling in the circle corresponding to the most appropriate alternative for each part.
Be sure to complete your name (your family name, then a space, then your first given name)
and student number (in the identification number field) on this sheet. You do not need to fill
in the fields for sex, grade, birth date or special codes.
1. The relational database model enables you to view data ____ rather than ____.
a. relationally, hierarchically
b. hierarchically, relationally
c. physically, logically
d. logically, physically
2. No data entry at all is known as a(n) ____.
a. nil
b. null
c. empty
d. zero
3. A natural join:
a.
b.
c.
d.

links rows with common values in joined attributes

retains duplicate columns
is also known as an outer join
used the DIFFERENCE operator

4. A foreign key exhibits Referential Integrity if it:

a.
b.
c.
d.

does not contain nulls

uniquely identifies a record in the table
used strictly for data retrieval purposes
contains nulls or values matching the related table

5. Foreign keys
a. must not be null, and go in the table at the many end of a 1 to many
relationship.
b. must not be null, and go in the tables at both ends of a many to many
relationship.
c. can be null, and go in the table at the many end of a 1 to many relationship.
d. can be null, and go in the tables at both ends of a many to many relationship.

6. In order to maintain referential integrity when linking multiple tables

a.
b.
c.
d.

a candidate key must reference a foreign key.

a foreign key must reference a primary key.
a primary key must reference a foreign key.
a primary key must reference another primary key.

7. Which attribute(s) make up the primary key in the table definition?

TRANSACTION (INVOICE_NO, PART_NO, QUANTITY)
a.
b.
c.
d.

INVOICE_NO
PART_NO
INVOICE_NO and PART_NO
There is no primary key

8. Normalisation is a process for assigning ________ to entities.

a.
b.
c.
d.

data
files
attributes
relations

9. Which command uses a natural join?

a. SELECT product_name, vendor_name FROM product, vendor
WHERE product.v_code = vendor.v_code
b. SELECT product_name, vendor_name FROM product, vendor
c. SELECT product_name, vendor_name FROM vendor LEFT JOIN PRODUCT
ON vendor.v_code = product.v_code
d. All of the above
10. Which of the following is a reason why a set of normalised tables in a relational database
may be unnormalised
a. data integrity
b. query response time
c. proper concurrency control
d. security
11. A database transaction is said to exhibit atomicity if:
a. the data used during execution cannot be used by a second transaction until the
first one is complete.
b. all SQL requests within the transaction must complete successfully or the entire
transaction is aborted.
c. the databases consistent state is maintained.
d. the transaction includes the ROLLBACK statement
12. If a program is abnormally terminated prior to a transaction commit,
a.
b.
c.
d.

the completed transaction parts should immediately be written to disk.

the database should be rolled back to its previous consistent state.
the database should be rolled back to the start of the session.
the transaction should be committed as far as possible.

13. The transaction log stores information used by the DBMS when processing which
statement:
a.
b.
c.
d.

COMMIT
LOCK
UNDO
ROLLBACK

14. A _____ lock has only two states.

a.
b.
c.
d.

shared
binary
database
row-level

15. A shared lock would be appropriate for a transaction containing:

a.
b.
c.
d.

only one COMMIT statement

DML statements only
SELECT statements
none of the above

16. Attribute B is functionally dependent on attribute A if:

a.
b.
c.
d.

attribute B determines attribute A.

attributes A and B determine attribute C.
attribute B is the primary key
attribute A determines attribute B.

17. A lost update problem happens:

a.
b.
c.
d.

when a transaction is not committed.

when there is a computer failure.
due to concurrency problems
whenever there is a deadlock.

18. A GROUP BY error occurs when:

a.
b.
c.
d.

used in conjunction with one of the SQL aggregate functions

used with a SELECT statement.
used with an ORDER BY statement
none of the above.

19. To check for null values in a column, use the following WHERE clause:
a.
b.
c.
d.

WHERE column = NULL.

WHERE column = 0
WHERE column IS NULL
WHERE column = .

20. A transitive dependency occurs between two tables when:

a.
b.
c.
d.

two tables are normalised.

the tables are in Boyce-Codd normal form.
an attribute in one table is dependent on the primary key of another table
two non-key attributes are dependent on each other

Question_no. Answer

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

D
B
A
D
C
B
C
C
A
B
B
B
D
B
C
D
C
D
C
D

QUESTION 2

(25 marks)

Answer all questions.

1. Represent these business rules by means of an Entity Relationship Diagram (10 marks)

A customer can own many cars.

Some customers do not own cars.
A car is owned by one and only one customer.
A car may generate one or more maintenance records.
Each maintenance record is generated by one and only one car.
Some cars have not (yet) generated a maintenance procedure.
ERD Solution

2. Create an ERD to represent the below case (15 marks)

Case Study:
You are required to:
1. Draw an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) that represents this case study;
2. Resolve any M:N relationships that occur in the ERD.
Origin Energy Australia wishes to create a database with the following entities and attributes:
Customer, with attributes Customer ID, Name, Address( Street, City, State,
ZipCode), and Telephone
Location, with attributes Location ID, Address( Street, City, State,ZipCode) and Type(
values of Business or Residential)
Rate, with attributes Rate Class and RatePerKWH
After interviews with the owners, you have come up with the following business rules:
Customers can have one or more locations
Each location can have one or more rates, depending on the time of day.
Notes:
The third party payment site is out of scope for this question and can be ignored.
The ERD must show names for both entities and relationships.
The ERD must indicate the cardinality (ie. one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many) of
all relationships.

 The ERD does not need to show attributes.

List any assumptions that you make.
ERD Solution
Entity and relationship names should be appropriate.

QUESTION 3

(15 marks in total)

The table below contains sample data for parts and for vendors who supply those parts. In
discussing this data with users, we find that part numbers (but not descriptions) uniquely
identify parts, and that vendor names uniquely identify vendors.

Source: http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/units/databaseconcepts/module2/normalisation.html
1. Develop a diagram that shows the functional dependencies in the Part Supplier relation
(6 marks).

2. In what normal form is Part Supplier relation? (3 marks)

1st Normal Form

3. Convert Part Supplier relation to 3rd Normal Form if necessary and show the referential
integrity constraints (6 marks)

QUESTION 4
Answer all questions Each question is worth 4 marks

(20 marks in total)

Write SQL queries or commands to answer the following.

a) What is the highest room rate that was booked?
b) How many times has Barry Staines made a reservation?
c) What is the name of the operator that booked the most confirmations?
d) Who are the guests that booked the Ocean View Studio room for the Friday/Saturday?
e) Of the guests that booked the Ocean View Studio room for the Friday/Saturday period,
who paid the lowest room rate?

SOLUTION:
a) SELECT MAX(Price)FROM tbBookingDetails;
b) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tbBookingDetails WHERE Guest_Name='Barry Staines';
c) SELECT LoginName FROM tbBookings WHERE Status='CONFIRMED' GROUP BY
LoginName ORDER BY
COUNT(*) DESC LIMIT 1;

d) SELECT GuestName FROM tbBookingsDetails WHERE RoomType='15' AND

DAYOFWEEK(CheckIn)=6 AND DAYOFWEEK(CheckOut)=7;
e) SELECT GuestName FROM tbBookingsDetails WHERE RoomType='15'AND
DAYOFWEEK(CheckIn)=6 AND
DAYOFWEEK(CheckOut)=7 ORDER BY RoomPrice ASC LIMIT 1;

Question 5

(20 marks)

Answer all questions - Each question is worth 5 marks

1. What is data redundancy?
Data redundancy exists when unnecessarily duplicated data are found in the database.
For example, a customer's telephone number may be found in the customer file, in the
sales agent file, and in the invoice file. Data redundancy is symptomatic of a (computer)
file system, given its inability to represent and manage data relationships. Data
redundancy may also be the result of poorly-designed databases that allow the same
data to be kept in different locations. (Here's another opportunity to emphasize the need
for good database design!)
2. When is a table in 3NF?
A table is in 3NF when it is in 2NF and it contains no transitive dependencies.
3. What is a business rule, and what is its purpose in data modeling?
A business rule is a brief, precise, and unambigous description of a policy, procedure, or
principle within a specific organizations environment. In a sense, business rules are
misnamed: they apply to any organization -- a business, a government unit, a religious
group, or a research laboratory; large or small -- that stores and uses data to generate
information.
Business rules are derived from a description of operations. As its name implies, a
description of operations is a detailed narrative that describes the operational
environment of an organization. Such a description requires great precision and detail. If
the description of operations is incorrect or inomplete, the business rules derived from it
will not reflect the real world data environment accurately, thus leading to poorly defined
data models, which lead to poor database designs. In turn, poor database designs lead
to poor applications, thus setting the stage for poor decision making which may
ultimately lead to the demise of the organization.
Note especially that business rules help to create and enforce actions within that
organizations environment. Business rules must be rendered in writing and updated to
reflect any change in the organizations operational environment.
Properly written business rules are used to define entities, attributes, relationships, and
constraints. Because these components form the basis for a database design, the
careful derivation and definition of business rules is crucial to good database design
4. A lock is used in concurrency control. Describe what a lock is, and how, in general, does
it work?
A lock is a mechanism used in concurrency control to guarantee the exclusive use of a
data element to the transaction that owns the lock. For example, if the data element X is
currently locked by transaction T1, transaction T2 will not have access to the data
element X until T1 releases its lock.

Generally speaking, a data item can be in only two states: locked (being used by some
transaction) or unlocked (not in use by any transaction). To access a data element X, a
transaction T1 first must request a lock to the DBMS. If the data element is not in use,
the DBMS will lock X to be used by T1 exclusively. No other transaction will have access
to X while T1 is executed.