Database Management System

Database

- A database is an integrated collection of logically related records or files.

- It consolidates records previously stored in separate files into a common pool of
data records for many applications.
- The data stored in a database is independent of the computer programs using it
and of the type of secondary storage devices on which it is stored.

Database management involves the control of how databases are created, interrogated
and maintained to provide information needed by end use and the organization.

Database Approach

- Common databases are developed in the database management approach.

- A data dictionary, which describes the data contents and relationships of
databases, is established to ensure integrity, consistency and reliability.
- The data needed by many different applications in an organization are
consolidated and integrated into several common databases, instead of being
stored in many independent data files.

Database Processing Activities

Database processing consists of 3 basic activities:

- Updating and maintaining common databases to reflect new business

transactions and other events requiring changes to an organization’s records.
- Providing information need for each end user’s applications by using computer
programs that share the data in common databases through a common S/W
interface.
- Providing an inquiry response and reporting capability through a DBMS package
so that end users can easily interrogate databases, generate reports, and receive
quick response to their ad hoc requests for information.

Database Management System (DBMS)

- A database management system (DBMS) is a set of computer programs that

controls the creation, maintenance, and use of the databases of an organization
and its end users.
- Database management packages are available for micro, mini, and mainframe
computer systems.

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 - The 4 major uses of a DBMS are illustrated in figure:
 Database Development
 Database Interrogation
 Database Maintenance
 Application Development
Operating
System

Database Database
Management
Management
System Data
bases
Data
Application Dictionary

Programs

Figure – 4 major types of a DBMS

The Data Dictionary

- A major tool of database administration.

- A computer based catalog or directory containing metadata, i.e., data about data.
- It includes a software component to manage a database of data definitions, i.e.,
metadata about the data structure, data elements, and other characteristics of an
organization’s databases.
- E.g. - It contains the names and description of all types of data records and their
interrelationships, as well as information outlining requirements for end user’s
access, use of application programs, and database maintenance and security.
- Data dictionaries can be queried by the database administrator (DBA) to report
the status of any aspect of a firm’s metadata.
- The DBA can make changes to the definitions of selected data elements.
- Some active data dictionaries automatically enforce standard data element
definitions.
- E.g. - It would not allow a data entry program to use a non standard definition of a
customer record and a data entry operator to enter the exceeded customer name.

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Text Databases

- A natural outgrowth of the use of computers to create and store documents

electronically.
- Online database services store bibliographic information such as publications in
large text databases.
- Text databases are also available on CD ROM optical disks for use with
microcomputer systems.
- Major corporations and government agencies have developed large text databases
containing all kinds of documents.
- Text database management systems software allows create, store, search, retrieve,
modify, and assemble documents and other information.

Image Databases

- A wide variety of images can be stored electronically in image databases.

- E.g., electronic encyclopedias are available on CD ROM disks, which store
thousands of photographs, and many animated video sequences as digitized
images, along with thousands of pages of text.
- Major application is document image processing that thousands of pages of
business documents, such as customer correspondence, purchase orders and
invoices, sales catalogs and service manuals, can be optically scanned and stored
as documents images on a single optical disk.
- Image database management systems software allows employees in many
companies to quickly retrieve and display documents form image databases
holding millions of pages of document images.
- Workers can view and modify documents at their workstations and electronically
route them to the workstations of other end users in the organization.

Types of Databases

The growth of distributed processing, end user computing, decision support and
executive information system, has caused the development of several major types of
databases.

Operational databases

- Store detailed data needed to support the operations of the entire organization.
- Also called subject area databases (SADB), transaction databases, and
production databases.
- E.g. - a customer database, personal database, inventory database, etc.

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Management databases

- Store data and information extracted from selected operational and external
databases.
- Consist of summarized data and information most needed by the organization’s
managers and other end users.
- Also called information databases.
- Support executive end users in managerial decision making as part of decision
support systems and executive information systems.

Information warehouse databases

- Store data from current and previous years that has been extracted from the
various operational and management databases of an organization.
- It is a central source of data that has been standardized and integrated so it can be
used by managers and other end user professionals.
- E.g. - pattern processing, where operational data is processed to identify key
factors and trends in historical patterns of business activity.

Distributed databases

- Databases of local work groups and departments at regional offices, branch

offices, manufacturing plants, and other work sites.
- Include segments of both common operational and End user databases as well as
data generated and use only at a user’s own site.
- Ensuring that all of data in organization’s distributed databases are consistently
and concurrently updated.

End use databases

- Consist of a variety of data files developed by end users at their workstations.

- E.g. - electronic copies of word processing documents or email or own data files
generated by using spreadsheet and DBMS packages.

External databases

- Access to external, privately owned online databases or data banks is available

for a fee to end users and organizations from commercial information services.
- Data is available in the form of statistics on economic and demographic activity
from statistical data banks.
- Can receive abstracts from hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and other
periodicals from bibliographic data banks.

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 External
Database

End User Workstation

Distributed Database
Database Operational
Server Database

Management
End user Information Database
Database Warehouse
Database

Figure – Major types of DatabasesFigure

Benefits and Limitations of Database Management

Benefits

- It reduces the duplication of data and integrates data so that multiple programs
and users can be accessed.
- Programs are not dependent on the format of the data and the type of secondary
storage hardware being used.
- Users are provided with an inquiry response and reporting capability that allows
to obtain information needs without having to write computer programs.
- Computer programming is simplified because programs are not dependent on
either the logical format of the data stored in databases or access to data and
modification of the physical storage location.
- The integrity and security of the data stored in database can be increased since
access to data and information of the database are controlled by DBMS software,
a data dictionary, and DBA function.

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Limitations

- Developing a large database and installing a DBMS can be difficult and

expensive.
- More hardware capability is required, since storage requirements for the
organization’s data, overhead control data, and the DBMS programs are greater.
- Longer processing times may result from high-volume transaction processing
applications since an extra layer of software exists between application programs
and the operating system.
- If an organization relies on centralized databases, potential to errors, fraud, and
failure is increased.
- Problems of inconsistency of data can arise if a distributed database approach is
used.

Data Resource Management

Data
Resource
Management

Data Planning Database Administration Data Administration

 Data Resource  Software Acquisition  Data

Planning Standardization
 Database Design
 Data Architecture  Data Dictionary
 Performance Standards
 Requirements Measurement
Definition  Security
Administration

Figure – Data Resource Management

Data Planning

- It is a corporate planning and analysis function that focus on data resource

management.
- It includes the responsibility for developing an overall data architecture for the
firm’s data resources.
- It is a major component of an organization’s strategic planning process.
- It shows that an organization has made a formal commitment to long term
planning for the strategic use and management of its data resources.

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Data Administration

- Data administration is an organization-wide managerial function.

- Its focus is the planning and control of data in support of an organization’s
business functions and strategic business objectives.
- A major thrust of data administration, is the establishment of data planning
activity for the organization.
- It may include responsibility for developing policies and setting standards for
corporate database design, processing and security arrangements and for selecting
database management data dictionary software.

Database Administration

- It is an important data resource management function responsible for the proper

use of database management technology.
- It has more operational and technical responsibilities than other data resource
management functions.
- It includes responsibilities for developing and maintaining the organization’s data
dictionary designing and monitoring the performance of database and enforcing
standards for database use and security.
- Database administrators work with systems analysts, programmers, and end users
to provide their expertise to major systems development projects.

Database

- A database is an integrated collection of logically related records or files.

- It consolidates records previously stored in separate files into a common pool of
data records for many applications.
- E.g. a personal database consolidates data formerly kept in separate files such as
educational background file, family history file, personal profile, etc.

Personal Database

Education
background
data
Family
history
data

Personal
profile

Figure – A personal database consolidates data formerly kept in separate files

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Database Structures

- The relationships among the many individual records stored in database are based
on one of several logical data structures or models.
- DBMS packages are designed to use a specific data structure to provide end user
with quick easy access to information stored in databases.
- There are 4 fundamental data structures: hierarchical, network, relational, and
object-oriented models.

Hierarchical Structure

- Early mainframe DBMS packages used the hierarchical structure in which the
relationships between records form a hierarchy or treelike structure.
- All records are dependent and arranged in multilevel structures consisting of one
root record and any number of subordinate levels.
- All of the relationships among are one-to-many, since each data element is related
only to one element above it.
- The data element or record at the highest level of the hierarchy (the department
data element) is called the root element.
- Any data element can be accessed by moving downward from a root and along
the branches of the tree until the desired record (the employee data element) is
located.

HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE Department

Data Element

Project A Project B
Data Element Data Element

Employee 1 Employee 2
Data Element Data Element

Network Structure

- The network structure is used by many mainframe DBMS packages.

- It allows many-to-many relationships among records.
- i.e., the network model can access a data element by following one of several
paths because any data element or record can be related to any number of other
data elements.
- E.g., departmental records can be related to more than one project record.
- Thus, one could locate all employee records for a particular department or all
project records related to a particular employee.

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NETWORK STRUCTURE

Department Department
A B

Employee 1 Employee 2 Employee 3

Project B Project A

Relational Structure

- It is used by most microcomputer DBMS packages, as well as minicomputer and

mainframe systems.
- All data elements within the database are viewed as simple tables, figure shows 2
tables (department and employee), representing some of the relationships.
- Other tables might represent the data element relationships among project
divisions, product line, etc.
- DBMS packages based on the relational model can link data elements form
various tables to provide information to users.
- E.g., a DBMS package could retrieve and display an employee’s name and salary
from the employee table and the name of his or her department from the
department table, by using their common department number field (Deptno) to
link, or join 2 tables.

RELATIONAL STRUCTURE

Department Table Employee Table

Deptno Dname Dloc Dhead Empno Ename Etitle Esalary Deptno

DeptA Emp1 DeptA
DeptB Emp2 DeptA
DeptC Emp3 DeptB
Emp4 DeptB
Emp5 DeptC
Emp6 DeptB

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Object-Oriented Structure

- It was developed to provide capabilities missing from the hierarchical, network,

and relational structures.
- The attributes and relationships of an entity, plus the methods and processes that
can be performed upon the data.
- This capability is called encapsulation and it allows the object-oriented database
model.
- An object consists of data values describing the object-oriented model to better
handle more complex types of data (graphic picture, voice, text) than other
database structures.
- The object-oriented model also supports inheritance, i.e., new objects can be
automatically created by replicating some or all of the characteristics of one or
more parent objects.
- Such capabilities have made OODBMS (object oriented database management
systems) popular in computer-aided design (CAD) and similar applications.
- E.g., they allow designers to develop product designs store them as object in an
object-oriented database, and replicate and modify them to create new product
designs.

PERSON

Name
Date of Birth
Gender

Work

TEACHER STUDENT

Rank Roll No.

Salary Class

Lecture Study

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