-----------------------[ Grade 11 _ IT Note _ Unit 3 _ DATABASE MANAGEMENT _ 2017 E.

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UNIT 3
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
Unit Overview
Database management is a method used to organize data in a more effective way for easy management and
use of data. In this unit you will learn the basics of database modelling and management. The unit covers
concept of database, file- based and database approaches, relational data models, relational database, and
database management with Microsoft Access.

3.1. Data Management Approaches

Data management is an integral part of our daily lives. Traditionally, data used to be managed manually
using physical papers. As the size of data that organizations manage become larger and larger, computers
have become instrumental for efficient management of data. The first computer-based data management is
a file-based data management approach. The database approach was introduced later and addressed the
inherent weaknesses of the file-based approach.

3.1.1 File based data management

File-based data management is an approach in which data is stored in separate files without explicit
relationships. Data in different files is managed by different application programs. Any change to data
requires modification of the program that uses the data. Changes made on the program may also require
change in the file structure. In file-based data management approach, each department creates and
processes its own files separately. For example, procurement and finance departments create and manage
their own files.
The file-based data management approach creates problems of data duplication and data inconsistency. For
example, let us say employee data is stored both in human resource and finance departments. When human
resource department modifies the employee records upon hiring new employees, it may not communicate
the information to the finance department. As a result, different information about employees would be
found in one organization. Such types of contradictions are caused by the fact that data in one file is not
linked to data in other files of the same organization in the file-based approach. The isolation of data also
makes retrieval of data of the entire organization a very difficult task. These problems led to the development
of the database approach.

3.1.2 Database approach to data management

In the database approach to data management, data is managed by a database using a database
management system (DBMS) software. A database is a collection of logically-related data. It stores all
organization’s data in one repository. A database is created to address the data requirements of different
user groups and application programs in an organization.
Database is an essential resource to every organization. It is used to maintain internal records of
organizations such as student records for schools, customer records and daily sales records for supermarkets,
patient database for hospitals and the like. Data in the database are used to generate different information
that are used in the daily business activities. For example, the salesman in a supermarket uses database to
generate daily or monthly sales reports. Hospitals may generate report that shows the most frequent disease
types in the last year. report that shows the most frequent disease types in the last year. report that shows
the most frequent disease types in the last year. report that shows the most frequent disease types in the last
year.
DBMS is software that manages databases. DBMS is used to add new data, modify data and delete data in
the database. It is also used to retrieve data from the database. DBMS essentially serves as an interface
between the database and end users or application programs. It ensures that data is easily accessed by
potential users.
The database management process has three main components. At the bottom is the database which stores
the actual data. In the middle is a DBMS which manages the database. At the top of the DBMS are application
programs that use the database. The application programs submit database query to the DBMS. Then, the

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DBMS retrieves data that matches the queries and replies retrieved data to the application programs.The
database approach to data management provides many advantages to the organization. Some of the
advantages are:
• Data independence: A database is created to store all organization data and support all users of the
organization. Each user or department does not need to manage its own isolated data.
• Data sharing: all organization’s data is stored in one central database. DBMS allows this central database
to be accessed by different users.
• Avoiding data redundancy: Isolated departmental files are stored in one central database. The DBMS
can retrieve data from multiple tables so as to meet the requirement of different database users or
application programs.
• Improved data security: Data in the database is accessed only by authorized users. Only users who are
given data access right can access and modify data in the database.

3.2. Data Model

Data model of a database is the blue print of the database. It is used as a guide to store data in a database.
It shows database entities, attributes and the relationships between the entities. It also specifies what data to
store in the database. For example, a school database stores data about students and teachers. It does not
need to store data about patients or traffic accidents. These data do not have relevance to the school’s
day-to-day activities. Likewise, hospitals store data about patients and physicians.

3.2.1 Basic Concepts in Data Modelling

The basic concepts of entity, relationship and attribute are discussed below:
• Entities are basically people, places or events about which you want to store data. For example, banks
may keep data about customers and bank account entities. Similarly, a library may have entities like book,
loan and borrower. Entities are equivalent to tables when implemented in the database.

• Attributes are properties of an entity that are used to differentiate one entity from other entity. For
example, customer entity may have customer id, name, gender and address as its attributes. On the other
hand, book entity may have author name, book title and publication year as its attributes. The two entities
have different attributes because they are different entities.

• A relationship is an association between entities. For example, customer has account in a bank. The verb
‘has’ indicates the relationship between customer and bank account entities.
Relational databases split data among two or more tables. Access uses a linking field, called a foreign key.

Some Attributes foreign key :

² Foreign key is an attribute in a table that matches the primary key of another related table.
² Foreign-key values generally aren’t unique in their own table.

Relationship types
There is more than one type of table relationship in Access. When you relate two tables, you can choose one
of three possible relationship types.

1. One-to-one relationship: An instance of an entity has only one instance in the other entity with which it
is associated. For example, a country and a capital city. A country is associated with one capital city, and a
capital city is associated with only one country.

One-to-one relationship type figure

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Notes
Instance of an entity refers to a single occurrence of an entity. For example, “Addis Ababa” is an instance of
the entity “City”.

2. One-to-many relationship: An instance in one entity is associated with many instances in the other
related entity. For example, a department called ‘Computer Science’ is associated with multiple
students.One-to-many relationship is the default and the most common type of relationship.

One-to-many relationship type figure

3. Many-to-many relationship: Instances on both sides of the relationship are associated with multiple
instances of the other entity. For example, an employee may work in multiple projects. At the same time, a
project may have multiple employees assigned to it.

Many-to-many relationship type figure

3.2.2 Entity Relationship Diagram

One of the popular representation tools for data model is Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD). ERD is used to
visually represent a data model. It has three main components, namely entity, attribute and relationship.
Entities are represented as a rectangle and relationships as a line to show the association between entities.
Attributes are represented as ellipses. The names of entities and attributes are placed inside the rectangle
and the ellipse respectively. The names of relationships, on the other hand, are placed right on top of the line.
The following figure shows an example of ERD that shows the association between a student and book
entities and their respective attributes.

The above figure shows, student entity has student _id, name, age and address attributes. On the other hand,
book entity has book _id, book _title, publication _ year attributes. The two entities are related by ‘borrows’
relationship.

3.2.3 Relational Data Model

The relational data model represents data in terms of two-dimensional tables called relations. A relation is
nothing but a table of rows and columns. Each row, also called a record or tuple, contains a unique instance

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of data. These rows in the relation denote a real-world entity. The columns in a relation, also known as
attributes or fields, are used to describe the properties of relations.

3.2.4 Relational Database

Relational database is a type of database that contains logically related set of tables. The rows in a table are
called records, and the columns are called fields or attributes. Relational database is implemented using
relational database management system (RDMS) software. The following three tables are used to show
implementation of a relational database.

3.3. Creating Relational Database in Microsoft Access

A database is a collection of one or more tables. A table is a database structure that holds data.
A table is a two-dimensional grid characterized by rows and columns. A row is a horizontal entry that exists in
a table.It is also called a record. A column is a vertical entity in a table. It is also called a field. A column
contains all information associated with a specific field in a table.
Each row in a table is identified uniquely by its primary key. A primary key is a column that makes each row
of data in the table unique. The primary key is assigned at table creation. No two rows in a table can be
identical. Each row describes a fact about an entity. Each column has a name that identifies it uniquely within
a table. Each column represents a specific attribute (or property) of the table’s entity type.

Some Attributes primary key :

² Every table has exactly one primary key.
² A primary key is Unique. Because a primary key identifies a single row in a table, no two rows
in a table can have the same primary key value.
² A primary-key value can’t be empty.
² A primary key is Stable. Once a primary key is created, a primary-key value seldom if ever changes. If an
entity is deleted, its primary-key value isn’t reused for a new entity.

Objects of Microsoft Access Database

Access Database has six different types of database objects:
These are:- Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros and Modules.
1. Tables
Tables store information.Tables are the heart of any database,Tables contain data. You can create as many
tables as you need to store different types of information.
2. Queries
Queries are requests you make of your data to extract just the information you want or to.
3. Forms
Forms provide a user-friendly interface for entering or displaying data. Forms provide an easy way to view or
change information in a table.
4. Reports
Reports help you print some or all of the information in a table. You can choose where the information
appears on the printed page, how it’s grouped and sorted,and how it’s formatted.
5. Macros
Macros are mini-programs that automate custom tasks.
6. Modules
Modules are files that contain visual Basic code.

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