Database
Terminologies
Data - Known facts that can be recorded and that have implicit
meaning.
Database: Shared collection of logically related data and a
description of this
data, designed to meet the information needs of an organization
Tables – The view that displays the data base as a
combinations of rows (records) and columns (fields).
The cells contain the bits and pieces of data for each
record in each field.
The first row of a table is reserved for the field names.
Key- A key is a logical value to access record in a table.
A key that uniquely identifies a record is called as
primary key.
Field names – Identify the different categories in a database.
The top row is reserved for field names.
Fields – Categories in a database. Fields are displayed in
columns.
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Domain-Domain refers to the possible values each field can
Database
Terminologies
View- View is a virtual table made up of a subset of the
actual tables.
Records – Related information that is separated by columns
or fields.
Constraints- constraints are the logic rules that are used to
ensure data consistency or avoid certain unacceptable
operations on the data.
Cells - The intersection of columns and rows that contain
the data for each record
Index- it is the part of the physical structure.
NULL value- A field is said to be contain a null value when it
contains nothing at all.
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Database
Terminologies
Objects – Enables you to find, view, display, and print data
differently, based on your needs.
The most commonly used objects are tables,
queries, forms and reports.
Tables show all records in a spreadsheet format
Queries allow you to ask questions of the one or more tables
and show only the information you ask for
Forms display one record at a time
Reports give and organize way of presenting information.
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Database Management System
(DBMS)
DBMS contains information about a particular
enterprise
◦ Collection of interrelated data
◦ Set of programs to access the data
◦ An environment that is both convenient and
efficient to use
Database Applications:
◦ Banking: all transactions
◦ Airlines: reservations, schedules
◦ Universities: registration, grades
◦ Sales: customers, products, purchases
◦ Online retailers: order tracking, customized
recommendations
◦ Manufacturing: production, inventory, orders, supply
chain
◦ Human resources: employee records, salaries, tax
deductions
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File-based Approach
Data is stored in one or more
separate computer files
Data is then processed by
computer programs -
applications
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File-based Approach
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File-based approach
Files
Customer
Applications File
Files
Customer Stock
Orders File Applications Customer
Order
File
File
Customer
Orders
Customer
File Stock
File
Customer Stock
Invoicing File Customer
Invoicing
Order
File Order
File
Stock
Purchase
File Purchase
Orders
Supplier
Orders
File Supplier
File
Stock
File
Stock
Control Stock
Order Control
File
Shared file approach
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Purpose of Database
InSystems
the early days, database applications
were built directly on top of file systems
Drawbacks of using file systems to store
data:
◦ Data redundancy and inconsistency
Multiple file formats, duplication of information in
different files
◦ Difficulty in accessing data
Need to write a new program to carry out each new
task
◦ Data isolation — multiple files and formats
◦ Integrity problems
Integrity constraints (e.g. account balance > 0)
become “buried” in program code rather than being
stated explicitly
Hard to add new constraints or change existing
ones
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Purpose of Database Systems
(Cont.)
Drawbacks of using file systems (cont.)
◦ Atomicity of updates
Failures may leave database in an inconsistent
state with partial updates carried out
Example: Transfer of funds from one account to
another should either complete or not happen at all
◦ Concurrent access by multiple users
Concurrent accessed needed for performance
Uncontrolled concurrent accesses can lead to
inconsistencies
Example: Two people reading a balance and updating it at
the same time
◦ Security problems
Hard to provide user access to some, but not all,
data
Databasesystems offer solutions to all
the above problems
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Database Approach
Arose because:
◦ Definition of data was embedded in
application programs, rather than
being stored separately and
independently
◦ No control over access and
manipulation of data beyond that
imposed by application programs
Result:
◦ The Database and Database
Management System (DBMS).
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Database Approach
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Levels of Abstraction
Physical level: describes how a record (e.g.,
customer) is stored.
Logical level: describes data stored in
database, and the relationships among the data.
type customer = record
customer_id : string;
customer_name : string;
customer_street : string;
customer_city : integer;
end;
View level: application programs hide details of
data types. Views can also hide information
(such as an employee’s salary) for security
purposes.
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View of Data
An architecture for a database system
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Instances and Schemas
Similar to types and variables in programming languages
Schema – the logical structure of the database
◦ Example: The database consists of information about a set of
customers and accounts and the relationship between them)
◦ Analogous to type information of a variable in a program
◦ Physical schema: database design at the physical level
◦ Logical schema: database design at the logical level
Instance – the actual content of the database at a particular point in
time
◦ Analogous to the value of a variable
Physical Data Independence – the ability to modify the physical
schema without changing the logical schema
◦ Applications depend on the logical schema
◦ In general, the interfaces between the various levels and components
should be well defined so that changes in some parts do not seriously
influence others.
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Data Models
A collection of tools for describing
◦ Data
◦ Data relationships
◦ Data semantics
◦ Data constraints
1.Relational model
2.Entity-Relationshipdata model (mainly
for database design)
3.Object-based data models (Object-
oriented and Object-relational)
4.Semi structured data model (XML)
Other older models:
Network model
Hierarchical model
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The Entity-Relationship
Model
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Relational Model
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The object-oriented data
model
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The eXtensible Markup
Language (XML)
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Network Data Model
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Hierarchical Model
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Data Manipulation Language
(DML)
Language for accessing and
manipulating the data organized by
the appropriate data model
◦ DML also known as query language
Two classes of languages
◦ Procedural – user specifies what data is
required and how to get those data
◦ Declarative (nonprocedural) – user
specifies what data is required without
specifying how to get those data
SQL is the most widely used query
language
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Data Definition Language
(DDL)
Specification notation for defining the
database schema
Example: create table account (
account-number
char(10),
balance integer)
DDL compiler generates a set of tables
stored in a data dictionary
Data dictionary contains metadata (i.e.,
data about data)
◦ Database schema
◦ Data storage and definition language
Specifies the storage structure and access methods
used
◦ Integrity constraints
Domain constraints
Referential integrity (references constraint in SQL)
Assertions
Authorization
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Relational Model
Example
Attributes
of tabular data in the relational model
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A Sample Relational
Database
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SQL
SQL: widely used non-procedural language
◦ Example: Find the name of the customer with customer-
id 192-83-7465
select customer.customer_name
from customer
where customer.customer_id = ‘192-83-7465’
◦ Example: Find the balances of all accounts held by the
customer with customer-id 192-83-7465
select account.balance
from depositor, account
where depositor.customer_id = ‘192-83-7465’
and
depositor.account_number = account.account_number
Application programs generally access databases
through one of
◦ Language extensions to allow embedded SQL
◦ Application program interface (e.g., ODBC/JDBC) which
allow SQL queries to be sent to a database
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