INFORMATION PROCESSING

Information Technology
VALIDATION AND
VERIFICATION
VALIDATION

 Validation is the process of checking your data

for errors before processing is done.
 Validation is used to determine if the data
entered is incomplete, inaccurate of
unreasonable.
TYPES OF VALIDATION CHECKS

 Types of validation checks include:

 range checks
 reasonableness checks
 data type checks
 consistency checks
 presence checks
 length checks
 format checks
 RANGE CHECK

 This ensures that numbers entered falls

within a certain range.
Example:
 hours in a given day cannot exceed 24
hours
 Percentage score on a test cannot exceed
100
 When writing your date of birth, the month
lies between 1 to 12
REASONABLENESS CHECK

 Reasonableness check ensures that the data

entered is realistic.
Example:
 Ensure that zeros are not entered by mistake as
an employee salary.
DATA TYPE CHECKS

 Data type check ensures that

the characters entered are of
the correct data type.
Example:
 Letters will not be accepted in
a field defined to store
numbers.
 age is numerical, so a data
check would notice if a letter
was entered.
 CONSISTENCY CHECKS

 Consistency checks makes a comparison between

the data currently entered and data previously
entered. This prevents false or dishonest data
from being entered. In other words consistency
checks is the checking of one piece of data
against another.
 Example:
 if data includes both gender (M or F) and title
(Mr., Mrs. or Miss). If someone has entered M and
Miss, then the two data items are inconsistent.
 The age of the person entered has to match the
date of birth entered in a separate field.
 PRESENCE CHECK

 Presence check ensures that

data that is
required/mandatory is
actually entered. It checks to
ensure that data has been
actually entered in a field and
that it is not left blank.
 Example:
 When signing up for an email
account, your name, date of
birth, etc. is required to
complete the process.
 LENGTH CHECKS

 This check is used to decide if the

data entered has the correct
amount of characters or digits. It
ensures that the amount characters
or digits entered isn’t shorter or
longer than the prescribed length.
 Example
 a phone number must have a
certain amount of digits: 1 (867)
000-0000
 A password, which has to be 6 or more
characters
 FORMAT CHECKS

 A format check is a validation check

which ensures that entered data is in a
particular format or pattern. The format
that data must be in is specified using an
input mask. The input mask is made up
of special characters which indicate what
characters may be typed where. For
example For date fields, the format
check verifies that the date provided is
valid. The format check ensures the
range of the month, day, and year are
valid and also that the date is valid.
 ACTIVITY

 Which validation check will you use to ensure that each of the
following pieces of data below are entered correctly:
1.The birth year of a student.
2.The day of the month.
3.Email address on an application form for a weekly email news
subscription.
4.A cell number.
VERIFICATION

 Data verification is a process whereby

a person checks that data has been
correctly entered into a computer
system.
 This is the process of checking for errors
after processing has been done.
 This may be achieved by visual checks
and dual inputs.
DATA VERIFICATION METHODS

 There are two types of data verification methods:

 Double entry (Dual Input)
 Proof reading (Visual check)
DOUBLE ENTRY

 Double entry errors occurs when the same data is entered

twice, at times by different people.
 If there is any difference between the entries made, the data
will not be processed. The operators will be prompted to
retype the sections that differ until both copies agree.
PROOF-READING

 This involves carefully checking what is being typed, against the

original document. When data is being entered, two types of errors
can occur:
 Typographical errors: typing errors that are made when the
wrong key is hit.
 Transposition errors: when numbers or characters are
entered in the wrong order e.g. entering 2345 instead of 2435.
 To reduce these errors the person entering the data can check that
the data on the screen matches the data on the source document.
FILE ORGANISATION
Methods of File Organisation & Access
 SERIAL FILE ORGANIZATION

 Serial file organization is the simplest type of file organization.

 The records are arranged one after another in the order in which they
were added. That is, they have been sorted into any particular order. To
find information the software needs to look at every record one at a time.
 A serial file (unordered file) is mainly used for backup purposes and are
stored on tape or disk.
 If another record needs to be added, it can be added to the end of the
file.
 Examples of serial files
 Unsorted invoices for customers
 Collection of student marks
 Shopping list
 SEQUENTIAL FILE ORGANIZATION

 A sequential file is similar to a serial file, but the records are sorted in a
particular sequence. With sequential access the records are in order. Therefore
if just one record is required, the method is slow but if all the records are required,
it is very fast. The main disadvantage to modifying records in both serial and
sequential files is that the entire file must be read and then the records written to
a new file.
 Examples of sequential files
 A batch processing system, such as a payroll system uses sequential access
where the record for each employee is accessed in sequence and the
appropriate pay calculated.
 Invoices for customers sorted on customer number
 Class registers sorted on last name

 DIRECT ACCESS FILE ORGANIZATION

 A direct access file allows access to a particular record in

the file using a key. This makes it much easier to find, read,
delete, update and insert records.
 The file is organized like a one dimensional table on where
each record is a part of the table. The record number acts
like a table index to allow you to find the record.
 Direct access files also support sequential access by
allowing the records to be read one after another. The
records in a direct access file are not sorted in ascending or
descending order, but are stored in random order.
 RANDOM FILE ORGANIZATION

 Random access allows data stored on disk to be found

extremely quickly, and the records are accessed regardless
of the order in which they were stored.
 Random file organization is the most efficient way of storing
extremely large files, such as National databases.
 Random files use a very clever method of providing direct
access to records. Each record will have its own specific
position or address on the disk. The records are not sorted in
any way. The position allocated to each record will be
calculated by using a special formula.
APPLICATION AREAS
 ARCHIVING

 This is the process of moving files that are no longer

actively being used to a separate storage location for
long term retention.
 Archived files are still important to the organisation.
 Archived files may be accessed using either serial or
direct access, depending on the file organisation method
used.
 PAYROLL FILE

 A payroll file contains confidential information about the

employee, such as deductions, gross salary and net pay.
 A payroll file should therefore, be accessed in a
sequential manner since it limits access to the rest of
the confidential information located in the personal file.
 REAL-TIME SYSTEMS

 Real time systems depend on the results produced by the system

and the time at which these results were produced.
 This type of system is time critical and therefore must respond
within a specified period of time.
 Examples
 Air traffic control systems
 network multi0media systems
 Command control system
 Direct file origination is therefore suitable for this application.