Chapter -7

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

Database and Data Modelling

File Based System

 Data stored in discrete files, stored on computer, and can be accessed, altered or removed by

the user

Disadvantages of File Based System:

 No enforcing control on organization/structure of files

 Data repeated in different files; manually change each

 Sorting must be done manually or must write a program

 Data may be in different format; difficult to find and use

 Impossible for it to be multi-user; chaotic

 Security not sophisticated; users can access everything

Database Management Systems (DBMS)

 Database: collection of non-redundant interrelated data

 DBMS: Software programs that allow databases to be defined, constructed and manipulated

Features of a DBMS:

 Data management: data stored in relational databases - tables stored in secondary storage

 Data dictionary contains:

 List of all files in database

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

 No. of records in each file

 Names & types of each field

 Data modeling: analysis of data objects used in database, identifying relationships among them

 Logical schema: overall view of entire database, includes: entities, attributes and relationships

 Data integrity: entire block copied to user’s area when being changed, saved back when done

 Data security: handles password allocation and verification, backups database automatically,

controls what certain user’s view by access rights of individuals or groups of users

Data change clash solutions:

 Open entire database in exclusive mode – impractical with several users

 Lock all records in the table being modified – one user changing a table, others can only read

table

 Lock record currently being edited – as someone changes something, others can only read

record

 User specifies no locks – software warns user of simultaneous change, resolve manually

 Deadlock: 2 locks at the same time, DBMS must recognize, 1 user must abort task

Tools in a DBMS:

 Developer interface: allows creating and manipulating database in SQL rather than graphically

 Query processor: handles high-level queries. It parses, validates, optimizes, and compiles or

interprets a query which results in the query plan.

Relational Database Modelling

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

 Entity: object/event which can be distinctly identified

 Table: contains a group of related entities in rows and columns called an entity set

 Tuple: a row or a record in a relation

 Attribute: a field or column in a relation

 Primary key: attribute or combination of them that uniquely define each tuple in relation

 Candidate key: attribute that can potentially be a primary key

 Foreign key: attribute or combination of them that relates 2 different tables

 Referential integrity: prevents users or applications from entering inconsistent data

 Secondary key: candidate keys not chosen as the primary key

 Indexing: creating a secondary key on an attribute to provide fast access when searching on

that attribute; indexing data must be updated when table data changes

Relational Design of a System

Normalization

1st Normal Form (1NF): contains no repeating attribute or groups of attributes. Intersection of

each tuple and attribute contains only 1 value. Example:

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

2nd Normal Form (2NF): it is in 1NF and every non-primary key attribute is fully dependent on

the primary; all the incomplete dependencies have been removed. Example:
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Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

3rd Normal Form (3NF): it is in 1NF and 2NF and all non-key elements are fully dependent on

the primary key. No inter-dependencies between attributes.

 MANY-TO-MANY functions cannot be directly normalized to 3NF, must use a 2 step process e.g.

becomes:
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Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

Data Definition Language (DDL)

 Creation/modification of the database structure using this language

 written in SQL

 Creating a database:

CREATE DATBASE <database-name>

 Creating a table:

CREATE TABLE <table-name> (…)

 Changing a table:

ALTER TABLE <table-name>

ADD <field-name><data-type>

 Adding a primary key:

PRIMARY KEY (field)

 Adding a foreign key:

FOREIGN KEY (field) REFERENCES <table>(field)

 Example:

CREATE DATABASE ‘Personnel.gdb’

CREATE TABLE Training

(EmpID INT NOT NULL,

CourseTitle VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,

CourseDate Date NOT NULL,

PRIMARY KEY (EmpID, CourseDate),

FOREIGN KEY (EmpID) REFERENCES Employee(EmpID))

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

Data Manipulation Language (DML)

 Query and maintenance of data done using this language – written in SQL

Queries:

 Creating a query:

 SELECT <field-name>

 FROM <table-name>

 WHERE <search-condition>

 SQL Operators:

= Equals to

> Greater than

< Less than

>= Greater than or equal to

<= Less than or equal to

<> Not equal to

IS NULL Check for null values

ORDER BY <field-name>

 Arrange identical data into groups:

GROUP BY <field-name>

 Joining together fields of different tables:

INNER JOIN

Data Maintenance:

 Adding data to table:

Author ; Mhuammad Waseem sabri

INSERT INTO <table-name>(field1, field2, field3)

VALUES (value1, value2, value3)

 Deleting a record:

DELETE FROM <table-name>

WHERE <condition>

 Updating a field in a table:

UPDATE <table-name>

SET <field-name> = <value>

WHERE <condition>