Introduction to Databases

Dr. Enosha Hettiarachchi

[email protected]

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Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to do the following:

LO1. Describe the role of a database system and the functions of a database administrator.
LO2. Explain the ANSI-SPARC three-schema architecture for databases and differentiate
between conceptual, external, and internal schemas.
LO3. Define fundamental concepts of the relational model, including relations, attributes,
domains, keys, foreign keys, entity integrity, and referential integrity.
LO4. Analyze database requirements and evaluate the suitability of different database
designs.
LO5. Create Entity-Relationship diagrams for given scenarios and translate conceptual
models into relational schemas.
LO6. Demonstrate the process of normalization and apply normalization techniques to
relations.
LO7. Formulate SQL queries of varying complexity to retrieve and manipulate data.
LO8. Define the concept of views in database systems, create data views using SQL, and
evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of views.
LO9. Develop database applications using SQL and other relevant tools and technologies.
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References

 Fundamentals of Database Systems

by Ramez Elmasri, Shamkant B. Navathe

 An Introduction to Database Systems

by C.J. Date

 Database Systems: A Practical Approach to

Design, Implementation, and Management,
Third Edition
by Thomas Connolly, Carolyn Begg
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Rubric:

 70% Final Examination

 30% Assignments
Structure

 Why use a Database?

 Components of Database System Environment
 File based Systems and Limitations
 Introduction to DB approach
 Data Hierarchy
 Introduction to meta data
 DB applications
 DB approach advantages & disadvantages

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Why use a Database?

 Many people collect things

– How about you?
 If you collect any thing, you probably are familiar with
some of the problems of managing a collection
– e.g. stamps, photos, paper cuttings
 One way to keep track of a collection is to create a
database

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Why Database Technology?

The need to manipulate large collection of data for

frequent used data queries and reports.

E.g. Collection of information on library books

Queries:
– List of books written by a particular author
– List of books about a particular subject
– Borrowing a book
– Reserving a book for borrowing

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Examples of Database Applications

 Purchases from the supermarket

 Purchases using your credit card
 Booking a holiday at the travel agents (Air
Line Reservation)
 Using the Internet
 Studying at university
 Hospital admissions
 Borrowing Books from library

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Library

 Membership
 Reference
 Borrow
 Return
 Order

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Air Line Reservations

• Availability of Seats on a flight, ticket booking, issuing,

reconfirmation

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Hotel Reservations

Availability of Rooms,
reservation

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Hospital System

 Doctor’s information, speciality

 Ward information, no. of beds
 Theatre information, facilities
 Patient information, admittance information
 Consultation information, booking
 Listing
 Read each record and print. In time sequence.

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Components of Database System
Environment

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Components of Database System
Environment
 Hardware
Set of physical devices on which a database
resides. Can range from a PC to a network of
computers.

 Software
– Database Management System (DBMS)
– Operating System
– Application Programs
– User Interface

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Components of Database System
Environment - Data
 Data
– A representation of facts, concepts or
instructions in a formalised manner suitable
for communication, interpretation or
processing by human beings or by automatic
means.

– Text, colours, symbols, shapes, graphics,

images, temperatures, sound, video or other
facts and figures are data suitable for
processing.
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Components of Database System
Environment - Data
E.g. Person or Employee or Customer
name, address, phone, date of birth,
designation, department, salary,
employee no, photograph

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Information

 Knowledge derived from data

 Processed or organised or summarised data

Eg:-
• Process Date of Birth ->Age
• Process Salary (all) ->Highest paid employee
• Process all -> No of employees
• Process all -> Employees working for Sales division

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Components of Database System
Environment
 Procedures
Instructions and rules that should be applied to the
design and use of the database.

 People
Two different types of people (end-users and
practitioners) are concerned with the database.
End-Users
– are the ‘clients’ for the database, who need information from the
database to carry out their duties.
e.g. Executives, managers, staff, clerical personnel
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Components of Database System
Environment - People
Practitioners
– People responsible for the database
system and its associated application
software.
e.g. Data and Database administrators, Database designers,
Application developers.

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People - Job Definitions
 Data Administration: A high-level function that is
responsible for the overall management of data
resources in an organization, including
maintaining corporate-wide definitions and
standards.

 Database Administration: A technical function

that is responsible for physical database design
and for dealing with technical issues such as
security enforcement, database performance,
and backup and recovery. 21
Database Administration Functions

 Often, some mixture of these duties

– Selection of hardware and software

– Installing/upgrading DBMS
– Tuning database performance
– Improving query processing performance
– Managing data security, privacy, and integrity
– Data backup and recovery

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Manual Systems – Information on library books

 Before and during most of the last century,

libraries used card catalogues stored in drawers
of special cabinets
– cards with typed book information
E.g. the title index has one card for every book in the library

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File-Based Systems

 Collection of application programs that perform

services for the end users (e.g. reports).

 Each program defines and manages its own data.

Personnel Application Employee file

Name, Address, NID number, Designation

Payroll Application Payroll file

Name, Address, Hours worked, Pay rate
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Data Redundancy

Personnel
Application Employee file
Name, Address, NID number, Designation

Payroll
Payroll file
Application
NID, Name, Address, Hours worked, Pay rate

Benefit
Benefit files
Application
Name, NID, Address, Insurance, Pension plan
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Limitations of File-Based Approach

 Separation and isolation of data

– Each program maintains its own set of data.
– Users of one program may be unaware of
potentially useful data held by other programs.

 Duplication of data
– Same data is held by different programs.
– Wasted space and potentially different values
and/or different formats for the same item.

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Limitations of File-Based Approach

 Data dependence
– File structure is defined in the program code.

 Incompatible file formats

– Programs are written in different languages, and so
cannot easily access each other’s files.

 Fixed Queries/Proliferation of application programs

– Programs are written to satisfy particular functions.
– Any new requirement needs a new program.

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Program-Data/Data Dependence

program Customer-Entry program Customer-Orders

…. ….
type customer = record type customer = record
customer-id: string; customer-id: string;
customer-name: string; customer-name: string;
customer-street: string; customer-street: string;
customer-city: string; customer-city: string;
end; end;
.... ....

10 | Perera | Galle Road | Colombo 04 28

12 | Silva | Reid Drive | Colombo 07
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

 Shared collection of logically related data (and a

description of this data), designed to meet the
information needs of an organization.

 System catalog or data dictionary provides

description of data (metadata) to enable program–
data independence.

 Logically related data comprises entities, attributes,

and relationships of an organization’s information.

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Database Management System (DBMS)

A software system that enables users to

define, create, and maintain the database
and that provides controlled access to this
database.
E.g. MySQL, Oracle, Access, SQL
Microsoft Server, PostgreSQL, IBM DB2, etc

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 Database Approach

Personnel
Application
File 1
Payroll
DBMS File 2
Application
File 3
Benefit
Application

 e.g. Integrated human resources database

– Personnel: Name, Address, NID number, Designation
– Payroll: Hours worked, Pay rate 32

– Benefit: Insurance, Pension plan

Data Hierarchy

D a ta b a s e
Entities/objects
F ile F ile F ile
F ie ld
R e c o rd R e c o rd R e c o rd

B y te B y te B y te
F ie ld F ie ld F ie ld

attributes
B it B it B it
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Data Hierarchy

Employee (Empno, Name, Designation, Salary,

Depart)
1 De Silva Manager 50000 Personnel
2 Perera Secretary 15000 Personnel
3 Dias Salesman 25000 Sales

Department (Depart, Manager, Dept Addr, Dept Phone)

Personnel De Silva Colombo 589123
Sales Alwis Kandy 987275
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…. …. …. ….
Data Hierarchy

(Empno,name, designation, salary,department)

2 Perera Manager 35,000 Personnel

Record

Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4

Byte
•A single character (letter, number, symbol) is represented using a
group of bits, E.g. 10101010 letter J in ASCII
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Bit
•The smallest unit of data, E.g. 0 or 1
 Data Dictionary/System Catalog

 A subsystem that keeps track of the definitions of

data items in the database which includes:

• Elementary-level data items (fields/attributes),

• Relationships that exists between various data
structures.
• Files or relational tables.
• Indexes that are used to access data quickly.

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Meta Data

 Data that describe the properties or

characteristics of other data.
Some of these properties include the name of the
data item, data type, length, minimum and maximum
allowable values (where appropriate), rules or
constraints and a brief description of each data item.

 Metadata allow database designers and users to

understand what data exist, what the data mean.
 Data without clear meaning can be confusing,
misinterpreted or erroneous.
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 Meta Data

 E.g. Employee
Name Type Length Min Max Description
EmpNo Number 9 Employee No.
Name Character 30 Employee Name
Dept Character 10 Dept. No.
Salary Number 8 5000 60000 Employee Salary

Employee No. (ID) unique

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Table Definition

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Database Approach
 Data Definition Language (DDL).
– Permits specification of data types, structures and
any data constraints.
– All specifications are stored in the database.

 Data Manipulation Language (DML).

– is used for selecting, inserting, deleting and
updating data in a database.
– General enquiry facility (query language) of the
data.

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Database Approach

 Controlled access to database may

include:
– A security system.
– An integrity system.
– A concurrency control system.
– A recovery control system.

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Data Security

 The database is a valuable resource needing

protection.
 The DBMS provides database security by limiting
access to the database to authorised personnel.
 Authorised users will generally be restricted as to the
particular data they can access and whether they can
update it.
 Access is often controlled by passwords and by data
views.

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Data Integrity

 The integrity and consistency of the database are

protected via constraints on values that data items
can have.

 Data constraint definitions are maintained in the data

dictionary.

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Concurrency control

 Concurrency control in database management

systems (DBMS) ensures that database transactions
are performed concurrently without the concurrency
violating the data integrity of a database.

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Recovery Control

 Backup and recovery are supported by software that

automatically logs changes to the database and
provides for a means of recovering the current state
of the database in case of system failure.
Power Failure in a Bank?
Day’s transactions?
Bomb or Floods destroy your computer system?

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Database Server Architecture

 Client/server platform
– A local area network consisting of client computers
which receive services from a server computer.
 Database server
– A program running on server hardware to provide
database services to client machines.

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 Client/Server Platform

 Clients interacting with a database server

Database Server

Multi-user
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 Database Applications

Databases range from those for a single

user with a desktop computer to those on
mainframe computers with thousands of
users.

 Personal databases
 Workgroup databases
 Departmental databases
 Enterprise databases 48
 Personal databases

Designed to support one user with a standard

alone PC.

E.g. a sales person keeping track of this customer

information with contact details.

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 Workgroup databases

A relatively small team of people (less than 25) who

collaborate on the same project or application.

E.g. a team of engineering designers maintain versions

of the artifact that they design.

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 Departmental databases

A department is a functional unit of an

organisation. It is larger than a workgroup.

Department databases are designed to support

the various functions and activities of a
department.

E.g. a personnel database that is designed to track

data concerning employees, jobs, skills and job
assignments. 51
Enterprise databases

An enterprise is one whose scope is the entire organisation

or enterprise.

Such databases are intended to support organisation-wide

operations and decision making.

E.g. a large health care organisation that operates a group

of medical centre's including hospitals, clinics and nursing
homes.

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Enterprise databases

An enterprise database does support information needs

from many departments. The most important type of
enterprise database today is called a data warehouse.

 Data warehouse
– An integrated decision support database whose content is
derived from the various operational databases.

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Database Approach -Advantages

 Improved maintenance through program-data

independence

 Minimal data redundancy

 Improved data consistency

 Improved data sharing

 Increased productivity 54
Database Approach -Advantages

 Enforcement of standards

 Improved data integrity

 Improveddata accessibility and

responsiveness

 Improved security

 Increased concurrency
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Improved maintenance through
Program-Data/Data Independence
 The separation of data descriptions
(metadata) from the application programs
that use the data.

 This simplifies database application

maintenance.
Improved maintenance through
Program-Data/Data Independence
 In
the database approach data descriptions
are stored in a central location called the
data dictionary.

 Thisproperty allows an organisation’s data

to change and evolve (within limits) without
changing the application program that
process the data.
Minimal Data Redundancy
 Data files are integrated into a single, logical
structure. Each primary fact is recorded (ideally)
in only one place in the database.
 E.g. Employee data not with the payroll and
benefit files.

Note: Data redundancy is not eliminated entirely.

Some data items will appear in more than one
place (e.g. employee no.) to represent the
relationship with others.
 Improved Data Consistency
 By eliminating (or controlling) data
redundancy, we greatly reduce the
opportunities for inconsistency.
E.g. employee address is stored only once
and hence we cannot have disagreement on
the stored values.

 Updating data values is greatly simplified and

have avoided the wasted storage space.
 Improved Data Sharing
 A database is designed as a shared corporate
resource and can be shared by all authorised
users. In this way more users share more of the
data.
E.g. employee data common to payroll, benefit
applications will be shared among different users.

New applications can be built on the existing

data in the database.
 Increased Productivity

 A major advantage of the database approach is

that it greatly reduces the cost and time for
developing new business applications.

 Programmer could concentrate on the specific

functions required for the new application, without
having to worry about design or low-level
implementation details; as related data has
already been designed and implemented.
Increased Productivity

– DBMS provides many of the standard

functions (e.g. forms and report
generations) that the programmer would
normally have to write in a file-based
application DBMS.
 Enforcement of Standards

 When the database approach is implemented

with full management support, the database
administration function should be granted single-
point authority and responsibility for establishing
and enforcing data standards.

 Standards include naming conventions, data

quality standards and uniform procedures for
accessing, updating and protecting data.
Improved Data Integrity

 Integrity can be expressed in terms of constraints, which

are consistency rules that the database is not permitted
to violate.

Eg: A member of staff’s salary cannot be greater than

60,000.
Improved Data Accessibility and
Responsiveness
 With relational database, end users without
programming experience can often retrieve and display
data, even when it crosses traditional departmental
boundaries.

 English-like query language SQL and query tools such as

Query-By-Example provide such facilities.
Improved Security

 DBMS can be used to enforce database security. This

may take the form of user names and passwords to
identify people authorised to use the database.

 The access that the authorised user is allowed on the

data can also be restricted by the operation type
(retrieval, delete, update, insert).
Increased concurrency

 Many DBMSs allow users to undertake

simultaneous operations on the database. The
DBMS implements a concurrency control
mechanism that prevents database accesses
from interfering with one another.
 Disadvantages of DBMS
 Complexity
 Size
 Cost of DBMS
 Additional hardware costs
 Cost of conversion
 Performance
 Higher impact of a failure

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-END-