Database Management System (DBMS) - Mid-1 Assignment
1. (a) Three Levels of Abstraction in DBMS
A DBMS provides three levels of abstraction:
1. **Physical Level**: Describes how data is actually stored (e.g., file structures, indexing).
2. **Logical Level**: Defines what data is stored and the relationships between them.
3. **View Level**: Defines how different users see the data, ensuring security and simplicity.
Example: A student database has different views for students, professors, and administrators.
1. (b) DDL and DML Commands in SQL
SQL commands are categorized into:
- **DDL (Data Definition Language)**: Used for defining database schema.
- CREATE TABLE students (id INT, name VARCHAR(50));
- ALTER TABLE students ADD COLUMN age INT;
- DROP TABLE students;
- **DML (Data Manipulation Language)**: Used for modifying data.
- INSERT INTO students VALUES (1, 'John Doe', 20);
- UPDATE students SET age = 21 WHERE id = 1;
- DELETE FROM students WHERE id = 1;
2. Entity Relationship (ER) Diagrams
ER diagrams represent entities, their attributes, and relationships. Examples:
- **Library Management System**: Entities: Books, Students, Librarians.
- **University System**: Entities: Students, Courses, Professors.
- **Railway Booking System**: Entities: Passengers, Trains, Reservations.
Each entity has attributes (e.g., Book_ID, Train_Number) and relationships (e.g., Student borrows
Book).
3. Major Components of ER Diagrams
The key components of an ER diagram are:
1. **Entities**: Represent objects (e.g., Student, Book, Train).
2. **Attributes**: Properties of entities (e.g., Name, ID, Title).
3. **Relationships**: Define associations (e.g., Student borrows Book).
4. **Keys**: Unique identifiers (e.g., Primary Key, Foreign Key).
4. Relational Model and Integrity Constraints
The **Relational Model** organizes data into tables with:
- **Domain Constraint**: Ensures attribute values fall within a valid range.
- **Key Constraint**: Ensures uniqueness (e.g., Student_ID must be unique).
- **Referential Integrity**: Ensures Foreign Keys reference existing records in the parent table.
Example: In a student database, Student_ID must be unique and Course_ID in enrollment must
reference an existing Course.
5. Set Operations in Relational Algebra
Relational Algebra provides operations for combining relations:
1. **Union (R UNION S)**: Combines two relations, removing duplicates.
2. **Intersection (R INTERSECT S)**: Retrieves common tuples from both relations.
3. **Difference (R MINUS S)**: Finds tuples in R that are not in S.
4. **Cartesian Product (R CROSS JOIN S)**: Combines all tuples of R with all tuples of S.
Example:
- R = { (1, 'Alice'), (2, 'Bob') }
- S = { (2, 'Bob'), (3, 'Charlie') }
- R UNION S = { (1, 'Alice'), (2, 'Bob'), (3, 'Charlie') }
- R INTERSECT S = { (2, 'Bob') }
6. Join Operations in Relational Algebra
Joins are used to combine relations based on a common attribute:
1. **Theta Join (R JOIN condition S)**: Joins based on a specified condition.
2. **Equi Join (R JOIN A=B S)**: Joins using equality.
3. **Natural Join (R NATURAL JOIN S)**: Automatically joins on common attributes.
4. **Outer Joins**:
- **Left Outer Join**: Includes unmatched rows from the left relation.
- **Right Outer Join**: Includes unmatched rows from the right relation.
- **Full Outer Join**: Includes unmatched rows from both relations.
Example:
- Table: Students (ID, Name)
- Table: Enrollments (ID, Course)
- Natural Join returns students with course enrollments, while Left Outer Join also includes students
without courses.
