November 22, 2011

Volume 1, Issue 1

Database Management Systems

What is a database?
Quite simply, its an organized collection of
data.
A database management system (DBMS)
such as Access, FileMaker, Lotus Notes,
Oracle or SQL Server
which provides you with
the software tools you
need to organize that
data in a flexible manner. It includes tools to
add, modify or delete
data from the database,
ask questions (or queries) about the data
stored in the database
and produce reports
summarizing selected
contents.
What is data?
Data can be defined in
many ways. Information
science defines data as
unprocessed information.
What is information?
Information is data that
have been organized
and communicated in a
coherent and meaningful
manner.
Data is converted into
information, and information is converted into
knowledge.
Knowledge; information
evaluated and organized
so that it can be used
purposefully.
Why do we need a database?

Keep records of our:

Clients
Staff
Volunteers
To keep a record of
activities and interventions;
Keep sales records;
Develop reports;
Perform research
Longitudinal tracking

What is the ultimate pur-

pose of a database
management system?
Is to transform

Database:
A collection of related
data.
Data:
Known facts that can be
recorded and have an
implicit meaning.

Database Management
System
(DBMS):
A software package/
system to facilitate the
creation and maintenance of a computerized
database.
Database System:
DBMS + Database
Typical DBMS Functionality
Types of Databases
Non-relational
databases
Non -rela tional
databases place information in field categories that we create so
that information is available for sorting and disseminating the way we
need it. The data in a
non-relational database,
however, is limited to
that program and cannot
be extracted and applied
to a number of other
software programs, or
other database files
within a school or administrative system. The
data can only be "copied
and pasted. Example: a
spread sheet
Relational databases
In relational databases, fields can be
used in a number of
ways (and can be of
variable length), provided that they are
linked in tables. It is developed based on a database model that provides for logical connections among files (known
as tables) by including
identifying data from one
table in another table

Define a particular
database in terms of
its data types, structures, and constraints

Construct or Load
the initial database
contents on a secondary storage medium

Manipulating
the
database:
1. Retrieval: Querying,
generating reports
2. Modification: Insertions, deletions and
updates to its content
3. Accessing the database through Web
applications

Figure 1. A sample table

Official Instructional
Hand-outs In Database
Management Systems
SY 2011-2012
JOSEPH L. CARINAN
Instructor 1
BUPC

Special points of
interest:
What is Database?
Types of Database
DBMS
Fundamental Bldg
Blocks

Some Definitions
A File: A group or collection of similar records, like INST6031 Fall Student File, American History 18501866 file, Basic Food Group Nutrition File
A record book: a "rolodex" of data
records, like address lists, inventory
lists, classes or thematic units, or
groupings of other unique records
that are combined into one list
(found in AppleWorks, FileMaker
Pro software).
A field: one category of information,
i.e., Name, Address, Semester
Grade, Academic topic
A record: one piece of data, i.e.,
one student's information, a recipe,
a test question
A layout: a design for a database
that contains field names and possibly graphics.
Fundamental building blocks
Tables comprise the fundamental
building blocks of any database. If
you're familiar with spreadsheets,

you'll find database tables extremely similar. The table above

contains the employee information
for our organization -- characteristics like name, date of birth and title. Examine the construction of the

table and you'll find that each column of the table corresponds to a specific employee characteristic (or attribute in database terms). Each row corresponds to one particular employee and contains his or her information. That's all there is to
it! If it helps, think of each one of these tables as a spreadsheet-style listing of information.
An UNIVERSITY example
A UNIVERSITY database for maintaining information concerning students, courses, and grades in a university environment
We have:
STUDENT file stores data on each student
COURSE file stores data on each course
SECTION file stores data on each section of each course
GRADE_REPORT file stores the grades that students receive
PREREQUISITE file stores the prerequisites

Example of a simplified Meta-data

Example of a simple database

Insulation between programs and data

In file processing, if any changes to the structure of a file may require changing all programs that access the file
In database system, the structure of data
files is stored in the DBMS catalog separately
from the access program
This is called program-data independence
Database manipulation
Database manipulation involves querying and updating
Examples of querying are:
Retrieve a transcript
List the prerequisites of the Database course
Examples of updating are:
Enter a grade of A for Smith in Database course
Database V.S. File
In the database approach, a single repository of data is maintained
that is defined once then accessed by various users
The major differences between DB and File are:
Self-describing of a DB
Insulation between programs and data
Support of multiple views of the data
Sharing of data and multiuser transaction processing
Self-describing nature of a database system

Support of multiple views of the data

Each user may see a different view of the
database, which describes only the data of
interest to that user.
Sharing of data and multi-user transaction
processing
Allowing a set of concurrent users to retrieve
from and to update the database.
Concurrency control within the DBMS guarantees that each transaction is correctly executed or aborted
Note:
PREPARE FOR A QUIZ AFTER DISCUSSION
INSTRUCTOR 1

Database system contains not only the database itself but also a complete definition of the database structure and constrains
The information stored in the catalog is called Meta-data (data about data), and it describes the structure of the primary
database.

Your Notes Here

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