Teaching and Learning Solution

Module: Praxis S2 (HPXS200-1)

Week number (Date): 7 (17 September 2020)
Unit covered: Microsoft Access Unit 1

Question
Suppose you want to expand your spaza shops business and you decide to record all your
transactions using Microsoft Access Database system.

a) Before you start, you need to be very clear about the database design process. What are the
steps for a good database for your shops?

SOLUTION

1. Determine the purpose of your database

This is usually the first step for all your learning or working activities, which helps prepare you
for the remaining steps.
2. Define and find the information you need to store in the database
Gather all types of information you might want to record in the database, such as books name,
author, and sale number.
3. Divide the information into tables.
Divide your information items into major entities or subjects, such as Books or Sales. Each
subject then becomes a table.
4. Transform information items to columns/ Invent fields within the tables
Decide what information you want to store in each table. Each item becomes a field, and is
displayed as a column in the table.
5. Specify primary keys
6. Set up the table relationships
Look at each table and decide how the data in one table is related to the data in other tables.
Add fields to tables or create new tables to clarify the relationships, as necessary. √
7. Refine your design
Analyze your design for errors. Create the tables and add a few records of sample data. See if
you can get the results, you want from your tables. Adjust the design, as needed. √
8. Apply the normalization rules

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 Apply the data normalization rules to see if your tables are structured correctly. Adjust the tables,
as needed.

b) A business rule is a brief, precise and unambiguous description of a policy, procedure or principle
within a specific organization.
They are used to define entities, attributes, relationships and constraints of the database system.
Identify at least four (4) business rules in your business.

SOLUTION

RULE TYPE OF
RELATIONSHIP
One shop can have many grocery items and one grocery item can be in many to many
many shops
One shop can have many sales people but one sells person belongs to many to one
one shop
One shop can generate many sales receipts but one sale receipt is for only many to one
one shop
One shop can have many suppliers and one supplier can supply to many many to many
shops

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