Mekelle Institute of First Laboratory manual

Technology(MIT) for Database Management

Mekelle,Tigray ,Ethiopia Systems(DBMSs)

File Processing

File processing is the process of creating files in a recognized medium, storing

data in them and accessing or retrieving the contents (if required). Files are used
for permanent data storage of large amounts of data. Storage of data in variables
and arrays is only temporary.

Definition of key terms:

Teller: is someone who works in a bank and customers pay money to or take
from.
Withdraw: if you withdraw money from a bank account you take it out from
that account

Deposit: if you deposit money in a bank account you go to the bank and give
your money to the teller and it will remain in the bank until you need it back.

Redundancy: unnecessary duplicates of something.

Inconsistency: contradiction of one thing with another.

Data hierarchy:

Bit-smallest data item with a value of 0 or 1.

Byte – is a collection of 8 bits. It is used to store a character, Decimal digits,
letters, and special symbols.
Field- group of characters conveying meaning.
Example: your name
Record – group of related fields. It is represented by a structure or a class
Example: In a registrar system, a record for a particular student may contain
his/her identification number, name, gender age and address and others if
needed.
File: a collection of related records. For example, a collection of student details.
Database: group of related files
Example: details about students, their courses and grades.

To understand how files as used for different applications, develop a banking

application using any language that you are most familiar with. The application
should enable users to perform at least the following tasks:

1. Registration of a new customer (i.e. the system should be able to accept

the name, gender, age & address of the customer and his account number
is assigned by the manager).
2. Withdraw or deposit based on customer request.
3. Display customer’s balance and other details.
4. Delete a customer if she/he changes to other banks.
5. Show the daily transaction details.

Now try to answer the following questions:

Q1.What will you do if new requirements arise? For example, if the manager is
interested to see customers whose balance is > 1000.00 Birr or those from a
specific Zone. Do you think that this requirement can be full filled by the
application that you have developed? If not what do you recommend to be done.

Q2.Interms of redundancy, inconsistency and access problems do you think that

file-processing systems are good for banking applications?

Q3.How do you enforce integrity constraints such as the minimum amount of

money that is needed when you open a new account is 25.00 birr.

Q4.In banking systems do you think that every user has the right to access every
data. For example, is it possible for the guards in a bank to update the balance
of a customer? If not how can you enforce security measures to protect illegal
access?

Q5.Can you identify at least 5 disadvantages of file processing systems