LEBANESE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Database Systems
COE 418
Fall 2017
Instructor: Joe Tekli

Quiz 1 – (15 minutes)

Student name & ID:…………………………………………………………………………………

Problem II: Multiple choice questions (2 points)

1. By redundancy in a file based system, we mean that:
a. Unnecessary data is stored in files
b. Same data is duplicated in many files
c. Data is unavailable
d. None of the above
2. By data independence, we mean application programs:
a. Do not need data to work properly
b. May be developed without knowing the organization of data
c. May be developed using independent (unrelated) data
d. None of the above
3. A DBMS is:
a. Another name for database
b. Independent of a database
c. Dependent on application programs
d. A set of procedures which manage a database
4. A database models data so that it is:
a. Appropriate for a specific application program
b. Independent of any application program
c. Optimized for most frequent applications
d. Optimized for all applications

Problem II: Short answer question (2 points)

State one advantage and one limitation of file-based systems.
Advantaged:
- Data usually preserved in original form
- Less work is required to prepare data (simple data representation with no
data restructuring/normalization)
- Adapted to early computer storage hardware (sequential processing)

Limitations:
- Limited indexing capabilities (sequential access)
- Need for physical location of files in memory to access information
- Separation and isolation of data (each program manipulates its own data)
- Duplication of data (same data is held by different programs, yielding integrity
 and consistency problems)
- Data dependency on application programs (incompatible file formats)
- Difficulty in protecting information in files
- Difficulty in allowing multiple simultaneous data access sessions

Problem III: Analysis (6 points)

We wish to design a conceptual (ER) model to describe a movie making studio.
Following an initial discussion with the representative of the studio, we were able to
identify the following details. The studio mainly collaborates with producers,
directors, and actors in order to create movies. A movie is usually directed by one
single director, but can be produced by more than one producer. A movie has an
identifying title, as well as a production year, time duration, 2D/3D (identifying
whether it is a 2D or a 3D movie), among other properties. A movie is made of a
collection of scenes, each being identified by a scene number, having a title, a
textual description highlighting the main events in the scene, as well as a time stamp
indicating the scene’s starting time in the movie, and a time duration. Actors can act
in many scenes, yet we might have whole scenes without actors.

Provide a visual representation of the corresponding ER diagram by determining:

1. Entity types and corresponding attributes, including primary keys (2 pts)
2. Relationships between entity types, with corresponding attributes (1.5 pts)
3. Cardinality constraints for each relationship (1.5 pts).
4. Identify and resolve connection traps that the ER model might contain (1 pts)

State any assumptions necessary to support your design.

Relationship isCastIn is added to solve the chasm trap between entities Scene and
Actor, which are connected via relationship ActsIn with optional participation on both
sides (i.e., minimal cardinality of 0). In other words, without relationship isCastIn, we
might not be able to answer the query: In which movie is participating a certain actor?

Good luck!