• Entity • Importance and Advantages of Database Systems

- Anything about w/c the organization wishes to store Database technology is everywhere.
data.  Accountants work directly w/databases.
- Ex. Students
• Attributes and Fields Benefits:
- Information about the attributes of an entity is stored in
• Data Integration
fields
- Combining master files into larger pools of data
Entity Fields accessible by many programs.
• Data Sharing
STUDENTS - Easier to share data that’s integrated
Last First Phone • Reporting Flexibility
Student ID Birth Date - Reports can be revised easily and generated as
Name Name Number
needed.
333-33-3333 Simpsons Alice 333-3333 10/11/84
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 11/24/86 - Database can easily be browsed to research problems
or obtain detailed information.
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 4/20/85
• Minimal data redundancy and data inconsistencies
- Data are usually stored only once; data redundancy
and data inconsistencies are minimized.
Attributes Record
• Data independence
• Record - Because data and the programs that use them are
- All fields containing data about one entity form a independent of each other, each can be changed
record. without changing the other. This facilitates
- Group of fields programming and simplifies data management.
• File • Central Management of Data
- A set of related records form a file. - Data management is more efficient because the
- Contains records database administrator is responsible for coordinating,
controlling, and managing data.
STUDENTS • Cross-functional analysis
Student ID Last First Phone Birth Date - In a database system, relationships, such as the
Name Name Number association between selling costs and promotional
333-33-3333 Simpsons Alice 333-3333 10/11/84 campaigns, can be explicitly defined and used in the
preparation of management reports.
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 11/24/86
Bad data leads to:
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 4/20/85 Bad decisions, embarrassment, angry users

• Logical and Physical Views of Data

- In file-oriented systems, programmers must know the
File
physical location and layout of records used by a
• Database program.
- Set of interrelated, centrally coordinated files. - To aid, separate the storage and use of data elements:
1. Logical View
- How the user or programmer conceptually organizes
Advisor File
and understands the data
2. Physical View
- How and where the data are physically arranged and
stored.
• Operating System
- Computer language to mechanical language
- Translates DBMS requests
Student File Class File • Schema
- Describes the logical structure of a database.

• Database system
3 levels of schema:
- Address problems associated w/proliferation of master
files
• Database approach 1. Conceptual level
- Treats data as an organizational resource, not just for - Org’s wide view of the entire database; the big picture
individual or particular department. - List all data elements and the relationships between
them
2. External level
- How each user sees the portion of the system
- Individual views = subschema
3. Internal level
- Low-level view of database
- How data are actually stored and accessed
Database system - Level we do not really see

• Database Management System (DBMS)

- Serves as the interface between the database and the
various application programs.
• Database administrator
- Responsible for the database
• Data warehouses
- Very large databases
• Index starts @ 0
• Accountants involved in developing conceptual and
external level schema
• An employee’s access to data is limited to subschema that
is relevant to his/her job
• Data Dictionary
- Contains information about the structure of the
database
- For each element, there is a corresponding record in
the data dictionary describing that element
- Maintained by DBMS
Inputs:
- Records of new or deleted data elements
- Changes in names, descriptions, or uses of existing
elements
Outputs:
- Reports that are useful to programmers, database
designers, and IS users in:
o Designing and implementing the system
o Documenting the system
o Creating an audit trail
• DBMS Languages
1. Data definition language (DDL) is a programming language
within the DBMS that builds the data dictionary, creates the
Database, describes logical views for each user. It specifies
record or field control. It merely describes the physical Database
of the DBMS.
- used also on security constraints
2. The data manipulation language (DML) is a programming
language that manipulates database content, including the
data elements (name, price, etc.) creation, updates, insertions,
and deletions. In other words, DML is the one responsible for the
daily operation of the Database.
3. The data query language (DQL) is a high-level language that
contains powerful, easy-to-use commands that enable users to
retrieve, sort, order, and display data. Report writers use DQL to
generate reports like financial statements or top customers.
Access to DQL and DML are restricted to employees
w/administrative and programming responsibilities.
• Data Model
- An abstract representation of the contents of a
database
• Relational Data Model
- A two-dimensional table representation of data. Each
row represents a unique entity (a record), and each
column is a field where record attributes are stored.
 Each row is called a tuple
 Primary Key - Database attribute, or combination of
attributes, that uniquely identifies each row in a table.
 Foreign key - An attribute in a table that is also a
primary key in another table; used to link the two
tables.
 Non-key is also important
• Update Anomaly
- update all rows that contain her record
• Insert Anomaly
- Null data
• Delete Anomaly
- Elimination of records but not really all
The solution is to use set of tables in a relational database.
• Basic Requirements of a Relational Database
- Every column in a row must be single valued
- Entity integrity rule
o The primary key cannot be null
o Unique for every record
- Referential integrity rule
o Foreign key must either be null or correspond
to the value of a primary key
- All non-key attributes should describe a characteristic
of the object identified by the primary key
Data are consistent
Redundancy is minimized and controlled
2 basic ways to design well-structured relational databases
- Normalization
- Semantic data modeling
1. Database - an organized collection of structured information,
or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system.
2. Physical Database – the physical location of the data. It can
be a hard drive, optical disk, or flash drive.
FLAT-FILE VS. DATABASE SYSTEM
The majority of the old information systems are employing a flat-
file approach in managing the data. In this setting, the users
have exclusive ownership of their data files. This setup may result
in the following problems:
1. It inhibits the entity-wide integration of data.
2. It requires data files to be structured to the unique needs of
the primary user.
Thus, the same data, used in slightly different ways by different
users, may need to be restructured and reproduced in physically
different files. Figure 1 illustrates this model.
Flat-file System Problems
In the above figure, the letters represent a single data attribute
(field), a record, or an entire file. Notice that data B is present in
all user files. This setup will result in data redundancy. The three
types of data management problems caused by data
redundancy are the following:
Data Storage
- The flat-file system needs multiple storage to meet the
individual data needs of users. Multiple storages would
mean high cost to the organizations.
Data Updating
- When data is stored in multiple storage, a problem will
arise if one user updates the data. For example, the
user 1 in figure 1 updates the data B, user 2 and 3
should also update the same data in their own files.
These multiple updates are an additional cost of data
management.
Currency of information
- Multiple storages also create another problem when
one user failed to update the data. If user 1 was unable
 to notify the users about the update he made to data
B, the two users might not record the change. The data
of user 2 and 3 is not the current data and will make
decisions based on outdated data
Task dependency
- Another problem with the flat-file approach is the user's
inability to obtain additional information as his or her
needs change. This problem is called task-data
dependency. The user's information set is constrained
by the data that he or she possesses and controls
DATABASE SYSTEMS
9. DDL is used when the user encodes the official receipts to the
Database.
10. The number of characters allowed is an example of a data
element.
Activity 1. For the following statements, indicate whether TRUE or
FALSE.
1. In a data hierarchy, a collection of related characters
constitutes a field.
2. A secondary key uniquely identifies any row within a relational
table.

The database environment can be broken down into four 3. The relational data model portrays data as being stored in
primary elements: users, the DBMS, the database administrator, table.
and the physical Database.
4. An attribute is equivalent to a field and may also be known as
Users a row.

- can access the Database in two different ways. The first 5. In a relational database model, data are logically organized
way is accessing the Database via user application into twodimensional tables.
programs. This software can be an ERP, spreadsheet, or
and accounting application. These programs send 6. The normalization process involves various steps that transform
data access requests (calls) to the data management an original
system (DBMS), which validates the requests and
retrieves the data for processing. The second method
database design into an equivalent design that is free of
of database access is via direct query, which requires
problems.
no formal user programs. This method is only for those
users who are knowledgeable in a query language
7. There should be primary key and foreign key to connect the
such as SQL.
two tables.

Database Management System

8. Update anomaly occurs when you have to remove all records
of a person.
- provides a controlled environment to assist and prevent
the user from accessing and updating the data in the 9. Each column in a table, called a tuple, contains data about a
Database. It also helps users efficiently manage data specific item in a database table
resources. The DBMS software links the way data are
physically stored (physical Database) with each user's
10. A primary key is the database attribute, or combination of
logical view of the data. The DBMS allows users to
attributes, that uniquely identified a specific row in a table
access, query, or update the Database.

The following are examples of DBMS:

1. MySQL
2. Microsoft Access
3. SQLite
4. Oracle

Activity 1. For the following statements, indicate whether TRUE or

FALSE.

1. MySQL and Microsoft Access are examples of a database.

2. DBMS is a set of interrelated, centrally coordinated data files

that are stored with as little data redundancy.

3. Most accountants are involved with databases through data

entry, data processing, querying, or auditing.

4. The database administrator (DBA) is responsible for

coordinating, controlling, and managing the Database.

5. Incorrect database data can lead to bad decisions,

embarrassment, and angry users.

6. A DBMS is a set of integrated computer programs designed to

simplify the tasks of creating, accessing, and managing a
database.

7. The physical database view is how the data appear to the

user to be stored.

8. The physical database storage is how the data are actually

physically stored on the storage medium used in a database
management system.