IGCSE ICT Database practice worksheet 0417

1) A headteacher wishes to store details of her students in a computer database. She has been given an [1]
example of one student record by the school secretary: Strauss, Johann, SR132516, 83, 01/09/2011
This corresponds to family_name, first_name, Student_Id, Maths_test_score, joined_the_school. The
file is currently stored in the form of plain text with each record separated by a line break.
(a) Give a file extension which is appropriate for this file.

(b) For each field identify the most appropriate data type. The Maths_test_score is used in calculations. [5]

Field name Data type

Family_name
First_name
Student_Id
Maths_test_score
joined_the_school
(c) Identify the two fields for which a format check would be the most appropriate validation check. In [4]
each case describe how the format check would work.

2) An airline keeps a database of all the flights it operates. A short extract is shown below.

(a)Explain fully, what is meant by the following validation checks using the extract above. [6]
Range check

Format check

Length check

(b)Using the extract above, give an example of one field which would contain: [2]

Text data ……………………………………………………… Numeric data …………………………………………………

3) Recaud Inc. stock many CDs. Below is a small selection of CDs stored on their database.

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 (a) Write down the most suitable data type for the following fields. [4]

CD_title ……………………………………………………….. Price (Rs) ………………………………………………………..

Year_released ……………………………………………………….. Number_of_tracks ………………………………………..

(b) Describe the range check which could be carried out on the Price (Rs) field. The maximum price and [2]
the minimum price are shown in the table above.

(c) The owner of the shop, Alam, receives requests from customers about the CDs he has in stock. He [5]
makes a note of these requests using comparison and Boolean operators. For example, a customer
might ask for a CD which was released after 2002 and has at least 7 tracks. Alam would write this down
as: Year_released > 2002 AND Number_of_tracks >= 7
(i) Write down a request for a customer who wants a list of all the CDs which were released before
2007. This list must also contain all the CDs which cost at least 145 rupees.

(ii) Write down the ID numbers of those records which would match your criteria in (i). [2]

4) The manager of a computer shop uses a database to store data about the computers he sells. This is part
of the database.

(a) Write down the number of records shown in this part of the database. [4]
(b) Write down the number of fields shown in this part of the database.
(c) The records shown are to be sorted in ascending order of Makers_name then ascending order of
Processor_type. Give the Processor_type of the last record in the database after it has been sorted.

(d) Give the field that could be amended to contain Boolean data.

(e) Name and describe the most appropriate validation check other than a length check which would be [3]
carried out on the Processor_type field.

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5) Many database software packages have a report generation feature. The following is part of a video hire
shop database showing films available in Blu-ray format.

Describe, in detail, how you would create a formatted report which does not show regions and only [6]
shows films which are longer than 110 minutes.

6) The following is part of a database of cars (automobiles).

(a) You have been asked to design a suitable input screen which will enable this data to be entered. [6]
Complete the following screen for one car only, before the data is entered. (Answer is shown below)

(b) For each of the following fields, name and describe the most appropriate validation check. Assume [4]
that the values given in the numeric fields include the minimum and maximum values for those fields.
(i) Registration_number

(ii) Maximum_speed
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 c) A search for all the red Frod cars would look like this: Make = “Frod” AND Colour = “red” . Use [5]
appropriate operators from the examples given to answer the following. Write down a search which will
produce a list of the cars where the size of engine is greater than 1.4, in addition to all those cars which
have parking sensors.

(d) Write down the registration numbers of those cars that match the requirements of part (c). [2]

7) Justdiscs Limited stocks many music CDs. Below is a small selection of CDs stored on their database.
The data has been sorted on two fields.

a) Write down the field which was used as the primary sort in the database and the order in which it was [2]
sorted.

b) Write down the field which was used as the secondary sort in the database and the order in which it [2]
was sorted.

c)Peter is the owner of the shop. He receives requests from customers about the CDs he has in stock. He [5]
converts these requests into search criteria using comparison and Boolean operators. For example,
one customer might ask for CDs which were released after 2002 and also those that have at least 11
tracks. Peter would write this down as: Year_released > 2002 OR Number_of_tracks >= 11.
Write down the search criteria for a customer who wants a list of all the CDs which were released
before 2010 but only if they cost less than $8.99

d)Write down the names of the artists whose records match the requirements of part (c). [2]

8) An airline company allows customers to book flights online. Here is an example of the data a customer is
asked to type in when they search for a suitable flight, together with a typical entry. There are three
types of class: Economy, Business and First. Below is the sample data & an input screen designed to help
this data to be entered.

(a) Evaluate this form regarding the ease of entering data(Answer below) [6]
Ans: As it stands the form is not fit for purpose where The fields which require completion are all
included. Fields are clearly labeled & the space allowed for data entry is more than adequate.

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 But…the improvements can be having appropriate space for each field, screen more spread out, larger
font for field names, drop down list for Number of adults, Number of children, Number of infants, date
of return/date of departure & for Class & a separate drop down lists for dd/mm/yyyy. Moreover,
Navigation buttons could be included to move between records

(b)Explain why it would not be appropriate for a format check to be used on the dates as given in the [3]
example data.
Ans: A format check ensures that data is in a specific format such as two digits for day, two digits for
month and four digits for year.
In the table above the date would be rejected by this check as it has one digit for the month in one
example two in the other. Similarly, it has two digits for the day in one example and one in the other

9) Enrique has developed a new database system for a supermarket. Below is one record from the
database. He needs to test the validation checks that he has developed for the system.

a) A length check is set for the Barcode field. However, when he entered the code 5012472141308 by [2]
mistake, the system still accepted it. Describe the check he could have used to prevent this error.

b) The Reorder_level for each item is never more than 100. He developed a validation check to make [2]
sure this is the case.However, when he entered the number 100 it was rejected. Name and describe
the validation check he should use and explain why the number could have been rejected.

c) He also designed a length check for the Supplier_code field. However, when he entered EZQ23 by [2]
mistake, the system still accepted it. Describe how he could have prevented this error.

d)For each field write down the most appropriate data type. For any numeric field specify the type of [6]
number.
Barcode ……………………………………………………….. Price ………………………………………………………..
Supplier_code ……………………………………………. Reorder_level ………………………………………………………..
Contents ……………………………………………………. Weight(kg) ………………………………………………………..
10) Blue Screen is a music band which is rapidly gaining success. They are planning a world tour and wish to
organise their concerts efficiently. Two tables have been created in a database. One table contains
details of the venues and another table contains details of the concerts.
Table A: Venue details Table B: Concert details

a)Describe how a relational database can be created using tables A and B.(answer below) [4]
 Open or load database, select menu database tool & then select create relationships
 Select tables A/Venue details and B/Concert details
 Venue ID in table A/Venue details is selected as the primary key
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  Location ID in table B/Concert details is selected as the foreign key
 Venue ID and Location ID are linked
 A one to many relationship is created
b)Flat file databases are far less efficient than relational databases but they are still used. Describe the [2]
advantages of using a flat file database compared to a relational database.(Answer below)
All records are stored in one table. Easier to understand & comprehend. Easier to setup as well. Simple
to sort & search. Filters are easier to set up.

11) A school is considering an educational trip to Iceland. There has been a meeting of parents and the [6]
school now requires that you set up a web page for inclusion on the school website. Use the following
data provided by the parents’ committee to design a suitable web page for use by parents. Indicate the
features that you would like to include to make it more interesting.

Answer below

12) Members of a US Conservation Unit recently discovered a species of frog new to New York. They
identified the frog using an expert system called ARK. A developer has created a plan for a new
database.

a)For each named field, give an appropriate validation check the developer should use. [4]

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 b) A report is generated from the results. The report contains headers and footers.Explain, using [4]
examples, why headers and footers are used. (Answer below)
A header and footer may be on every page to show consistency. Don’t have to type it in on every page,
saves time & reduces errors. It may contain document title of the sub-section, Author of the document,
The page number, The version, The date, File name/path & Company logo/name
13) A manager of a computer store has created a relational database to keep track of its orders. She has
created two tables that are linked together.
Table A stores the products. Table B stores the order details.
The following data shows some records from the database.
Table A: products Table B: order details

a) Name the most suitable primary key in the products table. [3]
b)Name a suitable foreign key in the order details table.
c) On the data shown in the tables above, the following search is to be carried out: (Unit_price>$250).
Write down the Order_ID resulting from this search.

d) On the data shown in the tables at the start of question 11, the following search is to be carried out: [2]
(Product_ID>2000) AND (Quantity<20). Write down the Order_ID(s) resulting from this search.

e) The store has created a report with a new field called total_price to be calculated at run time. This [2]
field will contain the number of units ordered multiplied by the price of each unit. Write an
expression to produce this result.

14) Part of a database report showing August temperatures in several cities in India is shown below.

Describe how you would create a calculated field called temp_diff to show the difference between the [3]
maximum and minimum temperatures.

15) Validation is a way of checking data in a database. Name the most appropriate validation check that [4]

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 matches each description below.
Makes sure that the data entered into a field is exactly 10 characters. …………………………………………………
Makes sure that a number lies between 10 and 100 …………………………………………………
Makes sure that the data entered is numeric …………………………………………………
Makes sure that the date is entered as DD/MM/YYYY …………………………………………………
16) The Staywell Community Centre has created a new database which stores the details of each of its [6]
members. Each member can choose either swimming or tennis as an activity. The fields in the database
are name, address, contact number, gender and activity. When new members arrive at the centre they
need to complete a paper-based form. a)Design a suitable paper-based form to collect the member’s
details and the activity they wish to book for. (Answer below)

b)Describe four changes which could be made to this paper-based form to make it into an online screen [4]
form. (Answer below)
 Drop down box for the activities & for gender
 Search button for house number and post code
 Use of hyperlinks to link to home website
 Use of buttons (submit/cancel/exit)

17) A school’s examinations officer has decided to develop a database to store pupil details and the [4]
examinations they are due to sit next summer. They are going to use a relational database.
(a) Describe the steps involved in creating the database. (Answer below)
 Open database, Create new table of pupil data & Create new table of examination data
 Select primary and foreign keys
 Link the two database tables using a primary/foreign key & set up the relationship.
 Import the data for the pupils from the pupil records
 Import the data from the examinations from the examination boards
(b) Some of the records stored in the database are given below.

Based only on the examination details above, complete the table below, stating the most [4]
appropriate data type for each field.

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 c)Write the search criteria to search for all examinations which will be sat after 26/06/2018, using at [2]
least one of the following operators >, >=, <, <=, = .

d) Apart from presence check, name and describe a suitable validation check for each of the following [4]
fields in the database, based on the data shown in part (b).
Examination_ID

Date_of_exam.

18) A leisure centre is creating membership cards [5]

for all its members. The membership card must
include a photograph of the member, the
member’s name and membership number, the
type of member (Senior or Junior), their date of
birth and gender.
(a) Use the space below to design the
membership card.(answer beside)

(b)Describe all the steps involved in carrying out a mail merge to create the membership cards.(answer [5]
below)
 Create a master document (membership card) & Create/use a data source
 Check the membership cards for errors
 Place tags in the document, Link the fields with the tags
 Select the records to merge (filter/sort) & Merge the records and save
 Check the data on the cards is correct, Preview/Print the cards
19) Midwest School library has a database system. Students who borrow books present their library cards [4]
containing their details. The librarian wishes to improve security by introducing biometric methods.
a)Name and describe in detail the files the library database system would use.(Answer below)
Book file- This consists of all data on the books in the library
Borrowers file-This contains all the details of the students
Loans file-This acts as a link between the book and borrowers file. It contains the details of the date
borrowed and return date
b)The fields date_borrowed and date_due_back are contained in the database. The date_due_back field [2]
is calculated from the date_borrowed field. The student can borrow a book for 14 days.
Write a formula for the calculated field date_due_back.

20) A club is setting up a database to store details of its members. Complete the data dictionary of the [6]
database, adding the most appropriate data type for each field.
Membership_number …………………………………………………. Member_name…………………………………….

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 Membership_fee_paid …………………………………………………Telephone_number ……………………………….
Expiry_date_of_membership ……………………………………… Membership_fee_amount ………………………..
b) The club secretary wishes to find all the junior members who have paid their membership fee which [5]
would be less than $100. He searches for these members by typing in the following search criteria.
Membership_fee_amount < 100 AND Membership_fee_paid ="Y"
He now wishes to invite selected members to a special evening. These members will be those with a
membership number over 200 as well as members whose membership expiry date is before 1 Jan 2017.
Write search criteria to list all the members that should be invited.

21) A library has a relational database consisting of two tables – one containing information about its books
and the other containing information about borrowers. Below are two lists showing the field names for
each table. A borrower can borrow several books at a time.
Book table Borrowers table

(a) Identify the primary key in the Book table……………………………………………………….…… [3]

(b) Identify the foreign key in the Book table. ……………………………………………………….……
(c) Identify the type of relationship that exists between the tables. ……………………………………………
(d) Describe two advantages of using a relational database rather than a flat file database.
[2]

(e) When the systems analyst was creating the new system she had to produce appropriate data types [4]
for each field. Write down the most appropriate data type for each field.

22) A systems analyst is creating a new database for a shop to store the details of its mobile (cell) phones.
Part of the design of this database will involve the identification of suitable validation checks. Below is a
list of some of the data to be included in the database.

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 (a) For the following fields write down the most appropriate validation check. Each validation check [3]
must be different. The database will have at least 100 records and each ID number will be different.

ID_number
Connectivity
Price
(b) Design a screen input form which would be used to input data for one mobile (cell) phone, using all [5]
the fields shown in the example data. In your answer include appropriate spacing for each field, and
navigational aids.

(c) The system is being tested using live data. Write the search criteria you would enter into the [5]
database to search for a mobile (cell) phone costing less than $200.00 which has a connectivity of 4G.

23) A company called HotHouse Design has produced the following on-screen
data entry form to input data into a customer database.

(a) Describe the changes that HotHouse Design could make to their form in order to improve its design [6]
and make it more user friendly.(answer below)
 Add more navigation/control buttons for forward/backward/cancel/clear form & to make it
easier to navigate between pages. Cancel/clear button allows the user the clear the form if
errors are made.
 Fill the screen with the data(Use the entire screen area) & improve layout on the screen
 Add larger font size, change font colour to contrasting colours
 Change to appropriate size of the boxes to write in the data
 Use character boxes for telephone number/ref. No.
 Improve instructions to enter data

(b) Mail merged letters will be sent to customers. Describe how mail merge will be used to produce the [4]
letters.(answer below)

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  Type the master document or load the master document
 Start the mail merge, attach the database as the data source
 Insert appropriate fields at placeholder from the data source
 Insert special fields such as automated date field
 Select records to merge, select recipients – use appropriate filter
 Merge a document with selected fields
 Save the merged document and preview the letters, print or email letters

24) A farmer has purchased a computerised milking system for her cows. She has asked a systems analyst to
create a database to store details of the cows being milked. Examples of the details of the cows which
will be stored are:

a)Complete the following table by entering the most appropriate data type for each field. For any [5]
numeric field, specify the type of number.

b)State which field would be the most appropriate for the primary key. [1]

c) A validation check is used when entering the animal passport number into the database. Name and [2]
describe the most appropriate validation check that could be applied to this field.

25) A school is setting up a new computerised system to manage many aspects of the school administration. [3]
a) Describe how this system can be used to manage student registration and attendance.(Answer
below)
 Student scans a card & the teacher records the student as present on computer system.
 System records time of arrival & sends the data to the school administration database
 The data is searched in the database, if student arrives after a certain time the student’s
attendance record is flagged as late or absent
 Absent or lateness records are automatically generated and sent a letter or text message to
parents or may be printed for later use.
 Parents can logon to the system to check student’s attendance or lateness records

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 b) The data from the registration [6]
system is saved in the school
administration database. The
head teacher will need to check
the attendance records for any
student for any semester. She will
type in the Student_ID and the
Semester (Autumn, Spring or
Summer). After she has done this
the following data will appear on
the same screen. A student record from the database is shown.
a)Design a suitable screen layout to display one record. It must have appropriate spacing for each field,
navigation aids and a space to type in search data. Do not include examples of students.(Answer below)

b)Name an appropriate validation check that could be used for each of the following fields, based on the [3]
data shown in the record.

26) A student is setting up a database of information about volcanoes for a Geography project. The
following is part of the database.

a) The search criteria for all the dormant volcanoes with a height of less than 1000 metres would look [6]
like this: State = “Dormant” AND Height < 1000
write down the search criteria that will produce a list of all the volcanoes that are not extinct in China
that also last erupted before the year 1900.

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 b) write down the names of the volcanoes that match the requirements of part (a). [2]

c) The data is sorted into ascending order of height. Write down the name of the volcano which would [1]
now be in the first record.

27) Ana is the planning officer for car parking in Rio de Janeiro
city centre. She is planning to upgrade the computerised
parking meters. The new parking meters need to be tested.
The cost of parking is shown here: The customer enters
money into the machine and then pushes a button to print a
ticket. If a customer enters more money than the charge for
a time period, but less than the amount of money stated for
the next time period, then a ticket is produced for the lower
amount of time but no money is given back. Assume that
R$2 is the lowest charge and R$10 is the highest charge.
a) Explain what is meant by the three types of test data, using examples of the parking charges. [6]

Normal

Abnormal

Extreme

b) Having tested the system with normal and abnormal data Ana needs to test with live data. Explain [2]
what is meant by live data.(answer below)
Data that has been used in an existing system where the results are known. The user able to see
whether the system works as expected.
28) Tawara Health Centre is creating a new
online appointment system for its patients.
The developer has created a table showing
part of the file structure of the new
database.

a) Apart from presence check, for each field, name an appropriate validation check that could be used. [4]
Your answer should be different in each case.

b) Referring to the fields in the table, name the most appropriate field that could be used as a primary [1]
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 key.

c) Using the fields given in the database complete the design below showing a suitable online data entry [6]
form for the receptionist to fill in.

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