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UNIT
01
FUNDAMENTALS OF
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
PRETEST
I. Identification. Write the correct answer on the space provided. You can refer to the
words in the box for some clues.
LESSON 1:
BASIC CONCEPTS AND DEFINITION
OBJECTIVES:
Nowadays, managers and administrators are looking for ways to manage database
content to gain knowledge and competitive advantage effectively. For example, in a
university set-up, enrollment databases may be analyzed to determine the courses
that have a bigger and smaller number of enrollees. School administrators to create
sound decisions on course offerings or design advertising and marketing campaigns
of the university may use the result (knowledge derived from it) as a basis. In
general, proper management of data and information may lead to greater efficiency
in most organizations.
Information
Once data that have been processed so as the meaning would be consistent
and be vividly understood by those who use them, they are turned into information
(Hoffer, Ramesh, & Topi, 2019). It can be done by organizing them, presenting them
in a given context, summarizing them, or presenting them for human interpretation in
the form of a graph.
As shown in figure 1.2, the list of information provides labels that ensure a
clear understanding of what the values are all about. In this regard, we are sure that
the values presented are information of faculty members at Bulacan State University.
Figure 1.3 shows the number of faculty in each department or college. This
information provides aggregated number of faculty and tells something about each
college workforce.
Database
Metadata
Table 1.1. shows an example of metadata. For each data item that appears in
the Employee Rosters, the metadata shows the data item name, the data type, the
size or length (if appropriate, the minimum and maximum allowable values), a brief
description of each data item, and other constraints.
In the employee table, six fields or data items are shown. The first five data
items will accept text values with a pre-defined maximum size. On the other hand,
the birthdate data item will accept only date values while the salary field will accept
number values. All are considered mandatory columns except the birthdate and
salary, where the users may optionally provide values.
cabinet (Coronel, Morris, & Rob, 2011). Thus, using DBMS, data management is
performed with greater ease (Ayyavaraiah & Gopi, 2017). Examples of such are
Microsoft Access, as shown in figure 1.4, Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, and the like.
Figure 1.6 shows how every field or column properties in the table COURSE
is defined. In the example, CourseCode is set to be the primary key of the table. On
the other hand, the definition of CollegeCode should be similar to the definition of the
CollegeCode in table COLLEGE because it is considered a foreign key column.
Foreign keys and primary keys will be discussed later in this module. Sample
records are provided in tables 1.2- 1.6.
Tables 1.2 – 1.5 shows five tables defined in database 1, with sample records
stored in every table. Every record is equivalent to a row in a table.
Database Operations
A database application is an application program (or set of related programs)
used to perform a series of activities on behalf of database users.
Hierarchy of Data
The data hierarchy shows how data is organized in layers where the higher
level of data consists of one or more items from the lower layer (Mendiola, 2015).
Record: A record is equivalent to one row of a file/table or only a related field group.
The primary key (which may be atomic or composite) of the table uniquely identifies
each record in a file or table.
Figure 1.7 shows an example of a character (T) of the CICT field value of
ColCode. A combination of related values about employee E-110 is a record in the
data file FACULTY. It is equivalent to one instance of FACULTY, which presents the
information to us in the form of a table. The diagram's database consists of five
related files COLLEGE, COURSE, EXAM, EXAMINEE, and FACULTY.
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
Weight Actual
No. Items
Score
1. The distinction of data from information is properly
5
illustrated.
LESSON 2:
FILE SYSTEM AND DATABASE SYSTEM
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
▪ Identify the advantages of the DBMS approach over the file system.
The file system, as depicted in the figure, stored data in the form of files.
Several application programs are written to add, delete, update, and retrieve data to
and from appropriate files. Each of the application programs developed addresses
the data management requirements of a particular department. In effect, every
department in an organization maintains its "own" private files.
Consider a university that uses a file system to manage its files. Different
departments of the university maintain, control, and manipulate different and
separate data files. An MIS department may use an application program that will
manage students' grades and other enrolment concerns. On the other hand, the
Accounting department maintains files related to student fees. Notice that in the file
system, both departments keep the student master files, which are files about
students enrolled in the university. Since, in this approach, two files that provide the
same information may be maintained in several distinct departments, several issues
may arise, such as limited data sharing, data redundancy, data inconsistency,
metadata inconsistency, and data integrity issue. File systems do not also allow
concurrent access to data and back up and data recovery problems (Desai, 2019)
DBMS Approach
As organization data processing requirements become more complex, it
becomes evident that traditional file systems had several shortcomings and
limitations. As a result, file systems have been replaced by the DBMS system. Figure
1.9 shows how the DBMS approach works.
The DBMS approach emphasizes integrating and sharing data throughout the
organization or at least across major segments of the organization.
To understand in the most general way the organization data needs, we can
develop an initial list of the high-level entities that support the business activities of
the organization. An entity is an object or concept that is important to the
organization. We also define entity types to establish a better understanding of what
each is all about. Then we define the high-level relationships among the entity types.
For example, in an information system used in a university, we may consider some
critical entities such as faculty, college, and course. The entity types are defined as:
After the high-level entities were identified and defined, the next step is to
determine the associations, called relationships, in database technology. These can
be established by defining business rules such as:
Note: The business rules will be discussed further in the succeeding chapters.
IT 202: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 16
UNIT 1: Fundamentals of Database Systems
The next step is to create the data model that shows the organization's high-
level entities and associations among those entities. This model emphasizes
integrating data and processes by concentrating on entities, relationships, and
business rules. A segment of the data model containing three entities and two
relevant associations is shown in Figure 1.9.
Major DBMS in the market are relational database management systems that
store and present data in tables. The data model we created is then mapped to a
relational model that focuses on tables, called relations in the database term.
The university may also anticipate adding a Web interface to its business
applications to conduct more internal business activities through its Intranet. They
may also plan to become more accessible to their client through the Internet.
Hoffer, Ramesh, & Topi (2016) enumerated other DBMS approach benefits
aside from already discussed in the previous section.
3. List the potential benefits of the DBMS approach over conventional file
systems.
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
Weight Actual
No. Items
Score
1. The description of the data organization in the file
5
system is detailed and correct.
LESSON 3:
DATABASE APPLICATION
AND DATABASE TYPES
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
Database Application
Database applications are software programs developed to collect, manage,
and provide information efficiently to end-users. These programs allow searching,
sorting, manipulating, and sharing of information. They can also provide security to
database contents by restricting access to data by validating usernames and
passwords whenever necessary. Most of these applications are tailor-fit to the
organization's need with a database programming language (Wall, nd).
The examples provided in the previous section are the most common
database applications familiar to us. The range of database applications varies
according to the following (Hoffer, Ramesh, & Topi, 2016):
Personal Databases
Personal databases support only one user at a time. It usually holds several
megabytes of data and is often stored on laptops, palmtop, desktop, or personal
digital assistants (PDAs) computers. The primary goal of developing personal
databases is to improve personal productivity. Its limitation, however, maybe the
sharing of data. For this reason, personal databases will be ideal only for a very
small organization where the need to share the data among users of the personal
database is unlikely to arise.
In figure 1.12, the database users interact in the system through the client tier.
The application tier manages the presentation or business logic needed to handle
users' requests while the enterprise tier maintains it. The separation of the
application layer or web server tier and the enterprise tier results to better
performance and maintainability of the database application and the database.
Enterprise Database
Internet Databases
Types of Databases
A DBMS can support many different types of databases, classified according
to the number of users, the database locations, and the expected extent of use
(Coronel, Morris, & Rob, 2011).
Single-user Database
Multiuser Database
Centralized databases
Since data are stored and retrieved in a single location, the following are
some of the advantages of centralized databases.
Distributed databases
Figure 1.14 shows that the distributed database components are in a different
location; however, it appears as a single entity to users.
Data Warehouse
Data warehouses are databases that usually hold big data and store
information from various data sources, including different operational databases.
IT 202: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 29
UNIT 1: Fundamentals of Database Systems
Table 1.7 shows the standard database management system available in the
market and the specific database types each supports.
Source: Coronel, C., Morris, S., & Rob, P. (2011). Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management, Ninth Edition. Boston, MA 02210, USA: Cengage Learning.
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
Weight Actual
No. Items
% Score
1. The description of the different types of database
5
according to database location is detailed and correct.
warehouses is correct
LESSON 4:
THE DATABASE ENVIRONMENT & USERS
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
Duration: 1 hour
Source: Coronel, C., Morris, S., & Rob, P. (2011). Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and Management, Ninth Edition. Boston,
MA 02210, USA: Cengage Learning.
Hardware
Software
The software component refers to the intangible elements that help control
and manage the database and its contents. The software component includes the
DBMS software itself, the Operating System, and the application programs to access
the database.
People
The people component of the database environment refers to all who control,
manage, and use its contents. Five essential types of users in a database system
are system administrators, database administrators, database designers, system
analysts and programmers, and end-users.
Procedures
The procedures are the set of rules or instructions that govern DBMS, design,
and implementation of the database and the database system. Procedures are
composed of facts and information necessary in the enforcement of business-related
standards. Procedures are also essential to allow proper monitoring and audit of
data stored in the database and the information generated by the system.
Data
The data refers to the entire information resource, both the actual or
operational data and the metadata stored in its database.
Database Designers:
Tool Developers:
Software Engineers:
because they may perform system analysts and developers' duties in the context of
system and database development. As system analysts, they determine the users'
data processing requirements, create specifications, and propose tailored-fit
solutions to meet these needs. On the other hand, as application developers, they
convert the specifications to program codes; then, codes are tested, documented,
and maintained (Elmasri & Navathe, 2016).
End users:
End-users are all people who frequently access the contents of the database
to accomplish the tasks assigned to them. They add new records, edit and modify
database contents, and retrieve database contents presented in reports (Elmasri &
Navathe, 2016).
2. Identify the different kinds of end users and provide brief description.
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
major components of database system environment
different kinds of end users and provide brief description
Weight Actual
No. Items
Score
1. The list of the components of database system
5
environment is complete.
LESSON 5:
THE DATABASE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
Duration: 2 hours
Figure 1.16. The System Development Life Cycle and the Corresponding
Database Development Activities
Source: Hoffer, J. A., Ramesh, V., & Topi, H. (2016). Modern database management (12th ed.). Pearson Education.
In the initial stage, the analysts identify the data needed in general terms.
The analysis of the business functions included within the project's scope and their
database needs takes place to determine what data already exist and what data are
to be added to address the user needs in the proposed project. The analysts also
justify the proposed database and the possible data it will hold to support the
business activities.
During the planning phase, the analysts define the scope of the proposed
project's database requirements without considering what databases already exist.
The data model developed here shows the high-level entities and the associated
relationships that support the overall data requirements for business functions.
that dictate data integrity are specified. The consistency of the conceptual data
model related to other kinds of information system models is also examined to clarify
different dimensions, such as processing steps, event timing, data handling rules,
etc., of the intended information systems. The conceptual schema, a technology-
independent description of the overall organizational data structure, is the output of
this conceptual modeling phase.
In this phase, the designer also reviews in detailed the transactions, forms,
displays, and views that the database will support and decide the nature and format
of each transaction, form, display, and database view.
The final step in the logical database design ensures that the resultant
structure is indivisible yet sufficient by performing the normalization process and
adhering to well-structured data specifications.
The database's physical schema defines the database and describes how
data are stored in a computer's secondary memory by specific DBMS. In this phase,
the analyst decides on the organization of data and, together with the database
designer outline and design, the data processing programs to generate required
reports. All aspects of the physical system, such as computer hardware, software,
and data communications, are also coordinated.
documentation and training materials are developed. Users’ training also takes
place.
Also happening in this step are the actual database development, testing, and
installation. Databases are tested for any required data conversion from prior or
legacy systems. Data is also loaded and, whenever necessary, performs data
conversion from earlier systems. Lastly, production databases are created. The
database then and its associated applications are ready for use by system users.
Database maintenance is the most extended phase in SDLC and DBLC since
it covers its entire lifespan and the associated information system. Database
performance tuning or schema changes happen to improve performance, meet
evolving information requirements, or fix errors when databases become
contaminated.
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
Weight Actual
No. Items
Score
1. The difference between the conceptual data model
developed during planning and analysis phases is 5
appropriately illustrated.
LESSON 6:
THREE-LEVEL ARCHITECTURE
AND DATA INDEPENDENCE
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
database implementation
UNIT 1: Fundamentals of Database Systems
External Level
Conceptual Level
Internal Level
The internal level where the internal or physical schema lies describes
how data are stored in the computer's memory. It provides all the
specifications to the database technology to allocate and manage physical
secondary memory space where data are stored and accessed. It considers
storage space utilization, runtime performance optimization, and data
encryption techniques.
Data Independence
Data independence implies that the changes performed at the schema at one
level of a database system should not affect the schema at another level. There are
two types of data independence:
GRADING RUBRICS
Rubrics:
Weight Actual
No. Items
% Score
1. The description of three-level architecture is detailed
20
and correct.
Project Description:
Note: the given case study is intentionally simplified (focus only on the scheduling
part) for demonstration and easy understanding. However, database design
development, in reality, considers several numbers of entities.
Some of the high-level entities identified at the College Admission Test System
are the following: EXAMINEE, EXAMINATION, COLLEGE, COURSE, FACULTY
with definition showing below:
The team has also established a list of business rules describing the BulSU
College Admission Test System's policies. Some of these rules are as follows:
Sends In
COLLEGE FACULTY
Is sent in by
Offers Facilitates
Is offered by
COURSE
Is chosen by
Is facilitated by
Chooses Is given
EXAMINEE EXAMINATION
Is given to
LEARNING INSIGHTS/REFLECTIONS
1 8
HORIZONTAL
1. a column
3. named table
VERTICAL