HelwanUniversity

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Electronics, Communication, and Computer Engineering

Database system

Assignment # 1

1- Define the following terms: data, database, DBMS, database system,

database catalog?
Data: are known facts that can be recorded and have implicit meaning.
Database: is a collection of related data.
DBMS: Database Management System is a collection of programs that enables users to create
and maintain a database system.
Database System: a completion of the actual data and the programs that are used to
manipulate this data. (Database + DBMS = DB System)
Database Catalogue: The structure of data files is stored in the DB Catalogue separately from
access programs.
It is a function included on a server that allows users and administrators to check information
on every database installed on that server. Along with common information on every database
catalogue also holds metadata on every database, such as how many tables and rows are being
used in a particular database
2- Discuss the main characteristics of the database approach and how it differs
from traditional file systems?
• Self Describing Nature of a Database System
A DB system contains not only the database itself but also a complete definition or
description of the database structure and constraints
 • Program-Data Independence
Changing the structure of the files doesn't affect the DBMS software as the structure of
data files is stored in the DB Catalogue separately from access programs

• Data Abstraction

The system hides certain details of how data is stored and created and maintained. There
are several levels of abstraction:

1. Physical Level:
o How the data are stored.
o Complex low-level structures described in detail.
2. Conceptual Level:
o Describes what data are stored.
o Describes the relationships among data.
o Database administrator level.
3. View Level:
o Describes part of the database for a particular group of users.
o Can be many different views of a database.

• Support of multiple views of the Data

A database typically has many users, each of whom may require a different perspective or
view of the database
• Multiuser Processing
Multiple users access the database at the same time

3- What are the responsibilities of the DBA and the database designers?
DBA:
• Authorize access to the database and coordinate its use
• Accountable for security and efficiency problems
• Acquire software and hardware resources as needed
DB designer:
• Identify the data to be stored in the database and choose appropriate structures to
represent and store these data
• Develop views of the database that meets the data and processing requirements of
different users
4- What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a DBMS?
Advantages:
• Controlling Redundancy
• Representing Complex Relationships among Data
• Enforcing Integrity constraints
• Provide Backup and Recovery
• Enforcing Standards
• Reduced Application Development Time
• Economics of Scale
• Flexibility
• Availability of up-to-date Information
• Providing Multiple User Interfaces
• Restricting Unauthorized Access
Disadvantages:
• High initial investment h/w, s/w, and user training.
• Additional time requirements for defining and processing the data.
• Overhead costs for providing security, concurrency, and recovery functions.

5- Define a database structure to maintain information concerning flights,

passengers, and reservations in an airline company?
Passenger:
Field Data type Description Constraint
Passenger ID INT Unique row id Primary Key
Name Varchar (32) Passenger’s name Not Null
Address Varchar (64) Passenger’s address Not Null
Age INT Passenger’s age Not Null
Nationality Varchar(32) Passenger’s nationality Not Null
Contact Number INT Telephone number to contact with Not Null
Flight:
 Flight ID Flight Date Departure Time Arrival Time Destination Airport
Reservations:
ID Passenger ID Flight ID Seat Number Price

6- Construct the previous database with some sample records?

Passenger:
Passenger ID Name Address Age Nationality Contact Number

100874 Ali Xx, yy, Egypt 35 Egyptian +2010000000

100875 Ahmad Xy, aa, Egypt 20 Egyptian +2012455888

Flight:
Flight ID Flight Date Departure Time Arrival Time Destination Airport
1578 15/02/2015 15:30 18:30 Paris, France Cairo, Egypt
1579 15/02/2015 21:00 00:00 Rome, Italy Alex, Egypt

Reservation
ID Passenger ID Flight ID Seat Number Price
748 100874 1578 A - 30 5000
749 100875 1578 B - 12 4000

7- Identify some informal queries and update operations that you would expect
to apply to the previous database?
Querying:
List the nationalities of passengers who travel on flight 1578
Updating:
Update the Name section in the Passenger to be Full name.
8- What is the difference between controlled and uncontrolled redundancy?
Illustrate with examples from the airline database?
Redundancy is about storing the same data multiple times, It can be controlled which means that it
doesn’t cause any problems or faults in the database and at the same time it improves the
performance of queries, eg: including the Name field in the Reservation table to avoid searching in
multiple tables
ID Passenger ID Name Flight ID Seat Number Price
748 100874 Ali 1578 A - 30 5000

Example for uncontrolled redundancy:

ID Passenger ID Name Flight ID Seat Number Price
748 100874 Ahmad 1578 A - 30 5000

9- Devise two different views for the airline database?

Ticket:
Passenger ID Name Flight ID Departure Time Arrival Time Seat Number Price