Adapted from Jeffery A.

Hoffer’s
Modern Database Management, 12th Edition

Lecture # 4
The Database Approach

1
 The Database Approach
• How do we overcome the flaws of FPSs?
– Database Approach
• Core concepts to understand database approach
– Data models
– Entities
– Relationships
– Relational database
– Database management system
– Advantages of database approach
 The Database Approach
• Central repository of shared data
• Data is managed by a controlling agent
• Stored in a standardized, convenient form
• Requires a Database Management System (DBMS)
• Emphasises the integration & sharing of data
across the organisation
• Data-driven vs Process-driven design
– File processing systems - process driven
– DBSs emphasis on data-driven approach
 Process-driven vs Data-driven
First identify & analyse
organisational processes Focus on entities t/things
Requirements Analysis organisation must manage Requirements Analysis
use DFDs to describe
(e.g. products).
processes & data flows
Identify the properties of
between them.
the entities & relationships
Work backward from
between them & the rules
required outputs to Process Design Database Design
that govern how these entities
determine the required
are managed or used.
inputs. Use flowcharts
After creating suitable models
to specify the logic for
of the data structures and the
conversion of inputs to
Data Design related business rules, develop Process Design
outputs.
the applications required to
Finally design files as a
manage the data.
by-product of process
design.

Implementation Implementation

Data-driven
Process-driven

A balanced approach may be most suitable.

 The Database Approach
• Elements of DB approach
– Data Models
• Enterprise Data Model
• Project Data Model
– Entities
– Relationships
– Relational database
 The Database Approach
• Data Models
– Graphical systems used to capture the nature of data and
relationships among data
– Used at different levels of abstraction
– Facilitate interaction among the designer, the applications
programmer, and the end user
– Effectiveness and efficiency of a DB is directly associated with the
structure of DB
– Relatively simple representations, usually graphical, of complex
real-world data structures
– Made up of entities, attributes and relationships e.g Entity
Relationship (ER) model
 The Database Approach
• Entities
– A thing (e.g.. person, place, object, event, or concept) about
which organisation chooses to record data..
– Composed of attributes
– E.g customer, order, product
• Attributes
– The data you are interested in capturing about the entity
– E.g customer name, order no., product id
• Instance
– Data is recorded for many customers, each customers
information is referred to as instance
 The Database Approach
• Relationships
– To retrieve the desired information
– Between entities
– Usually one to many (1:M) or many to many (M:N)
• Relational Databases
– A database that represents data as a collection of tables in which all data
relationships are represented by common values in related tables
– Establish relationships between entities by means of common fields
included in a file, called a relation
– Database technology involving tables (relations) representing entities and
primary/foreign keys representing relationships
– Use IDs to establish relationship between entities
 The Database Approach
• Enterprise data model (EDM)
– First step in the database development process
– Specifies scope and general content
– Overall picture of organizational data at high level
of abstraction
– Entity-relationship diagram
– Descriptions of entity types
– Relationships between entities
– Business rules
 The Database Approach
• Enterprise data model (EDM)
• A high-level graphical conceptual data model for
an organization. It shows the entities & the
relationships among those entities for the
organization.
– Provides valuable information about how the
organization functions as well as important constraints.
– Stresses the integration of data and processes by
focusing on both relationships and entities.
 The Database Approach
• The project data model : A model that
includes definitions of the diagram's
component pieces
• Includes additional level of details
– A constrained subset of EDM
– i.e Entity Types to represent each person, place,
event, or concept for which information will be
maintained in the system.
 Segment from enterprise data model
Figure 3
 Segment from enterprise data model
Figure 3

One customer may place many

orders, but each order is placed
by a single customer
 One-to-many relationship
 Segment from enterprise data model
Figure 3

One order has many order

lines; each order line is
associated with a single order
 One-to-many relationship
 Segment from enterprise data model
Figure 3

One product can be in many

order lines, each order line
refers to a single product
 One-to-many relationship
 Segment from enterprise data model
Figure 3

Therefore, one order involves

many products and one product
is involved in many orders
 Many-to-many relationship
 The Database Approach
• Segment of a Project Data Model
 Foreign (Linking) Keys

Relationships established in special columns that

provide links between tables
 The Database Approach
• Database Management System
– A software system that is used to create, maintain,
and provide controlled access to user databases
– Data storage and retrieval system which permits
data to be stored non-redundantly while making it
appear to the user as if the data is well-integrated.
• Database Applications
– Application programs used to perform database
activities (create, read, update, and delete) for
database users
 Database Management System
Application
#1

Application

DBMS
#2
Database
containing
centralized
shared data

Application
#3 DBMS manages data
resources like an operating
system manages hardware
resources
The Database Approach
File Processing System
VS
Data Base Approach

22
 The Database Approach
• Advantages of Database Approach
 The Database Approach
• Costs and Risks of the database approach