Introduction to Data Processing

Systems
• Specific Objectives
• By the end of the lesson, the learner will be able to :
explain concepts and terminologies associated with
databases.
design and create a database using a variety of
ways.
administer a database.
create and use a query.
create and use forms.
design and manage reports.
 Concept of database
• A database is a collection of information
organised so that it can easily be accessed,
managed and updated.
• A database is a collection of information
organised to make it easy to view it , search it and
retrieve the right details and collect the necessary
facts in an easier, timely and effortless manner.
• The database contains a table, column, row field
and view etc.
• Database keeps data in one or more tables.
Database
 Terminologies of Database Application

• Data can be defined as facts, figures or

statistics used for reference or analysis.
• Data is a raw material or unprocessed
information.
• It can be numbers, characters, symbols
and images etc.
 Terminologies of Database Application
• Information is data that has been
processed in such a way as to be
meaningful to the person who receives it.
• Information refers to interpreted data.
• Knowledge refers to the practical use of
information .
• Knowledge involves personal experience.
 Terminologies of Database Application
• A Database Management System(DBMS) is a
single software application for creating ,
organising , managing and storing a large
amount of data in a database.
• The DBMS provides users and programmers
with a systematic way to create , retrieve ,
update and manage data.
• Examples: MySQL, MS Access, SQL Server,
Oracle, PostgreSQL, FileMaker, RDBMS, dBASE,
Clipper and FoxPro etc.
Terminologies of Database Application
 Table is a list of related information in columns
and rows.
 Each Row in a table is considered a Record.
 Each Column in the table is a category or a
Field.
 One item of data, such as your phone number in
the phone book is called a Data value.
 A collection of records is called a data table.
 A collection of related tables is called a
relational database.
Terminologies of Database Application

 A form is an object in a desktop database

designed primarily for data input or display.
 Forms are used for entering , modifying and
viewing records.
 The reason forms are used so often is that they are
an easy way to guide people toward entering data
correctly.
 Forms are used to enter data to a table and view
data from a table in a Database Management
System.
Terminologies of Database Application
• Relationship establishes an association
between common fields in two tables.
 Terminologies of Database Application
• A query is a question or request about the data stored in a
database.
• It is an object that provides a custom view of data from one or
more tables.
• Queries are a way of searching for and compiling data from one
or more tables.
• Running a query is like asking a detailed question of your
database.
• When you build a query in Access, you are defining specific
search conditions to find exactly the data you want.
• You can define queries to Select, Update , Insert or Delete data.
• You can also define queries that create new tables from data in
one or more existing tables.
 Terminologies of Database Application
• A lookup field is an attribute that provides a list
of values from which a user can choose an
option.
Field

Admission Name Date of Mark Year

No Birth
1426 Ebenezer Essel 2/11/2000 74 2017
1427 Dennis Kobea 4/10/2001 87 2017
Record
1232 Emmanuel Amoah 13/03/2005 79 2071
1145 Eric Azanda 12/04/1999 80 2017
 Terminologies of Database Application

• A field is a column of a table.

• Field are the categories about which
data is entered.
• A field is used to define and store data.
• A field is a combination of one ore more
related characters or bytes and is the
smallest unit od data a user accesses.
Terminologies of Database Application
• A field name uniquely identifies each field.
• Field names for the data in the Student Table
may include Index Number, FirstName,
LastName, Date of Birth etc.
• A database uses a variety of characteristics
such as field size and data type, to define each
field.
• The field size defines the maximum number of
characters a field can contain.
 Terminologies of Database Application
First Name Surname Address 1 Address 2 Post Code Date of
Birth
Eric Agbenyo Ducktown Rabbit Road VG 200 1/02/1998

Richard Nyadzi Harvard Monkey MH 250 2/03/1996

Road
Bless Agbeli Meettown Sheep Road MT2 998 20/8/2001

Gloria Dzandu Great Crazy Close MT3 543 12/02/1996

Courage Gallley Meep Lane Quack St. MT4 654 13/04/2003

Justice Nyabi Squeak St. David St. MT5 201 14/03/2007

Millicent Kpodo Moon St. Mills St. NT2 402 15/04/2005

Terminologies of Database Application
• Record is a collection of rows related to one
person or object is called a record.
• An element or row in a database /file that
contains a collection of data about an item.
• A record is a row of a table.
• A record is all of the data or information about
one person or one thing.
Terminologies of Database Application

• A file is a collection of related

records.
• For example, a file might contain
data about the students currently
enrolled at a school.
• Relation/ entity- it means a table.
• Attribute- it means columns or fields.
Terminologies of Database Application
• Domain- This is a value within the same
attribute.
• Tuple- it means a record or a row in a table.
Terminologies of Database Application
• Primary key
• The primary key (Column) of a table uniquely
identifies each record in the table.
• For example, RollNo of a student in a class
identifies each student, the index number of
candidates identifies each student.
Special attributes of a primary key
• Should not be empty (data being there is
mandatory) ; a primary key column cannot
contain NULL values.
• No duplicate values ( same value do not exist)
• Primary keys must contain unique values.
• Each table should have a primary key and each
table can have only ONE primary key.
 Primary key
Accession No Title Author’s Name Price of Book Number of
Books
2141 Database Peprah Adusei 20 9
Concept
2142 Essay Writing Mark Owusu 18 12

2143 Internet Deborah Osei 25 4

2144 ICT Basics Peprah Adusei 22 8

2145 Spreadsheet Daniel Ababio 30 10

2146 Math Made Easy Osei Kwame 18 12

2147 Internet David Bempah 16 5

 Primary key
• In the table above,
• Accession numbers do not have duplicates(unique)
• Both authors Deborah Osei and David Bempah have
authored Internet
• Peprah Adusei has authored both Database Concept and
ICT Basics
• The price of both books Essay Writing and Math Made
Easy is the same.
• Both books Essay Writing and Math Made Easy have
twelve copies
• According to these details, the Accession Number is the
most suitable fields for the primary key.
Primary Key
Primary Key
Primary Key
 Foreign Key
• A foreign key (FK) is a column or a combination of
columns that used to establish and enforce a link between
the data in two tables.
• A foreign key consists of one or more columns in a table
whose value in one row uniquely identifies another row in
the same or another table.
• To preserve or establish relationships, one needs to create
a foreign key.
• A foreign key is a primary from one table placed into
another table.
• This key is called a foreign key in the table that receives
the key.
 Special features of a foreign key
 Builds a connection between two tables.

 The related data of the primary key field

exist in the other table.
 Foreign key of one table is the primary key
of the other table.
 Student Table
Registration Name Date of Birth Date of Name of
Number Admission Parent or
Guardian

001 Eric Agbeli 12/08/2002 17/08/2015 Richard

Agboga

002 Richmond 22/07/2004 19/05/2017 Cynthia Aza

Aggor
 Subject Table
Candidate Geography Maths ICT English Registration
Number Number

0051103005 B3 B2 A1 C5 001

0051103007 A1 B3 B2 B2 002
Terminologies of Database Application
• Data type is a classification of the type of data
that a variable or object can hold in computer
programming.
• A field is defined with a suitable data type.
• Some data types are:
Text/Char/Varchar/Number/Int/Float/Decimal
/Boolean/Yes/No/Bit, Currency/Money,
Attachment/Date/Time etc.
 Terminologies of Database Application

• Field Properties are the attributes of a field type such

as Field size, format.
• Queries are used to obtain necessary information
from the data of related tables.
• Forms are used to enter data to a table and view data
from a table in a Database Management System.
• Reports are used to obtain printed copies of
information retrieved from the data of related tables.
• Design view: A database window in which tables are
designed for a database .
Terminologies of Database Application
• Datasheet View is a database window that
displays data from a table, form, report or
query for changes to be effected.
 Terminologies of Database Application
• The collection of information stored in the
database at a particular moment is called an
instance of the database.
• The overall design of the database is called
the database schema.
A database schema corresponds to the variable
declaration in a program.
Databases have several schemas , partitioned
according to the level of abstraction.
 Logical Data Concepts

• The physical schema describes the database

design at the physical level.
• The physical schema is hidden beneath the
logical schema and can usually be changed
easily without affecting application programs.
• Logical schema describes the database design
at the logical level.
 Logical Data Concepts
• The conceptual model represents various
pieces of data and their relationships at a very
high level of abstraction.
• The conceptual model can be organised the
Entity-Relationship model (E-R model).
• The E-R model views the real world as a set of
basic objects (known as entities) and
attributes.