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File Organization Terms and Concepts

An effective information system provides accurate, timely, and relevant information. Traditionally, organizations stored data in file-based systems that led to problems like data redundancy, inconsistency, inflexibility, and an inability to share data. The database approach centralizes data using database management systems to define data structures, store data logically separate from its physical storage, and provide tools to efficiently organize, access, and report data through languages like SQL. Data modeling involves creating graphical representations of entities, attributes, and relationships to design databases according to business rules and needs. The relational model and entity relationship diagrams are widely used standards that improved database design.

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286 views3 pages

File Organization Terms and Concepts

An effective information system provides accurate, timely, and relevant information. Traditionally, organizations stored data in file-based systems that led to problems like data redundancy, inconsistency, inflexibility, and an inability to share data. The database approach centralizes data using database management systems to define data structures, store data logically separate from its physical storage, and provide tools to efficiently organize, access, and report data through languages like SQL. Data modeling involves creating graphical representations of entities, attributes, and relationships to design databases according to business rules and needs. The relational model and entity relationship diagrams are widely used standards that improved database design.

Uploaded by

Clayton Mark Cadampog
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ORGANIZING DATA IN A TRADITIONAL FILE ENVIRONMENT

An effective information system provides users with accurate, timely, and relevant information.
Accurate information is free of errors.

1. Information is timely when it is available to decision makers when it is needed.


2. Information is relevant when it is useful and appropriate for the types of work and decisions that require it.

FILE ORGANIZATION TERMS AND CONCEPTS


A computer system organizes data in a hierarchy that starts with bits and bytes and progresses to fields, records, files, and
databases.

1. A bit represents the smallest unit of data a computer can handle.


2. A group of bits, called a byte, represents a single character, which can be a letter, a number, or another symbol.
3. A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a complete number (such as a person’s name or age) is called a
field.
4. A group of related fields, such as the student’s name, the course taken, the date, and the grade, comprises a record.
5. A group of records of the same type is called a file.
6. A group of related files makes up a database.

A record describes an entity. An entity is a person, place, thing, or event on which we store and maintain information.

PROBLEMS WITH THE TRADITIONAL FILE ENVIRONMENT


As this process goes on for 5 or 10 years, the organization is saddled with hundreds of programs and applications that are very difficult
to maintain and manage. The resulting problems are data redundancy and inconsistency, program-data dependence, inflexibility,
poor data security, and an inability to share data among applications.

Data Redundancy and Inconsistency

Data redundancy is the presence of duplicate data in multiple data files so that the same data are stored in more than one
place or location.
Data redundancy wastes storage resources and also leads to data inconsistency, where the same attribute may have different
values.

Additional confusion might result from using different coding systems to represent values for an attribute.

Program-Data Dependence

Program-data dependence refers to the coupling of data stored in files and the specific programs required to update and
maintain those files such that changes in programs require changes to the data.

Lack of Flexibility

A traditional file system can deliver routine scheduled reports after extensive programming efforts, but it cannot deliver ad
hoc reports or respond to unanticipated information requirements in a timely fashion.

Poor Security

Because there is little control or management of data, access to and dissemination of information may be out of control.

Lack of Data Sharing and Availability

Because pieces of information in different files and different parts of the organization cannot be related to one another, it is
virtually impossible for information to be shared or accessed in a timely manner. Information cannot flow freely across different
functional areas or different parts of the organization.

THE DATABASE APPROACH TO DATA MANAGEMENT


A database is a collection of data organized to serve many applications efficiently by centralizing the data and controlling redundant
data.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS


A database management system (DBMS) is software that permits an organization to centralize data, manage them efficiently, and
provide access to the stored data by application programs.

The DBMS relieves the programmer or end user from the task of understanding where and how the data are actually stored by
separating the logical and physical views of the data.
-The logical view presents data as they would be perceived by end users or business specialists
- Physical view shows how data are actually organized and structured on physical storage media.

CAPABILITIES OF DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS


A DBMS includes capabilities and tools for organizing, managing, and accessing the data in the database. The most important are its
data definition language, data dictionary, and data manipulation language.

DBMS have a data definition capability to specify the structure of the content of the database.

A data dictionary is an automated or manual file that stores definitions of data elements and their characteristics.

Most DBMS have a specialized language called a data manipulation language that is used to add, change, delete, and retrieve the
data in the database. The most prominent data manipulation language today is Structured Query Language, or SQL

Microsoft Access also uses SQL, but it provides its own set of user-friendly tools for querying databases and for organizing data from
databases into more polished reports.

Microsoft Access and other DBMS include capabilities for report generation so that the data of interest can be displayed in a more
structured and polished format than would be possible just by querying. Crystal Reports is a popular report generator for large
corporate DBMS, although it can also be used with Access.

DATA MODELING AND DATA MODELS


Data modeling, the first step in designing a database, refers to the process of creating a specific data model for a determined problem
domain.

A data model is a relatively simple representation, usually graphical, of more complex real-world data structures. In general terms, a
model is an abstraction of a more complex real-world object or event.

DATA MODEL BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS


The basic building blocks of all data models are entities, attributes, relationships, and constraints.

1. Entity is anything (a person, a place, a thing, or an event) about which data are to be collected and stored.
2. Attribute is a characteristic of an entity.
3. Relationship describes an association among entities.
4. Constraint is a restriction placed on the data.

BUSINESS RULES
A business rule is a brief, precise, and unambiguous description of a policy, procedure, or principle within a specific organization.

EVOLUTION OF DATA MODELS


THE RELATIONAL MODEL
The relational model was introduced in 1970 by E. F. Codd (of IBM) in his landmark paper “A Relational Model of Data for
Large Shared Databanks” (Communications of the ACM, June 1970, pp. 377−387). The relational model represented a major
breakthrough for both users and designers.

The relational model foundation is a mathematical concept known as a relation. To avoid the complexity of abstract mathematical
theory, you can think of a relation (sometimes called a table) as a matrix composed of intersecting rows and columns. Each row in
a relation is called a tuple.

A relational diagram is a representation of the relational database’s entities, the attributes within those entities, and the relationships
between those entities.

A Relational Diagram
A relational table stores a collection of related entities.

Complex design activities require conceptual simplicity to yield successful results.

the entity relationship (ER) model, or ERM, has become a widely accepted standard for data modeling

Peter Chen first introduced the ER data model in 1976; it was the graphical representation of entities and their relationships in a
database structure that quickly became popular because it complemented the relational data model concepts. The relational data
model and ERM combined to provide the foundation for tightly structured database design. ER models are normally represented in
an entity relationship diagram (ERD), which uses graphical representations to model database components.

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