CH(1)

1.1)Define the following terms:

• Data : Data is a relative entity or object. Ex-name, age, class..

• Database: A Database is a collection of related data with an
implicit meaning.
• DBMS: A database management system is a software system that
helps users to create and maintains a database. This system
contains the processes of defining, constructing, manipulating and
sharing databases from various users and applications.
• Database System: Data base system is nothing but database and
DBMS software together we call as data base system.
• Database catalog: Database catalog contains information such as
the structure of each file, the type and storage format of each data
item and various constraints on the data.
• Program-data independence: The structure of data files is stored
in the DBMS catalog separately from the access programs is
known as program – data independence.
• User view: It is the view that may be a subset of the database or it
contains virtual data is derived from the database files but is not
explicitly stored.
• DBA: Database Administrator is an administrator who is
responsible for authorizing access to the data base. DBA manages
and coordinates the resources and acquires software and hardware
resources.
• End-user: An end user is a person whose job requires access to the
database for querying, updating and generating the reports.
• Canned transaction: The main aim of canned transaction is using
standard types of queries and updates for querying and updating
database.
• Deductive database systems: This type of database systems
provides capability for defining deduction rules for new
information from the stored database.
• Persistent object: Persistent means object is stored permanently in
an object –oriented DBMS and it survives to terminate the program
execution and then retrieved directly by another program.
• Meta-data: It is information about structure of each file, type and
storage format of each data and various constraints on the data is
called meta-data.
 • Transaction-processing application: This application is designed
to maintain database integrity in a known, consistent state.

1.2) What four main types of actions involve databases?

Briefly discuss each.

➢ The DBMS is a software system that explains the four types of

actions, which are defining, constructing, manipulating, and
sharing databases among various users and applications.

1. Defining a database: It includes the data types, structures,

and constraints of the data have to store in the database. The
database descriptive information is also stored by the DBMS
in the form of a database catalog or dictionary; it is called
meta-data.
2. Constructing the database: It is the process of data storing
on some storage medium that is maintained by the DBMS.
3. Manipulating a database: It includes functions such as
retrieve the database by using query, updating the database
to reflect changes in the system, and generate reports from
the data.
4. Sharing a database: It allows multiple users and programs
to access the database simultaneously.

1.3) Discuss the main characteristics of the database

approach and how it differs from traditional file systems.

Main Characteristics of the database approach:

- Self-describing nature of a database system.

A fundamental characteristic of the database approach is that

the database system contains not only the database structure
and constrains. this definition is stored in the system catalog. A
DBMS catalog stores the description of a particular database
(e.g. data structures, types, and constraints) The description is
called meta-data this allows the DBMS software to work with
different database application.

- Insulation between programs and data.

In traditional file processing, the structures of data files is

embedded in the access programs, so many change to the
structure of a file may require changing all programs that access
this file. By constraint, DBMS access programs do not require
 such changes in most cases. the structure of data files is stored
in the DBMS catalog separately from the access programs. we
call this property program-data independence

program-data independence: allows changing data structures

and storage organization without having to change the DBMS
access programs.

- Data abstraction.

The characteristic that allows program-data independence and

program-operation independence is called data abstraction. A
data model is a type of data abstraction that is used to hide
storage details and present the users with a conceptual view of
the database.

- Support of multiple views of the data.

Each user may see a different view of the database, which

describes only the data of interest to that user. A view may be
a subset of the database or it may contain virtual data that is
derived from the database files but is not explicitly stored.

- Sharing of data and multi-user transaction processing.

Allowing a set of concurrent users to retrieve from and to update

the database. concurrency control within the DBMS guarantees
that each transaction is correctly executed or aborted. Recovery
subsystem ensures each completed transaction has its effect
permanently recorded in the database. OLTP (online Transaction
Processing) is a major part of database applications. this allows
hundreds of concurrent transactions to execute per second.

Database approach Differs from traditional file system:

• A database is a collection of interrelated data’s stored in a

database server; these data’s will be stored in the form of
tables. The primary aim of database is to provide a way to
store and retrieve database information in fast and efficient
manner.
• There are number of characteristics that differs from
traditional file management system. In file system approach,
each user defines and implements the needed files for a
specific application to run.
• In database approach, a single repository of data is maintained that
is defined once and then accessed by many users.
1.4) What are the responsibilities of the DBA and the
database designers?

The Key Responsibilities of a Database Administrator :

A database administrator's (DBA) primary responsibility is to ensure

that data is available, protected from loss and corruption, and easily
accessible as needed. The responsibilities that make up the day-to-
day work of a DBA are :

➢ Software installation and Maintenance

➢ Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading
➢ Specialized Data Handling
➢ Database Backup and Recovery
➢ Security
➢ Authentication
➢ Capacity Planning
➢ Performance Monitoring
➢ Database Tuning
➢ Trouble shooting

The key responsibilities of Database designers are :

• Identifying the data to be stored in the data-base and for

choosing appropriate structures to represent and store this
data.
• It is the responsibility of database designers to communicate
with all prospective database users in order to understand
their requirements and to create a design that meets these
requirements.
• In many cases, the designers are on the staff of the DBA and
may be assigned other staff responsibilities after the database
design is completed.
• Database designers typically interact with each potential
group of users and develop views of the database that meet
the data and processing requirements of these groups. Each
view is then analyzed and integrated with the views of other
user groups.
• The final database design must be capable of supporting the
requirements of all user groups.
1.5) What are the different types of database end users?
Discuss the main activities of each.

➢ End users are the people whose jobs require access to the
database for querying, updating, and generating reports;

There are several categories of end users:

• Casual end users occasionally access the database, but they

may need different information each time. They use a
sophisticated database query interface
• Naive or parametric end users make up a sizable portion
of database end users. Their main job function revolves
around constantly querying and updating the database, using
standard types of queries and updates
• Sophisticated end users include engineers, scientists,
business analysts, and others who thoroughly familiarize
themselves with the facilities of the DBMS in order to
implement their own applications to meet their complex
requirements.
• Standalone users maintain personal databases by using
ready-made pro-gram packages that provide easy-to-use
menu-based or graphics-based interfaces. An example is the
user of a financial software package that stores a variety of
personal financial data.

1.6) Discuss the capabilities that should be provided by a

DBMS.

• Controlling Redundancy: normalization

• Restricting unauthorized Access
• Multiple User interfaces: query language, programming
language interfaces (forms and command codes)
• Representing Complex Relationships among Data
• Enforcing Integrity Constraints
• Providing Persistent storage for program objects
• Providing storage structures for efficient query processing
• Backup and recovery
1.7) Discuss the differences between database systems and
information retrieval systems.

Database Technology:

• Applies to structured and formatted data that arises in routine

applications.
• Uses a given Database to generate information.

Retrieval:

• Uses an alternate approach to generate information, data is

indexed, cataloged, and annotated using key words.
• concerned with searching for material based on these
keywords and with many problems dealing with document
processing and free form text processing
• Uses a network or the World Wide Web to gather information.