Databases and

Database Users

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Contents

• Basic Definitions
• Example of a Database
• A Simplified Database System Environment
• Characteristics of the Database Approach
• Database System Users
• Advantages of Using the DBMS Approach
• Additional Implications of Using the Database Approach
• When Not Using a DBMS

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Basic Definitions

• What is data?

• What is database?

• What is database management system?

• What is database system?

• And other database terminologies

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What is Data?
• Data: Known facts about something that can be recorded and have an
implicit meaning in the user’s environment.

• Examples:
- Person's name, telephone, address, email, picture, …
- Student's ID, name, address, sex, major, …
- Product's name, description, manufacturer, price,…
- Book's publisher, author, title, …

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What is Database?
• Database (DB): a collection of related data + meta-data.

Example of a Database
• A simple university database maintaining information about students,
courses, and grade in a university environment
• Mini-world for the example: Part of a UNIVERSITY environment.
• Some mini-world entities :
- STUDENTs
- COURSEs
- SECTIONs (of COURSEs)
- INSTRUCTORs

• Some mini-world relationships :

- SECTIONs are of specific COURSEs
- STUDENTs take SECTIONs
- COURSEs have prerequisite COURSEs
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Example of a Database (Cont.)

An example of a database that stores student records and their grades .

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Meta-Data

• Meta-Data: data about the data

-Provides the definition or description of the database structure. This
definition is stored in the database catalog.

-DB Definition: Contains information such as the structure of each file, the
type and storage format of each field, and various constraints on the data.

- Database catalog: A central location where data definitions (i.e. meta-

data) are stored.

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Database Catalog Example

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What is a DBMS?

• DBMS - DataBase Management System

• Is a collection of programs/software system that enables users to create

and maintain a database.

Example of DBMSs:

Oracle, MS Access, MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, Ingres, Informix, ...

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DBMS Functionality
• Typically, a DBMS facilitates the processes of
• Defining a database: involves specifying the data types, structures, and
constraints for the data to be stored in the database.
• Constructing or loading the database: is the process of storing the data
itself on a secondary storage medium.
• Manipulating the database: Includes such functions as querying the
database to retrieve specific data, inserting new data, deleting stored data,
modify or updating the database content to reflect changes in the miniworld,
and generating reports from the data
• Sharing a database: allows multiple users and programs to access the
database concurrently.

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What is a Database System?

• Database System (DBS): Includes the DBMS software together with

the data itself. Sometimes, the application programs are also included.

• Application Programs: Programs written in a specific language (3GL)

that includes commands required to manipulate the database.

DBS = DB + DBMS + Application Programs

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Simplified Database System Environment

Database
+
DBMS
+
Application Programs
=
Database System

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Characteristics of the DB Approach

• The main characteristics of the database approach versus the file-

processing approach are:

− Self-describing nature of a database system

− Insulation between programs and data

− Data abstraction

− Support of multiple views of data

− Sharing of data and multi-user transaction processing

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Users of the Database System

• Actors on the Scene

− People whose jobs involve the day-to-day use of a large databases.

− Such People use the database system, through the DBMS interfaces or

through application programs

− Database Administrators

− Database Designers

− End Users

− System Analysts and Application Programmers

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Users of the Database System Cont.

Actors behind the Scene

• DBMS designers and developers

• Tools developers
• Operators (Backup and maintain the DB)

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Advantages of Using the DBMS

• Controlling redundancy

• Restricting unauthorized access

• Providing multiple user interfaces

• Representing complex relationships among data

• Enforcing integrity constraints

• Providing backup and recovery

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Controlling Redundancy

• In DBMS approach

– There is a relationship among data. So, data are stored in only one

place

– Saves space

• However, redundancy sometimes enhances performance - DBMS

provides an environment where redundancy can be controlled

• Redundancy can’t be completely eliminated but can be minimized

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Restricting Unauthorized Access

• Users must be authorized to access the DB

• Some users may only be permitted to Retrieve the data

• Some users are allowed to Retrieve and Update the data, this requires

controlling access to DB.

• DBMS should provide security and authorization subsystem

• DBA use it to create accounts and to specify account restrictions

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Providing Multiple User Interfaces

• There should be different interfaces for different users.

− Menu-driven Interfaces or query Languages for End Users

− Programming Language Interfaces for Application Programmers

− Forms and Command Codes for Parametric Users

• Both Forms-style interfaces and Menu-driven interfaces are commonly

known as Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)

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Representing Complex Relationships

• DBMS has ability to represent complex relationships among the data.

For example the relationship between the students and the courses,

between the courses and their sections, … etc.

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Enforcing Integrity Constraints

• Data should satisfy certain integrity constraints

– For EMPLOYEES Age should be 16 -70
– For STUDET Grades values should be { A, B, C, D, F}
– EmployeeID should have unique value for each employee
– Student No must be a 9 digit integer
• Constraints should be identified and specified at the database design time.

• Some constraints can be enforced by DBMS system.

• Other constraints must be enforced by app. programs or at data entry time.
• Some errors may be detected that way, but not all.
Ex.
– For instance age of 167 can be detected as error, but age 45 instead of 54 cannot
be detected since either may be legal data.

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Providing Backup and Recovery

DBMS provides facility to recover from hardware and software failures

through its backup and recovery sub-system

• An update program is executing

• Computer System fails in the middle of the update

• DBMS restores the database to a state prior to the update and

restarts the update program

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