chapter 1
Databases and
Database Users
Content
Introduction
An Example
Characteristics of the Database Approach
Actors on the Scene
Workers behind the Scene
Advantages of Using the DBMS Approach
Introduction
Data and information
Data: Means known facts that can be recorded
and carry an implicit meaning. For example
name, phone number, etc.
Information: Data that has been processed and
placed in an appropriate and understandable user
form..
Database Properties
A database represents some aspect of the real
world
A database is a logically coherent collection of
data with some inherent meaning.
A database is designed, built, and populated with
data for a specific purpose
Database Management Systems (DBMS)
Database Management System (DBMS) is a
collection of programs that enables users to
create and maintain a database.
The DBMS is a general-purpose software
system that facilitates the processes of
defining, constructing, manipulating, and
sharing databases among various users and
applications.
Database Management Systems Cont.
Defining a database involves specifying the data types, structures, and constraints of
the data to be stored in the database.
The database definition or descriptive information is also stored by the DBMS
in the form of a database catalog or dictionary; it is called meta-data.
Constructing the database is the process of storing the data on some storage medium
that is controlled by the DBMS.
Manipulating a database includes functions such as querying
the database to retrieve specific data, updating the database to reflect changes
Sharing a database allows multiple users and programs to access the database
simultaneously
Other important functions provided by the DBMS include protecting the database
and maintaining it over a long period of time.
Protection includes system protection
against hardware or software malfunction (or crashes) and security protection
against unauthorized or malicious access.
Database Management Systems (DBMS)
Examples of database management systems:
Access
Oracle
Power Builder
Mysql
Sl Server
Sybase
Database Systems
DB + DBMS → DBS
An Example
A UNIVERSITY database for maintaining information concerning
students, courses, and grades in a university environment.
The database is organized as five files, each of which stores data
records of the same type.
1. The STUDENT file stores data on each student,
2. The COURSE file stores data on each course,
3. the SECTION file stores data on each section of a course,
4. The GRADE_REPORT file stores the grades that students receive in
the various sections they have completed,
5. The PREREQUISITE file stores the prerequisites of each course
A UNIVERSITY database
A UNIVERSITY database (Define DB)
To define this database, we must specify the structure of the records of each file by
specifying the different types of data elements to be stored in each record.
each STUDENT record includes data to represent the student’s Name,
Student_number, Class (such as freshman or ‘1’, sophomore or ‘2’, and so forth), and
Major (such as mathematics or ‘MATH’ and computer science or ‘CS’);
Each COURSE record includes data to represent the Course_name, Course_number,
Credit_hours, and Department (the department that offers the course); and so on.
We must also specify a data type for each data element within a record. For example,
we can specify that Name of STUDENT is a string of alphabetic characters,
Student_number of STUDENT is an integer, and Grade of GRADE_REPORT is a single
character from the set {‘A’,‘B’,‘C’,‘D’,‘F’,‘I’}.
construct DB
To construct the UNIVERSITY database, we store
data to represent each student,
course, section, grade report, and prerequisite as
a record in the appropriate file.
Notice that records in the various files may be
related
Database manipulation
Examples of queries are as follows:
Retrieve the transcript—a list of all courses and grades—of ‘Smith’
List the names of students who took the section of the ‘Database’ course
offered in fall 2008 and their grades in that section
List the prerequisites of the ‘Database’ course
Examples of updates include the following:
Change the class of ‘Smith’ to sophomore
Create a new section for the ‘Database’ course for this semester
Enter a grade of ‘A’ for ‘Smith’ in the ‘Database’ section of last semester
Characteristics of the Database Approach
Self-describing nature of a database system
Insulation between programs and data, and data
abstraction
Support of multiple views of the data
Sharing of data and multiuser transaction
processing
Self-Describing Nature of a Database System
the database system contains the database itself and
definition or description of the database structure and
constraints(meta-data ).
This definition is stored in the DBMS catalog, which
contains information such as the structure of each file,
the type and storage format of each data item, and
various constraints on the data
In traditional file processing, data definition is typically
part of the application programs themselves.
Example of DB Catalog
Insulation between Programs and Data,
and Data Abstraction
In traditional file processing, the structure of data files is
embedded in the application programs, so any changes to
the structure of a file may require changing all programs
that access that file.
In DBMS access programs the structure of data files is
stored in the DBMS catalog separately from the access
programs. We call this property program-data
independence
Data abstraction
Data abstraction
the characteristic that allows program-data independence and program-operation
independence
Conceptual representation of data
does not include many of the details of how the data is stored or how the
operations are implemented.
a data model
is a type of data abstraction that is used to provide this conceptual representation
Internal storage format
Support of Multiple Views of the Data
A database typically has many users, each of whom may require a different
perspective or view of the database.
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
For example, one user of the database of Figure 1.2 may be interested only in
accessing and printing the transcript of each student; the view for this user is
shown in Figure 1.5(a).
A second user, who is interested only in checking that students have taken all
the prerequisites of each course for which they register, may require the
view shown in Figure 1.5(b)
Two views derived from the database
Sharing of Data and Multiuser Transaction
Processing
A multiuser DBMS, as its name implies, must allow multiple users to access the
database at the same time.
This is essential if data for multiple applications is to be integrated and maintained in a
single database.
The concept of a transaction has become central to many database applications
A transaction is an executing program or process that includes one or more database
accesses, such as reading or updating of database records.
Each transaction is supposed to execute a logically correct database access if executed
in its entirety without interference from other transactions.
The isolation property ensures that each transaction appears to execute in isolation
from other transactions, even though hundreds of transactions may be executing
concurrently.
The atomicity property ensures that either all the database operations in a transaction
are executed or none are.
Actors on the Scene
Database Administrators
Database Designers
System Analysts and Application Programmers
(Software Engineers)
End User
Database Administrators
The database administrator (DBA) is responsible for
authorizing access to the database,
Coordinating and monitoring its use,
Acquiring software and hardware resources as needed.
The DBA is accountable for problems such as security
breaches and poor system response time.
Database Designers
Database designers are responsible for identifying the data to be stored in the
database and for choosing appropriate structures to represent and store this data.
These tasks are mostly undertaken before the database is actually implemented
and populated with 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.
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.
End Users
End users are the people whose jobs require access to the
database for querying, updating, and generating reports;
the database primarily exists for their use.
There are several categories of end users:
Casual end users occasionally access the database, but they may
need different information each time
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—called
canned transactions
End Users Cont.
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 program packages that provide easy-to-use
menu-based or graphics-based interfaces. An example is
the user of a tax package that stores a variety of personal
financial data for tax purposes.
System Analysts and Application Programmers
(Software Engineers)
System analysts determine the requirements of
end users, especially naive and parametric end
users, and develop specifications for standard
canned transactions that meet these
requirements.
Application programmers implement these
specifications as programs; then they test, debug,
document, and maintain these canned
transactions.
Workers behind the Scene
DBMS system designers and implementers
Tool developers design and implement tools
Operators and maintenance personnel (system
administration personnel)
are responsible for the actual running and maintenance of
the hardware and software environment for the database
system.
Advantages of Using the DBMS Approach
Controlling Redundancy
Restricting Unauthorized Access
Providing Storage Structures and Search Techniques for Efficient Query Processing
Providing Backup and Recovery
Providing Multiple User Interfaces
Representing Complex Relationships among Data
