Database Management

(Basic Concepts)
 What is Data-items/Fields?
A data-item is a single fact about something that
interests us.

A fact can be any characteristic of an object.

 
Salesperson  Salesperson      Office  Commission  Year of 
Number  Name  City  State  Number  Percentage  Hire 
137  Siddharth  Hyd  AP  1284  10  1995 
 
Figure 2.1   Facts about salesperson Siddarth. 
 Entities
Salesperson Salesperson Office Commission Year of
Number Name City State Number Percentage Hire
119 Taylor New York NY 1211 15 2003
137 Baker Detroit MI 1284 10 1995
186 Adams Dallas TX 1253 15 2001
204 Dickens Dallas TX 1209 10 1998
255 Lincoln Atlanta GA 1268 20 2003
361 Carlyle Detroit MI 1227 20 2001
420 Green Tucson AZ 1263 10 1993

Figure 2.2   Salesperson file.

 Entity - a “thing” or “object” in our environment that

we want to keep track of or for which relevant
information is stored.

 Entity set - A collection of entities of the same type

(e.g., all of the company’s employees).
 Attributes
Salesperson Salesperson Office Commission Year of
Number Name City State Number Percentage Hire
119 Taylor New York NY 1211 15 2003
137 Baker Detroit MI 1284 10 1995
186 Adams Dallas TX 1253 15 2001
204 Dickens Dallas TX 1209 10 1998
255 Lincoln Atlanta GA 1268 20 2003
361 Carlyle Detroit MI 1227 20 2001
420 Green Tucson AZ 1263 10 1993

Figure 2.2   Salesperson file.
 Attribute - a property of, a characteristic of, or a fact
that we know about an entity.

 Some attributes have unique values within an entity

set.
 Records and Files
Salesperson Salesperson Office Commission Year of
Number Name City State Number Percentage Hire
119 Taylor New York NY 1211 15 2003
137 Baker Detroit MI 1284 10 1995
186 Adams Dallas TX 1253 15 2001
204 Dickens Dallas TX 1209 10 1998
key 255
361
Lincoln
Carlyle
Atlanta
Detroit
GA
MI
1268
1227
20
20
2003
2001
field 420 Green Tucson AZ 1263 10 1993

Figure 2.2 Salesperson file.

 Records /Tuples- each row of a structure like above

 Fields/Attributes - the columns, representing the facts

 File - the entire structure

 Records and Files
Salesperson Salesperson Office Commission Year of
Number Name City State Number Percentage Hire
119 Taylor New York NY 1211 15 2003
137 Baker Detroit MI 1284 10 1995
186 Adams Dallas TX 1253 15 2001
204 Dickens Dallas TX 1209 10 1998
255 Lincoln Atlanta GA 1268 20 2003
361 Carlyle Detroit MI 1227 20 2001
420 Green Tucson AZ 1263 10 1993

Figure 2.2   Salesperson file.

 Record type - a structural description of each and every

record in the file

 Record occurrence / Record instance - a specific

record of the salesperson file
What is a database ?
A database is a collection of related information
stored so that it is available to many users for
different purposes

What is a DBMS?

A DBMS is a combination of hardware and software

that can be used to set up and monitor a database, and
can manage the updating and retrieval of database
that has been stored in it.
 DBMS as an interface between
physical database and Users’ Requests

Queries

Operating Database
DBMS
System

COBOL/C
 DBMS facilities
 Creating a file, addition to data, deletion of data, modification of data;
creation, addition and deletion of entire files

 Retrieving data collectively or selectively

 The data stored can be stored or indexed at the user’s discretion and
direction

 Various reports can be produced from the system. These may be either
standardized report or that may be specifically generated according to
specific user definition.

 Mathematical functions can be performed and the data stored in the

database can be manipulated with these functions to perform the desired
calculations

 To maintain data integrity and database use

 Advantages of DBMS

1. Reduction of Redundancies
2. Sharing Data
3. Data Integrity
4. Data Security
5. Conflict Resolution
6. Data Independence
 Disadvantages of DBMS
 Cost

 Backup and recovery operations are fairly

complex in a DBMS environment

 Centralization of data increases the potential

severity of security breaches and disruption
due to downtimes and failures