DATABASES

COMPETENCE
1.Distinguish between the Physical and Logical view of
data.
2.Describe how data is organized: characters, fields,
records, files and databases.
3.Describe database, data issues and database
management systems (DBMS)
4.Describe five data models: hierarchical, network,
relational, multidimensional, and object-oriented
5.Distinguish among individual, company, distributed,
proprietary and Web Database
6.Recognize Strategic database uses and security
concerns.
INTRODUCTION
 Secondary storage (libraries, files, folders etc) are
designed to store information thus to be a competent user
of information in this information age, you have to know
how to find information, and so you need to understand
how it is stored via the recent arrival of very powerful
microcomputers and their connectivity to
communications network and the internet.
 Competent end users need to understand data, fields,
records, files and databases.
 The need to know different ways in which data can be
structured and the types of databases and
 The most important database uses and issues.
 DATA
 Information systems consist of people, procedures, software,
hardware and data.
 Data is a raw facts or observations about people, places, things
and events.
 Types of Data includes audios, music, photographs, videos,
numbers, symbols, letters etc.
 There are two ways or perspectives to view data. These views are
the Physical and Logical View.
Physical view focuses on the actual format and location of the
data. Data is recorded as digital bit and grouped together in bytes
representing characters using a coding scheme such as ASCII;
very specialized computer professionals are concerned with this
view.
Logical view focuses on the meaning and content of the data. It
involves using application programs; end users and most
computer professionals are concerned with this view.
DATA ORGANIZATION
Data is organized by the following groups
 Character: the most basic logical element e.g. single
letter, number etc.
 Field: is the next level consisting of related characters
e.g. a person’s last name (Baker). A data field represents
an attribute(description or character) of some
entity(person, place, thing or object)
 Record: a collection of related fields e.g. a payroll file
consists of all the employee records ie first and last
name, social security number and salary.
 File: a collection of related records e.g. a payroll file
consisting of all the employee records.
 Database: an integrated collection of related files e.g.
personnel database includes all related employee files
including payroll file and benefit file.
KEY FIELD
A key field (primary field) is the field in a record that
uniquely identifies each record.

 Key fields in different files can be used to integrate

the data in a database.

 Common key fields are social security numbers and

driver’s license numbers. Other widely used key fields
are student identification numbers, employee
identification numbers, part numbers and inventory
numbers.
BATCH / REAL TIME PROCESSING
Traditionally data processed in two ways
 Batch processing: data is collected over several hours,
days or even weeks then processed all at once –
“batch”. A bank credit card reflects batch processing
and then sends you a single bill totaling the amount
you owe.
 Real time processing (online processing): processes
data at the time the transaction occurred; direct assess
storage devices and make real-time processing
possible. As you use your ATM card to withdraw
cash, the system automatically computes the balance
remaining in your account.
 DATABASES
A database is a collection of integrated data – logically related
files of records in a central pool.
Advantages/Need for Database.
Sharing: In organizations information from one department can
be readily shared with others.
Security: Users are given passwords or access only to the kind
of information they need.
Less Data redundancy: with several department having access
to one file, there are fewer files thus excess storage is reduced.
Microcomputers linked by a network to a file server for example
could replace the hard disks located in several individual
microcomputers.
Data integrity: Traditional filing systems did not have
“integrity” i.e. changes made in the file in one department might
not be made in another department. This can cause serious
problems and conflicts when data is used for important decisions
affecting both departments.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
A database management system (DBMS) is the software
required for creating, modifying, and gaining access to
the database. Some DBMSs such as Access are
designed specifically for microcomputers.
A DBMS consists of five subsystems:
1. DBMS engine: bridges between logical and physical
data views.
2. Data definition subsystem defines logical structure
using data dictionary.
3. Data manipulation provides tools for data maintaining
and analyzing data; Maintaining data is known as data
maintenance. It involves adding new data, deleting old
data and editing existing data. Specific tools include
query-by-example and structure query languages (SQL).
Database management subsystems
cont.
4. Application generation provides tools to create data
entry forms and specialized programming languages
that interface or work with common and widely used
programming languages such as COBOL
5. Data administration helps to manage the overall
database including maintaining security, providing
disaster recovery support and monitoring the overall
performance of database operations. Database
administrators (DBAs) are computer professionals
who help define processing rights.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM(DBMS) STRUCTURE
 DBMS programs are designed to work with data that is
logically structured or arranged in a particular way. This
arrangement is called data model. These models are
rules and standards for all the data in a database.
There are five widely used data models:
 Hierarchical
 Network
 Relational
 Multidimensional and
 Object oriented.
 DBMS STRUCTURE CONT.
1. Hierarchical database uses nodes to link and structure
fields and records; entries may have one parent node
with several child nodes in a one-to-many relationship.
Nodes are points connected like the branches of an
upside-down tree.
The problem with hierarchical database is that if one
parent node is deleted so are all the subordinate child
nodes. A child node cannot be added unless a parent
node is added first.
The most significant limitation is the rigid structure: one
parent per child and no relationships or connections
between the child nodes themselves.

2. Network database is like hierarchical except child

nodes may have more than one parent in many-to-many
relationship. Additional connections are called pointers.
 DBMS STRUCTURE CONT.

3. Relational database In this structure data elements are

stored in different tables each of which consists of rows and
columns. All related tables must have a common data item
(key field) thus information stored on one table can be
linked with information stored on another.
 A table is called a relation.
 The most valuable feature of relational database is their
simplicity. Entries an easily be added, deleted and
modified.
4. Multidimensional Database: this is a variation and
extension of the relational data model. While relational
databases use tables consisting of rows and columns,
Multidimensional database extend to three or more
dimensions sometimes called a hyper cube.
 Multidimensional databases provide several advantages
over relational database which includes:
 DBMS STRUCTURE CONT.
i. Conceptualization: multidimensional databases and
hyper cubes provides users with an intuitive model in
which complex data and relationships can be
conceptualized.
ii. Processing speed: analyzing and querying a large
multidimensional database is much faster which require a
few seconds compared to a relational database could take
minutes or hours to perform.

5. Object Oriented Database : are more flexible, store data

as well as instructions to manipulate the data, and are able
to handle unstructured data e.g. photographs, audio and
videos.
Object oriented organize data using objects, classes,
entities, attributes and methods.
 DBMS STRUCTURE CONT.

 Objects are items that contain both data and instructions

to manipulate the data
 Classes are similar objects grouped together
 Entitiesare a person, place, thing or event that is to be
described.
 Attributes are the description of entities they are similar
to fields
 Methods are descriptions of how the data is to be
manipulated
TYPES OF DATABASES
Databases may be small or large, limited or accessible or
widely accessible. There are five types of databases:
individual, company (shared), distributed, proprietary and
Web.
1.Individual: the individual database (microcomputer
database) is a collection of integrated files primarily used
by just one person and under the control of the user. They
are either stored on the hard disk or on a LAN file server.
2.Company or shared: companies create databases for
their own use and may be stored on a mainframe and
managed by a database administrator. Users have access to
the database through their microcomputers linked to local
area network or wide area networks.
 Company databases are of two types
i. The common operational database contains details
about the operations of the company such as inventory,
production and sales or the day to day operations of the
organization.
ii. The common user database contains selected
information both from the common operational database
and from outside private (proprietary) databases.

3. Distributed: data is stored not in one location but in

several locations and accessible by communication
networks. That is it is located in place or places other
than where users are located.
4. Proprietary is an enormous database that an organization
develops to cover particular subjects and offers access to
individuals for a fee (subscription). Proprietary database
is also called information utilities or data bank.
Some important proprietary databases are
 Csi : offers consumers and business services including
electronic mail
 Dialog information services: offers business, technical
and scientific information.
 Dow Jones interactive Publishing: provides world news
and information on business, investment and stocks.
 Prodigy: offers news and information on business,
economics and leisure services.
5. Web Database is similar to the other types of
databases, its distinguishing feature is that it is
available over the web.
Web database collect data from users and by Web
search engines which consist of CGI (Common
Gateway Interface) scripts used into interface
programs.
DATABASE USES AND ISSUES
Databases offer a great opportunity for increases productivity;
in corporate libraries databases are now considered more
valuable than books and journals, however security is always
a concern.

STRATEGIC USES
Databases help uses to keep up to date and plan for the future,
to support managers and other business professions;
organizations collect data from variety of internal and external
databases.
Data Warehouse is a new type of database that supports data
mining.
Data mining is a technique for searching and exploring for
related information and patterns in data.
Databases available for general and specific business
purposes include:
Business directories provides addresses, financial and
marketing information, product and trade and brand names.
Demographic data such as county and city statistics,
estimates on population and income, census data etc.
Business statistics information such as financial
information on publicly trade companies, market potentials
of certain retail stores etc.
Text databases provides articles from business
publications, press releases, reviews on companies etc.
Web databases covers a wide range of topics including
all of the above. Web search sites like Yahoo! Maintain
databases of available Web sites.
SECURITY
Precisely because database are so valuable, their security has
become a vital issue.
Some security concerns
One concern is that personal and private information about
people store in databases may be used for the wrong
purposes.
Unauthorized users gaining access to a databases e.g.
computer viruses launched into a database or network.
Security may require putting guards and checking the
identification of everyone admitted. Some systems
electronically check fingerprints.

Firewalls are hardware and software to control/protect

access to their internal networks.