Faculty of Computing and Information Technology in Rabigh

COIS 342 - Databases

First Semester 2011/2012

Multimedia Databases

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Data Warehouses

Real-time and Active Databases

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 2/19
 Basic Definitions
 Database: A collection of related data.
 Data: Known facts that can be recorded and have an implicit
meaning.
 Mini-world: Some part of the real world about which data is
stored in a database. For example, student grades and transcripts
at a university.
 Database Management System (DBMS): A software package/
system to facilitate the creation and maintenance of a
computerized database.
 Database System: The DBMS software together with the data
itself. Sometimes, the applications are also included.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 3/19
 Typical DBMS Functionality
 Define a database : in terms of data types, structures
and constraints
 Construct or Load the Database on a secondary storage
medium
 Manipulating the database : querying, generating
reports, insertions, deletions and modifications to its
content
 Concurrent Processing and Sharing by a set of users
and programs – yet, keeping all data valid and
consistent
Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 4/19
 Typical DBMS Functionality
Other features:
– Protection or Security measures to prevent
unauthorized access
– “Active” processing to take internal actions on data
– Presentation and Visualization of data

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 5/19
 Example of a Database
(with a Conceptual Data Model)
 Mini-world for the example: Part of a
UNIVERSITY environment.
 Some mini-world entities:
– STUDENTs
– COURSEs
– SECTIONs (of COURSEs)
– (academic) DEPARTMENTs
– INSTRUCTORs
Note: The above could be expressed in the ENTITY-
RELATIONSHIP data model.
Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 6/19
 Example of a Database
(with a Conceptual Data Model)
 Some mini-world relationships:
– SECTIONs are of specific COURSEs
– STUDENTs take SECTIONs
– COURSEs have prerequisite COURSEs
– INSTRUCTORs teach SECTIONs
– COURSEs are offered by DEPARTMENTs
– STUDENTs major in DEPARTMENTs

Note: The above could be expressed in the ENTITY-

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 7/19
 Main Characteristics of the
Database Approach
 Self-describing nature of a database system: A DBMS
catalog stores the description of the database. The
description is called meta-data). This allows the
DBMS software to work with different databases.
 Insulation between programs and data: Called
program-data independence. Allows changing data
storage structures and operations without having to
change the DBMS access programs.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 8/19
 Main Characteristics of the
Database Approach
 Data Abstraction: A data model 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.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 9/19
 Main Characteristics of the
Database Approach
 Sharing of data and multiuser transaction
processing : allowing a set of concurrent users to
retrieve and to update the database. Concurrency
control within the DBMS guarantees that each
transaction is correctly executed or completely
aborted. OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) is
a major part of database applications.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 10/19
 Database Users
Users may be divided into those who actually
use and control the content (called “Actors
on the Scene”) and those who enable the
database to be developed and the DBMS
software to be designed and implemented
(called “Workers Behind the Scene”).

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 11/19
 Database Users
Actors on the scene
– Database administrators: responsible for authorizing
access to the database, for co-ordinating and monitoring its
use, acquiring software, and hardware resources,
controlling its use and monitoring efficiency of operations.
– Database Designers: responsible to define the content, the
structure, the constraints, and functions or transactions
against the database. They must communicate with the end-
users and understand their needs.
– End-users: they use the data for queries, reports and some
of them actually update the database content.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 12/19
 Advantages of Using the
Database Approach
Controlling redundancy in data storage and in
development and maintenance efforts.
Sharing of data among multiple users.
Restricting unauthorized access to data.
Providing persistent storage for program
Objects
Providing Storage Structures for efficient
Query Processing

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 13/19
 Advantages of Using the
Database Approach
Providing backup and recovery services.
Providing multiple interfaces to different
classes of users.
Representing complex relationships among
data.
Enforcing integrity constraints on the database.
Drawing Inferences and Actions using rules

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 14/19
 Additional Implications of
Using the Database Approach
 Potential for enforcing standards: this is very crucial
for the success of database applications in large
organizations Standards refer to data item names,
display formats, screens, report structures, meta-data
(description of data) etc.
 Reduced application development time: incremental
time to add each new application is reduced.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 15/19
 Additional Implications of
Using the Database Approach
 Flexibility to change data structures: database
structure may evolve as new requirements are
defined.
 Availability of up-to-date information – very
important for on-line transaction systems such as
airline, hotel, car reservations.
 Economies of scale: by consolidating data and
applications across departments wasteful overlap of
resources and personnel can be avoided.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 16/19
 Historical Development of
Database Technology
 Early Database Applications: The
Hierarchical and Network Models were
introduced in mid 1960’s and dominated
during the seventies. A bulk of the worldwide
database processing still occurs using these
models.
 Relational Model based Systems: The
model that was originally introduced in 1970
was heavily researched and experimented
with in IBM and the universities. Relational
DBMS Products emerged in the 1980’s.
Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 17/19
 Historical Development of
Database Technology
 Object-oriented applications: OODBMSs were
introduced in late 1980’s and early 1990’s to cater to
the need of complex data processing in CAD and other
applications. Their use has not taken off much.
 Data on the Web and E-commerce Applications:
Web contains data in HTML (Hypertext markup
language) with links among pages. This has given rise
to a new set of applications and E-commerce is using
new standards like XML (eXtended Markup
Language).

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 18/19
 Extending Database
Capabilities
 New functionality is being added to DBMSs in
the following areas:
– Scientific Applications
– Image Storage and Management
– Audio and Video data management
– Data Mining
– Spatial data management
– Time Series and Historical Data Management
The above gives rise to new research and development in incorporating
new data types, complex data structures, new operations and storage
and indexing schemes in database systems.

Chapter 1 – Database Approach – Adapted from Elmasri/Navathe by Dr Samir BOUCETTA Slide 19/19