G H Raisoni College of Engineering and management, Pune

(An Autonomous Institute Affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University)

Gat No.1200, Domkhel Road, Wagholi, Pune-412207

NOTES

ON

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

TY IT B.TECH
SEMESTER-I

Ms. APASHABI PATHAN

Assistant Professor

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

G H RAISONI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING &
MANAGEMENT WAGHOLI, PUNE

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INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CONCEPTS OF DATABASE SYSTEMS:

What is Data?

The raw facts are called as data. The word ―raw‖ indicates that they have not been processed.

Ex: For example 89 is the data.

What is information?

The processed data is known as information.

Ex: Marks: 89; then it becomes information.

What is Knowledge?

1. Knowledge refers to the practical use of information.

2. Knowledge necessarily involves a personal experience.

DATA/INFORMATION PROCESSING:

The process of converting the data (raw facts) into meaningful information is called as
data/information processing.

When When
Data Information Knowledge
Processed Processed

Note: In business processing knowledge is more useful to make decisions for any organization.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DATA AND INFORMATION:

DATA INFORMATION
1.Raw facts 1.Processed data
2. It is in unorganized form 2. It is in organized form
3. Data doesn’t help in 3. Information helps in
Decision decision
making process making process

FILE ORIENTED APPROACH:

The earliest business computer systems were used to process business records and
produce information. They were generally faster and more accurate than equivalent manual
systems. These systems stored groups of records in separate files, and so they were called file
processing systems.

1. File system is a collection of data. Any management with the file system, user has to
write the procedures

2. File system gives the details of the data representation and Storage of data.

3. In File system storing and retrieving of data cannot be done efficiently.

4. Concurrent access to the data in the file system has many problems like a Reading the
file while other deleting some information, updating some information

5. File system doesn’t provide crash recovery mechanism.

Eg. While we are entering some data into the file if System crashes then content of the
file is lost.

6. Protecting a file under file system is very difficult.

The typical file-oriented system is supported by a conventional operating system.

Permanent records are stored in various files and a number of different application programs
are written to extract records from and add records to the appropriate files.

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DISADVANTAGES OF FILE-ORIENTED SYSTEM:

The following are the disadvantages of File-Oriented System:

Data Redundancy and Inconsistency:

Since files and application programs are created by different programmers over a long
period of time, the files are likely to be having different formats and the programs may be
written in several programming languages. Moreover, the same piece of information may be
duplicated in several places. This redundancy leads to higher storage and access cost. In
addition, it may lead to data inconsistency.

Difficulty in Accessing Data:

The conventional file processing environments do not allow needed data to be retrieved
in a convenient and efficient manner. Better data retrieval system must be developed for
general use.

Data Isolation:

Since data is scattered in various files, and files may be in different formats, it is
difficult to write new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data.

Concurrent Access Anomalies:

In order to improve the overall performance of the system and obtain a faster response
time, many systems allow multiple users to update the data simultaneously. In such an
environment, interaction of concurrent updates may result in inconsistent data.

Security Problems:

Not every user of the database system should be able to access all the data. For
example, in banking system, payroll personnel need only that part of the database that has
information about various bank employees. They do not need access to information about
customer accounts. It is difficult to enforce such security constraints.

Integrity Problems:

The data values stored in the database must satisfy certain types of consistency
constraints. For example, the balance of a bank account may never fall below a prescribed
amount. These constraints are enforced in the system by adding appropriate code in the various

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application programs. When new constraints are added, it is difficult to change the programs to
enforce them. The problem is compounded when constraints involve several data items for
different files.

Atomicity Problem:

A computer system like any other mechanical or electrical device is subject to failure.
In many applications, it is crucial to ensure that once a failure has occurred and has been
detected, the data are restored to the consistent state existed prior to the failure

Example:

Consider part of a savings-bank enterprise that keeps information about all customers
and savings accounts. One way to keep the information on a computer is to store it in operating
system files. To allow users to manipulate the information, the system has a number of
application programs that manipulate the files, including:

 A program to debit or credit an account

 A program to add a new account

 A program to find the balance of an account

 A program to generate monthly statements

Programmers wrote these application programs to meet the needs of the bank. New
application programs are added to the system as the need arises. For example, suppose that the
savings bank decides to offer checking accounts.
As a result, the bank creates new permanent files that contain information about all the
checking accounts maintained in the bank, and it may have to write new application programs
to deal with situations that do not arise in savings accounts, such as overdrafts. Thus, as time
goes by, the system acquires more files and more application programs. The system stores
permanent records in various files, and it needs different
Application programs to extract records from, and add records to, the appropriate files.
Before database management systems (DBMS) came along, organizations usually stored
information in such systems. Organizational information in a file-processing system has a
number of major disadvantages:

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1. Data Redundancy and Inconsistency:

The address and telephone number of a particular customer may appear in a file that
consists of savings-account records and in a file that consists of checking-account records. This
redundancy leads to higher storage and access cost. In, it may lead to data inconsistency; that
is, the various copies of the same data may no longer agree. For example, a changed customer
address may be reflected in savings-account records but not elsewhere in the system.

2. Difficulty in Accessing Data:

Suppose that one of the bank officers needs to find out the names of all customers who
live within a particular postal-code area. The officer asks the data-processing department to
generate such a list. Because there is no application program to generate that. The bank officer
has now two choices: either obtain the list of all customers and extract the needed information
manually or ask a system programmer to write the necessary application program. Both
alternatives are obviously unsatisfactory.

3. Data Isolation:

Because data are scattered in various files and files may be in different formats, writing
new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data is difficult.

4. Integrity Problems:

The balance of a bank account may never fall below a prescribed amount (say, $25).
Developers enforce these constraints in the system by adding appropriate code in the various
application programs. However, when new constraints are added, it is difficult to change the
programs to enforce them. The problem is compounded when constraints involve several data
items from different files.

5. Atomicity Problems:
A computer system, like any other mechanical or electrical device, is subject to failure.
In many applications, it is crucial that, if a failure occurs, the data be restored to the consistent
state that existed prior to the failure. Consider a program to transfer $50 from account A to
account B. If a system failure occurs during the execution of the program, it is possible that the
$50 was removed from account A but was not credited to account B, resulting in an inconsistent
database state. Clearly, it is essential to database consistency that either both the credit and
debit occur, or that neither occur. That is, the funds transfer must be atomic—it must happen in
its entirety or not at all. It is difficult to ensure atomicity in a conventional file-processing
system.

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6. Concurrent-Access Anomalies:

For the sake of overall performance of the system and faster response, many systems
allow multiple users to update the data simultaneously. In such an environment, interaction of
concurrent updates may result in inconsistent data. Consider bank account A, containing $500.
If two customers withdraw funds (say $50 and $100 respectively) from account A at about the
same time, the result of the concurrent executions may leave the account in an incorrect (or
inconsistent) state. Suppose that the programs executing on behalf of each withdrawal read the
old balance, reduce that value by the amount being withdrawn, and write the result back. If the
two programs run concurrently, they may both read the value $500, and write back $450 and
$400, respectively. Depending on which one writes the value last, the account may contain
$450 or $400, rather than the correct value of $350. To guard against this possibility, the system
must maintain some form of supervision. But supervision is difficult to provide because data
may be accessed by many different application programs that have not been coordinated
previously.

7. Security Problems:

Not every user of the database system should be able to access all the data. For
example, in a banking system, payroll personnel need to see only that part of the database that
has information about the various bank employees. They do not need access to information
about customer accounts. But, since application programs are added to the system in an ad hoc
manner, enforcing such security constraints is difficult. These difficulties, among others,
prompted the development of database systems.

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INTRODUCTION TO DATABASES:

History of Database Systems:

1950s and early 1960s:

 Magnetic tapes were developed for data storage

 Data processing tasks such as payroll were automated, with data stored on tapes.

 Data could also be input from punched card decks, and output to printers.

 Late 1960s and 1970s: The use of hard disks in the late 1960s changed the scenario for
data processing greatly, since hard disks allowed direct access to data.

 With disks, network and hierarchical databases could be created that allowed data
structures such as lists and trees to be stored on disk. Programmers could construct and
manipulate these data structures.

 With disks, network and hierarchical databases could be created that allowed data
structures such as lists and trees to be stored on disk. Programmers could construct and
manipulate these data structures.

 In the 1970’s the EF CODD defined the Relational Model.

In the 1980’s:
 Initial commercial relational database systems, such as IBM DB2, Oracle, Ingress, and
DEC Rdb, played a major role in advancing techniques for efficient processing of
declarative queries.

 In the early 1980s, relational databases had become competitive with network and
hierarchical database systems even in the area of performance.

 The 1980s also saw much research on parallel and distributed databases, as well as
initial work on object-oriented databases.

Early 1990s:

 The SQL language was designed primarily in the 1990’s.

 And this is used for the transaction processing applications.

 Decision support and querying re-emerged as a major application area for databases.

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  Database vendors also began to add object-relational support to their databases.

Late 1990s:

 The major event was the explosive growth of the World Wide Web.

 Databases were deployed much more extensively than ever before. Database systems
now had to support very high transaction processing rates, as well as very high
reliability and 24 * 7 availability (availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, meaning no
downtime for scheduled maintenance activities).

 Database systems also had to support Web interfaces to data.

The Evolution of Database systems:

The Evolution of Database systems are as follows:

1. File Management System

2. Hierarchical database System

3. Network Database System

4. Relational Database System

File Management System:

The file management system also called as FMS in short is one in which all data is
stored on a single large file. The main disadvantage in this system is searching a record or data
takes a long time. This lead to the introduction of the concept, of indexing in this system. Then
also the FMS system had lot of drawbacks to name a few like updating or modifications to the
data cannot be handled easily, sorting the records took long time and so on. All these drawbacks
led to the introduction of the Hierarchical Database System.

Hierarchical Database System:

The previous system FMS drawback of accessing records and sorting records which
took a long time was removed in this by the introduction of parent-child relationship between
records in database. The origin of the data is called the root from which several branches have
data at different levels and the last level is called the

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leaf. The main drawback in this was if there is any modification or addition made to the
structure then the whole structure needed alteration which made the task a tedious one. In order
to avoid this next system took its origin which is called as the Network Database System.

Fig: Hierarchical Database System

Network Database System:

In this the main concept of many-many relationships got introduced. But this also
followed the same technology of pointers to define relationships with a difference in this made
in the introduction if grouping of data items as sets.

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Relational Database System:

In order to overcome all the drawbacks of the previous systems, the Relational
Database System got introduced in which data get organized as tables and each record forms a
row with many fields or attributes in it. Relationships between tables are also formed in this
system.

DATABASE:

A database is a collection of related data.

(OR)

A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can be easily accessed,

managed and updated.

Examples / Applications of Database Systems:

The following are the various kinds of applications/organizations uses databases for their
business processing activities in their day-to-day life. They are:

1. Banking: For customer information, accounts, and loans, and banking transactions.

2. Airlines: For reservations and schedule information. Airlines were among the first to use

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databases in a geographically distributed manner—terminals situated around the world
accessed the central database system through phone lines and other data networks.

3. Universities: For student information, course registrations, and grades.

4. Credit Card Transactions: For purchases on credit cards and generation of monthly
statements.

5. Telecommunication: For keeping records of calls made, generating monthly bills,

maintaining balances on prepaid calling cards, and storing information about the
communication networks.

6. Finance: For storing information about holdings, sales, and purchases of financial
instruments such as stocks and bonds.

7. Sales: For customer, product, and purchase information.

8. Manufacturing: For management of supply chain and for tracking production of items in
factories, inventories of items in warehouses/stores, and orders for items.

9. Human resources: For information about employees, salaries, payroll taxes and benefits,
and for generation of paychecks.

10. Railway Reservation Systems: For reservations and schedule information.

11. Web: For access the Back accounts and to get the balance amount.

12. E –Commerce: For Buying a book or music CD and browse for things like watches,
mobiles from the Internet.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DATABASE:

The database approach has some very characteristic features which are discussed in detail
below:
Structured and Described Data:

Fundamental feature of the database approach is that the database system does not only
contain the data but also the complete definition and description of these data. These
descriptions are basically details about the extent, the structure, the type and the format of all
data and, additionally, the relationship between the data. This kind of stored data is called
metadata ("data about data").

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Separation of Data and Applications:

Application software does not need any knowledge about the physical data storage like
encoding, format, storage place, etc. It only communicates with the management system of a
database (DBMS) via a standardized interface with the help of a standardized language like
SQL. The access to the data and the metadata is entirely done by the DBMS. In this way all the
applications can be totally separated from the data.

Data Integrity:

Data integrity is a byword for the quality and the reliability of the data of a database
system. In a broader sense data integrity includes also the protection of the database from
unauthorized access (confidentiality) and unauthorized changes. Data reflect facts of the real
world.

Transactions:

A transaction is a bundle of actions which are done within a database to bring it from one
consistent state to a new consistent state. In between the data are inevitable inconsistent. A
transaction is atomic what

means that it cannot be divided up any further. Within a transaction all or none of the actions
need to be carried out. Doing only a part of the actions would lead to an inconsistent database
state.

Example: One example of a transaction is the transfer of an amount of money from one
bank account to another.

Data Persistence:

Data persistence means that in a DBMS all data is maintained as long as it is not deleted
explicitly. The life span of data needs to be determined directly or indirectly be the user and
must not be dependent on system features. Additionally data once stored in a database must not
be lost. Changes of a database which are done by a transaction are persistent. When a
transaction is finished even a system crash cannot put the data in danger

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TYPES OF DATABASES:

Database can be classified according to the following factors. They are:

1. Number of Users

2. Database Location

3. Expected type

4. Extent of use

1. Based on number of Users:

According to the number of users the databases can be classified into following types. They
are :

a). Single user b). Multiuser

Single user database:

 Single user database supports only one user at a time.
 Desktop or personal computer database is an example for single user database.

Multiuser database:
 Multi user database supports multiple users at the same time.
 Workgroup database and enterprise databases are examples for multiuser database.

Workgroup database:

If the multiuser database supports relatively small number of users (fewer than 50)
within an organization is called as Workgroup database.

Enterprise database:

If the database is used by the entire organization and supports multiple users (more than
50) across many departments is called as Enterprise database.

2. Based on Location:
According to the location of database the databases can be classified into following types.
They are:
a).CentralizedDatabase
b).Distributed Database

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Centralized Database:

It is a database that is located, stored, and maintained in a single location. This location
is most often a central computer or database system, for example a desktop or server CPU, or a
mainframe computer. In most cases, a centralized database would be used by an organization
(e.g. a business company) or an institution (e.g. a university.)

Distributed Database:

A distributed database is a database in which storage devices are not all attached to a
common CPU. It may be stored in multiple computers located in the same physical location,
or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected computers.

INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM:

Database Management System:

A database-management system (DBMS) is a collection of interrelated data and a set of

programs to access those data.

The DBMS is a general purpose software system that facilitates the process of defining
constructing and manipulating databases for various applications.

Goals of DBMS:

The primary goal of a DBMS is to provide a way to store and retrieve database
information that is both convenient and efficient

1. Manage large bodies of information

2. Provide convenient and efficient ways to store and access information

3. Secure information against system failure or tampering

4. Permit data to be shared among multiple users

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Properties of DBMS:

1.A Database represents some aspect of the real world. Changes to the real world reflected in
the database.

2.A Database is a logically coherent collection of data with some inherent meaning.

3.A Database is designed and populated with data for a specific purpose.

Need of DBMS:

1. Before the advent of DBMS, organizations typically stored information using a ―File
Processing Systems‖.

Example of such systems is File Handling in High Level Languages like C, Basic and COBOL
etc., these systems have Major disadvantages to perform the Data Manipulation. So to
overcome those drawbacks now we are using the DBMS.

2. Database systems are designed to manage large bodies of information.

3. In addition to that the database system must ensure the safety of the information stored,
despite system crashes or attempts at unauthorized access. If data are to be shared among
several users, the system must avoid possible anomalous results.

ADVANTAGES OF A DBMS OVER FILE SYSTEM:

Using a DBMS to manage data has many advantages:

Data Independence:

Application programs should be as independent as possible from details of data

representation and storage. The DBMS can provide an abstract view of the data to insulate
application code from such details.

Efficient Data Access:

A DBMS utilizes a variety of sophisticated techniques to store and retrieve data

efficiently. This feature is especially important if the data is stored on external storage devices.

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Data Integrity and Security:

If data is always accessed through the DBMS, the DBMS can enforce integrity
constraints on the data. For example, before inserting salary information for an employee, the
DBMS can check that the department budget is not exceeded. Also, the DBMS can enforce
access controls that govern what data is visible to different classes of users.

Concurrent Access and Crash Recovery:

A database system allows several users to access the database concurrently. Answering
different questions from different users with the same (base) data is a central aspect of an
information system. Such concurrent use of data increases the economy of a system.

An example for concurrent use is the travel database of a bigger travel agency. The
employees of different branches can access the database concurrently and book journeys for
their clients. Each travel agent sees on his interface if there are still seats available for a specific
journey or if it is already fully booked.

A DBMS also protects data from failures such as power failures and crashes etc. by the
recovery schemes such as backup mechanisms and log files etc.

Data Administration:

When several users share the data, centralizing the administration of data can offer
significant improvements. Experienced professionals, who understand the nature of the data
being managed, and how different groups of users use it, can be responsible for organizing the
data representation to minimize redundancy and fine-tuning the storage of the data to make
retrieval efficient.

Reduced Application Development Time:

DBMS supports many important functions that are common to many applications
accessing data stored in the DBMS. This, in conjunction with the high-level interface to the
data, facilitates quick development of applications. Such applications are also likely to be more
robust than applications developed from scratch because many important tasks are handled by
the DBMS instead of being implemented by the application.

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DISADVANTAGES OF DBMS:

Danger of a Overkill:

For small and simple applications for single users a database system is often not
advisable.

Complexity:

A database system creates additional complexity and requirements. The supply and
operation of a database management system with several users and databases is quite costly and
demanding.

Qualified Personnel:

`The professional operation of a database system requires appropriately trained staff.

Without a qualified database administrator nothing will work for long.

Costs:

Through the use of a database system new costs are generated for the system itself but
also for additional hardware and the more complex handling of the system.

Lower Efficiency:

A database system is a multi-use software which is often less efficient than specialized
software which is produced and optimized exactly for one problem.

DATABASE USERS & DATABASE ADMINISTRATORS:

People who work with a database can be categorized as database users or database
administrators.

Database Users:

There are four different types of database-system users, differentiated by the way they
expect to interact with the system.

Naive users:
Naive users are unsophisticated users who interact with the system by invoking one of the
application programs that have been written previously.

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 For example, a bank teller who needs to transfer $50 from account A to account B
invokes a program called transfer. This program asks the teller for the amount of money to be
transferred, the account from which the money is to be transferred, and the account to which the
money is to be transferred.

Application programmers:

Application programmers are computer professionals who write application programs.

Application programmers can choose from many tools to develop user interfaces. Rapid
application development (RAD) tools are tools that enable an application programmer to
construct forms and reports without writing a program.

Sophisticated users:

Sophisticated users interact with the system without writing programs. Instead, they
form their requests in a database query language. They submit each such query to a query
processor, whose function is to break down DML statements into instructions that the storage
manager understands. Analysts who submit queries to explore data in the database fall in this
category.

Specialized users:

Specialized users are sophisticated users who write specialized database applications
that do not fit into the traditional data-processing framework.

Database Administrator:

One of the main reasons for using DBMSs is to have central control of both the data and
the programs that access those data. A person who has such central control over the system is
called a database administrator (DBA).

Database Administrator Functions/Roles:

The functions of a DBA include:

Schema definition:

The DBA creates the original database schema by executing a set of data definition
statements in the DDL, Storage structure and access-method definition.

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Schema and physical-organization modification:

The DBA carries out changes to the schema and physical organization to reflect the
changing needs of the organization, or to alter the physical organization to improve
performance.

Granting of authorization for data access:

By granting different types of authorization, the database administrator can regulate

which parts of the database various users can access. The authorization information is kept in a
special system structure that the database system consults whenever someone attempts to access
the data in the system.

Routine maintenance:

Examples of the database administrator’s routine maintenance activities are:

1. Periodically backing up the database, either onto tapes or onto remote servers, to prevent loss
of data in case of disasters such as flooding.

2. Ensuring that enough free disk space is available for normal operations, and upgrading disk
space as required.

3. Monitoring jobs running on the database and ensuring that performance is not degraded by
very expensive tasks submitted by some users.

LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION IN A DBMS:

Hiding certain details of how the data are stored and maintained. A major purpose of
database system is to provide users with an ―Abstract View‖ of the data. In DBMS there are 3
levels of data abstraction. The goal of the abstraction in the DBMS is to separate the users
request and the physical storage of data in the database.

Levels of Abstraction:

Physical Level:

The lowest Level of Abstraction describes ―How‖ the data are actually stored.
The physical level describes complex low level data structures in detail.

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Logical Level:

This level of data Abstraction describes ―What‖ data are to be stored in the database and
what relationships exist among those data.

Database Administrators use the logical level of abstraction.

View Level:

It is the highest level of data Abstracts that describes only part of entire database.
Different users require different types of data elements from each database.
The system may provide many views for the some database.

THREE SCHEMA ARCHITECTURE:

Schema:

The overall design of the database is called the ―Schema‖ or ―Meta Data‖. A database
schema corresponds to the programming language type definition. The value of a variable in
programming language corresponds to an ―Instance‖ of a database Schema.

Three Schema Architecture:

The goal of this architecture is to separate the user applications and the physical
database. In this architecture, schemas can be defined at the following three levels:

1. The internal level has an internal schema, which describes the physical storage structure of
the database. The internal schema uses a physical data model and describes the complete
details of data storage and access paths for the database.

2. The conceptual level has a conceptual schema, which describes the structure of the whole
database for a community of users. The conceptual schema hides the details of physical
storage structures and concentrates on describing entities, data types, relationships, user
operations, and constraints. A high-level data model or an implementation data model can
be used at this level.

3. The external or view level includes a number of external schemas or user views. Each
external schema describes the part of the database that a particular user group is interested in
and hides the rest of the database from that user group. A high-level data model or an
implementation data model can be used at this level.

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 Fig: Three-Schema Architecture

DATA INDEPENDENCE:

A very important advantage of using DBMS is that it offers Data Independence.

The ability to modify a scheme definition in one level without affecting a scheme
definition in a higher level is called data independence.

There are two kinds:

1. Physical Data Independence

2. Logical Data Independence

Physical Data Independence:

The ability to modify the physical schema without causing application programs to be
rewritten

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 Modifications at this level are usually to improve performance.

Fig: Data Independence

Logical Data Independence:

The ability to modify the conceptual schema without causing application programs to be
rewritten
Usually done when logical structure of database is altered

Logical data independence is harder to achieve as the application programs are usually
heavily dependent on the logical structure of the data.

DATABASE SYSTEM STRUCTURE:

A database system is partitioned into modules that deal with each of the responsibilities
of the overall system. The functional components of a database system can be broadly divided
into the storage manager and the query processor components.

The storage manager is important because databases typically require a large amount of
storage space. Some Big organizations Database ranges from Giga bytes to Tera bytes. So the
main memory of computers cannot store this much information, the information is stored on
disks. Data are moved between disk storage and main memory as needed.

The query processor also very important because it helps the database system simplify
and facilitate access to data. So quick processing of updates and queries is important. It is the
job of the database system to translate updates and queries written in a nonprocedural language,

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StorageManager:

A storage manager is a program module that provides the interface between the low
level data stored in the database and the application programs and queries submitted to the
system. The storage manager is responsible for the interaction with the file manager. The
storage manager translates the various DML statements into low-level file-system commands.
Thus, the storage manager is responsible for storing, retrieving, and updating data in the
database.

Storage Manager Components:

Authorization and integrity manager which tests for the satisfaction of integrity
constraints and checks the authority of users to access data.

Transaction manager which ensures that the database itself remains in a consistent
state despite system failures, and that concurrent transaction executions proceed without
conflicting.

File manager: which manages the allocation of space on disk storage and the data
structures used to represent information stored on disk.

Buffer manager which is responsible for fetching data from disk storage into main
memory. Storage manager implements several data structures as part of the physical system
implementation. Data files are used to store the database itself. Data dictionary is used to stores
metadata about the structure of the database, in particular the schema of the database.

Query Processor Components:

DDL interpreter: It interprets DDL statements and records the definitions in the data
dictionary.

DML compiler: It translates DML statements in a query language into an evaluation plan
consisting of low-level instructions that the query evaluation engine understands.

Query evaluation engine: It executes low-level instructions generated by the DML compiler.

Application Architectures:

Most users of a database system today are not present at the site of the database system,
but connect to it through a network. We can therefore differentiate between client machines, on

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which remote database users’ work, and server machines, on which the database system runs.
Database applications are usually partitioned into two or three parts. They are:

1. Two – Tier Architecture

2. Three – Tier Architecture.

Two-Tier Architecture:

The application is partitioned into a component that resides at the client machine,
which invokes database system functionality at the server machine through query language
statements. Application program interface standards like ODBC and JDBC are used for
interaction between the client and the server.

Three-Tier Architecture:

The client machine acts as merely a front end and does not contain any direct database
calls. Instead, the client end communicates with an application server, usually through forms
interface. The application server in turn communicates with a database system to access data.
The business logic of the application, which says what actions to carry out under what
conditions, is embedded in the application server, instead of being distributed across multiple
clients. Three-tier applications are more appropriate for large applications, and for applications
that run on the World Wide Web.

DATABASE DESIGN:

The database design process can be divided into six steps. The ER Model is most
relevant to the first three steps. Next three steps are beyond the ER Model.

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1. Requirements Analysis:

The very first step in designing a database application is to understand what data is to be
stored in the database, what applications must be built on top of it, and what operations are most
frequent and subject to performance requirements. The database designers collect information
of the organization and analyzer, the information to identify the user’s requirements. The
database designers must find out what the users want from the database.

2. Conceptual Database Design:

Once the information is gathered in the requirements analysis step a conceptual database design
is developed and is used to develop a high level description of the data to be stored in the
database, along with the constraints that are known to hold over this data. This step is often
carried out using the ER model, or a similar high-level data model.

3. Logical Database Design:

In this step convert the conceptual database design into a database schema (Logical
Database Design) in the data model of the chosen DBMS. We will only consider relational
DBMSs, and therefore, the task in the

logical design step is to convert an ER schema into a relational database schema. The result is a
conceptual schema, sometimes called the logical schema, in the relational data model.

Beyond the ER Design:

The first three steps are more relevant to the ER Model. Once the logical scheme is
defined designer consider the physical level implementation and finally provide certain
security measures. The remaining three steps of database design are briefly described below:

4. Schema Refinement:

The fourth step in database design is to analyze the collection of relations in our
relational database schema to identify potential problems, and to refine it. In contrast to the
requirements analysis and conceptual design steps, which are essentially subjective, schema
refinement can be guided by some elegant and powerful theory.

5. Physical Database Design:

In this step we must consider typical expected workloads that our database must
support and further refine the database design to ensure that it meets desired performance

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criteria. This step may simply involve building indexes on some tables and clustering some
tables, or it may involve a substantial redesign of parts of the database schema obtained from
the earlier design steps.

6. Security Design:

The last step of database design is to include security features. This is required to avoid
unauthorized access to database practice after all the six steps. We required Tuning step in
which all the steps are interleaved and repeated until the design is satisfactory.

DBMS FUNCTIONS:

DBMS performs several important functions that guarantee the integrity and consistency
of the data in the database.
Those functions transparent to end users and can be accessed only through the use of
DBMS. They include:
Data Dictionary Management
Data Storage Management
Data transformation and Presentation
Security Management
Multiple Access Control
Backup and Recovery Management
Data Integrity Management
Database Access Languages
Databases Communication Interfaces

Data Dictionary Management:

DBMS stores definitions of database elements and their relationship (Metadata) in the data
dictionary.
The DBMS uses the data dictionary to look up the required data component structures and
relationships.
Any change made in database structure is automatically recorded in the data dictionary.

Data Storage Management:

Modern DBMS provides storage not only for data but also for related data entities.
Data Storage Management is also important for database ―performance tuning‖.
Performance tuning related to activities that make database more efficiently.

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Data Transformation and Presentation:

DBMS transforms entered data to confirm to required data structures.

DBMS formats the physically retrieved data to make it confirms to user’s logical
expectations.
DBMS also presents the data in the user’s expected format.

Security Management:

DBMS creates a security system that enforces the user security and data privacy.
Security rules determines which users can access the database, which data items each user
can access etc.

DBA and authenticated user logged to DBMS through username and password or
through Biometric authentication such as Finger print and face reorganization etc.

Multiuser Access Control:

To provide data integrity and data consistency, DBMS uses sophisticated algorithms to
ensure that multiple users can access the database concurrently without compromising
the integrity of database.

Backup and Recovery Management:

DBMS provides backup and recovery to ensure data safety and integrity.

Recovery management deals with the recovery of database after failure such as bad
sector in the disk or power failure. Such capability is critical to preserve database
integrity.

Data Integrity Management:

DBMS provides and enforces integrity rules, thus minimizing data redundancy and
maximizing data consistency.

Ensuring data integrity is especially important in transaction- oriented database systems.

Database Access Languages:

DBMS provides data access through a query language.

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 A query language is a non-procedural language i.e. it lets the user specify what
must be done without specifying how it is to be done.

SQL is the default query language for data access.

Databases Communication Interfaces:

Current DBMS’s are accepting end-user requests via different network environments.

For example, DBMS might provide access to database via Internet through the use of
web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

What is Schema?

A database schema is the skeleton structure that represents the logical view of the entire
database. (or)

The logical structure of the database is called as

Database Schema. (or)

The overall design of the database is the database schema.

It defines how the data is organized and how the relations among them are associated.

It formulates all the constraints that are to be applied on the data.

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EG:

STUDENT

SID SNAME PHNO

What is Instance?

The actual content of the database at a particular

point in time. (Or)

The data stored in the database at any given time is an instance of the database

Student

Sid Name phno

1201 Venkat 9014901442
1202 teja 9014774422

In the above table 1201, 1202, Venkat etc are said to be instance of student table.

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Difference between File system & DBMS:

File system DBMS

File system is a collection of data. Any 1. DBMS is a collection of data and user is
1.management not
required to write the procedures for managing
with the file system, user has to write the procedures the
database.
File system gives the details of
2. the data 2. DBMS provides an abstract view of data that hides
representation and Storage of data. the details.
In File system storing and retrieving of data 3. DBMS is efficient to use since there are
3.cannot wide
varieties of sophisticated techniques to store
be done efficiently. and
retrieve the data.
Concurrent access to the data in the file system
4.Has 4. DBMS takes care of Concurrent access using some
many problems like : Reading the file while other form of locking.
deleting some information, updating some
information
File system doesn’t provide crash
5. recovery 5. DBMS has crash recovery mechanism, DBMS
mechanism. protects user from the effects of system failures.
Eg. While we are entering some data into the file if
System crashes then content of the file is lost
6.Protecting a file under file system is very difficult. 6. DBMS has a good protection mechanism.

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 The different types of keys in DBMS
 Candidate Key - The candidate keys in a table are defined as the set of keys that is minimal
and can uniquely identify any data row in the table.
 Primary Key - The primary key is selected from one of the candidate keys and becomes the
identifying key of a table. It can uniquely identify any data row of the table.
 Super Key - Super Key is the superset of primary key. The super key contains a set of
attributes, including the primary key, which can uniquely identify any data row in the table.
 Composite Key - If any single attribute of a table is not capable of being the key i.e it cannot
identify a row uniquely, then we combine two or more attributes to form a key. This is known
as a composite key.
 Secondary Key - Only one of the candidate keys is selected as the primary key. The rest of
them are known as secondary keys.
 Foreign Key - A foreign key is an attribute value in a table that acts as the primary key in
another another. Hence, the foreign key is useful in linking together two tables. Data should be
entered in the foreign key column with great care, as wrongly entered data can invalidate the
relationship between the two tables.
An example to explain the different keys is −
<STUDENT>

Student_Number Student_Name Student_Phone Subject_Number

1 Andrew 6615927284 10

2 Sara 6583654865 20

3 Harry 4647567463 10

<SUBJECT>

Subject_Number Subject_Name Subject_Instructor

10 DBMS Korth

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Subject_Number Subject_Name Subject_Instructor

20 Algorithms Cormen

30 Algorithms Leiserson

<ENROLL>

Student_Number Subject_Number

1 10

2 20

3 10

The Super Keys in <Student> table are −

{Student_Number}

{Student_Phone}

{Student_Number,Student_Name}

{Student_Number,Student_Phone}

{Student_Number,Subject_Number}

{Student_Phone,Student_Name}

{Student_Phone,Subject_Number}

{Student_Number,Student_Name,Student_Phone}

{Student_Number,Student_Phone,Subject_Number}

{Student_Number,Student_Name,Subject_Number}

{Student_Phone,Student_Name,Subject_Number}

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The Super Keys in <Subject> table are −

{Subject_Number}

{Subject_Number,Subject_Name}

{Subject_Number,Subject_Instructor}

{Subject_Number,Subject_Name,Subject_Instructor}

{Subject_Name,Subject_Instructor}

The Super Key in <Enroll> table is −

{Student_Number,Subject_Number}

The Candidate Key in <Student> table is {Student_Number} or {Student_Phone}

The Candidate Key in <Subject> table is {Subject_Number} or {Subject_Name,Subject_Instructor}
The Candidate Key in <Student> table is {Student_Number, Subject_Number}
The Primary Key in <Student> table is {Student_Number}
The Primary Key in <Subject> table is {Subject_Number}
The Primary Key in <Enroll> table is {Student_Number, Subject_Number}
The Composite Key in <Enroll> table is {Student_Number, Subject_Number}
The Secondary Key in <Student> table is {Student_Phone}
The Secondary Key in <Subject> table is {Subject_Name,Subject_Instructor}
{Subject_Number} is the Foreign Key of <Student> table and Primary key of <Subject> table.

DBMS Keys: Primary, Candidate, Super, Alternate and Foreign (Example)

What are Keys?

A DBMS key is an attribute or set of an attribute which helps you to identify a row(tuple) in a
relation(table). They allow you to find the relation between two tables. Keys help you uniquely identify
a row in a table by a combination of one or more columns in that table.

Example:

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Employee ID FirstName LastName

11 Andrew Johnson

22 Tom Wood

33 Alex Hale

In the above-given example, employee ID is a primary key because it uniquely identifies an employee
record. In this table, no other employee can have the same employee ID.

Why we need a Key?

Here, are reasons for using Keys in the DBMS system.

 Keys help you to identify any row of data in a table. In a real-world application, a table could
contain thousands of records. Moreover, the records could be duplicated. Keys ensure that you
can uniquely identify a table record despite these challenges.
 Allows you to establish a relationship between and identify the relation between tables
 Help you to enforce identity and integrity in the relationship.

Various Keys in Database Management System

DBMS has folwing seven types of Keys each have their different functionality:

 Super Key
 Primary Key
 Candidate Key
 Alternate Key
 Foreign Key
 Compound Key
 Composite Key
 Surrogate Key

What is the Super key?

A superkey is a group of single or multiple keys which identifies rows in a table. A Super key may
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 have additional attributes that are not needed for unique identification.

Example:

EmpSSN EmpNum Empname

9812345098 AB05 Shown

9876512345 AB06 Roslyn

199937890 AB07 James

In the above-given example, EmpSSN and EmpNum name are superkeys.

What is a Primary Key?

PRIMARY KEY is a column or group of columns in a table that uniquely identify every row in that
table. The Primary Key can't be a duplicate meaning the same value can't appear more than once in the
table. A table cannot have more than one primary key.

Rules for defining Primary key:

 Two rows can't have the same primary key value

 It must for every row to have a primary key value.
 The primary key field cannot be null.
 The value in a primary key column can never be modified or updated if any foreign key refers
to that primary key.

Example:

In the following example, <code>StudID</code> is a Primary Key.

StudID Roll No First Name LastName Email

1 11 Tom Price [email protected]

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2 12 Nick Wright [email protected]

3 13 Dana Natan [email protected]

What is the Alternate key?

ALTERNATE KEYS is a column or group of columns in a table that uniquely identify every row in
that table. A table can have multiple choices for a primary key but only one can be set as the primary
key. All the keys which are not primary key are called an Alternate Key.

Example:

In this table, StudID, Roll No, Email are qualified to become a primary key. But since StudID is the
primary key, Roll No, Email becomes the alternative key.

StudID Roll No First Name LastName Email

1 11 Tom Price [email protected]

2 12 Nick Wright [email protected]

3 13 Dana Natan [email protected]

What is a Candidate Key?

CANDIDATE KEY is a set of attributes that uniquely identify tuples in a table. Candidate Key is a
super key with no repeated attributes. The Primary key should be selected from the candidate keys.
Every table must have at least a single candidate key. A table can have multiple candidate keys but only
a single primary key.

Properties of Candidate key:

 It must contain unique values

 Candidate key may have multiple attributes
 Must not contain null values
 It should contain minimum fields to ensure uniqueness
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  Uniquely identify each record in a table

Example: In the given table Stud ID, Roll No, and email are candidate keys which help us to uniquely
identify the student record in the table.

StudID Roll No First Name LastName Email

1 11 Tom Price [email protected]

2 12 Nick Wright [email protected]

3 13 Dana Natan [email protected]

What is the Foreign key?

FOREIGN KEY is a column that creates a relationship between two tables. The purpose of Foreign
keys is to maintain data integrity and allow navigation between two different instances of an entity. It
acts as a cross-reference between two tables as it references the primary key of another table.

Example:

DeptCode DeptName

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001 Science

002 English

005 Computer

Teacher ID Fname Lname

B002 David Warner

B017 Sara Joseph

B009 Mike Brunton

In this example, we have two table, teach and department in a school. However, there is no way to see
which search work in which department.

In this table, adding the foreign key in Deptcode to the Teacher name, we can create a relationship
between the two tables.

Teacher ID DeptCode Fname Lname

B002 002 David Warner

B017 002 Sara Joseph

B009 001 Mike Brunton

This concept is also known as Referential Integrity.

What is the Compound key?

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 COMPOUND KEY has two or more attributes that allow you to uniquely recognize a specific record.
It is possible that each column may not be unique by itself within the database. However, when
combined with the other column or columns the combination of composite keys become unique. The
purpose of compound key is to uniquely identify each record in the table.

Example:

OrderNo PorductID Product Name Quantity

B005 JAP102459 Mouse 5

B005 DKT321573 USB 10

B005 OMG446789 LCD Monitor 20

B004 DKT321573 USB 15

B002 OMG446789 Laser Printer 3

In this example, OrderNo and ProductID can't be a primary key as it does not uniquely identify a
record. However, a compound key of Order ID and Product ID could be used as it uniquely identified
each record.

What is the Composite key?

COMPOSITE KEY is a combination of two or more columns that uniquely identify rows in a table.
The combination of columns guarantees uniqueness, though individually uniqueness is not guaranteed.
Hence, they are combined to uniquely identify records in a table.

The difference between compound and the composite key is that any part of the compound key can be a
foreign key, but the composite key may or maybe not a part of the foreign key.

What is a Surrogate Key?

An artificial key which aims to uniquely identify each record is called a surrogate key. These kind of
key are unique because they are created when you don't have any natural primary key. They do not lend
any meaning to the data in the table. Surrogate key is usually an integer.

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 Fname Lastname Start Time End Time

Anne Smith 09:00 18:00

Jack Francis 08:00 17:00

Anna McLean 11:00 20:00

Shown Willam 14:00 23:00

Above, given example, shown shift timings of the different employee. In this example, a surrogate key
is needed to uniquely identify each employee.

Surrogate keys are allowed when

 No property has the parameter of the primary key.

 In the table when the primary key is too big or complicated.

Difference Between Primary key & Foreign key

Primary Key Foreign Key

Helps you to uniquely It is a field in the table that is the primary key of another
identify a record in the table.
table.

Primary Key never accept A foreign key may accept multiple null values.
null values.

Primary key is a clustered A foreign key cannot automatically create an index,

index and data in the clustered or non-clustered. However, you can manually
DBMS table are create an index on the foreign key.
physically organized in
the sequence of the

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 clustered index.

You can have the single You can have multiple foreign keys in a table.
Primary key in a table.

What is an ER diagram?

An Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a visual representation of different entities within a system
and how they relate to each other. For example, the elements writer, novel, and a consumer may be
described using ER diagrams the following way:

ER diagram with basic objects

History of ER Diagrams

Although data modeling has become a necessity around 1970’s there was no standard way to model
databases or business processes. Although many solutions were proposed and discussed none were
widely adopted.

Peter Chen is credited with introducing the widely adopted ER model in his paper ―The Entity
Relationship Model-Toward a Unified View of Data―. The focus was on entities and relationships and
he introduced a diagramming representation for database design as well.

His model was inspired by the data structure diagrams introduced by Charles Bachman. One of the

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early forms of ER diagrams, Bachman diagrams are named after him.

For a detailed history of ER diagrams and the evaluation of data modeling, refer this article.

ER Diagrams Usage

What are the uses of ER diagrams? Where are they used? Although they can be used to model almost
any system they are primarily used in the following areas.

ER Models in Database Design

They are widely used to design relational databases. The entities in the ER schema become tables,
attributes and converted the database schema. Since they can be used to visualize database tables and
their relationships it’s commonly used for database troubleshooting as well.

ER diagrams in software engineering

Entity relationship diagrams are used in software engineering during the planning stages of the
software project. They help to identify different system elements and their relationships with each
other. It is often used as the basis for data flow diagrams or DFD’s as they are commonly known.

For example, an inventory software used in a retail shop will have a database that monitors elements
such as purchases, item, item type, item source and item price. Rendering this information through an
ER diagram would be something like this:

ER diagram example with entity having attributes

In the diagram, the information inside the oval shapes are attributes of a particular entity.

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ER Diagram Symbols and Notations

Elements in ER diagrams

There are three basic elements in an ER Diagram: entity, attribute, relationship. There are more
elements which are based on the main elements. They are weak entity, multi valued attribute, derived
attribute, weak relationship, and recursive relationship. Cardinality and ordinality are two other
notations used in ER diagrams to further define relationships.

Entity

An entity can be a person, place, event, or object that is relevant to a given system. For example, a
school system may include students, teachers, major courses, subjects, fees, and other items. Entities
are represented in ER diagrams by a rectangle and named using singular nouns.

Weak Entity

A weak entity is an entity that depends on the existence of another entity. In more technical terms it can
be defined as an entity that cannot be identified by its own attributes. It uses a foreign key combined
with its attributed to form the primary key. An entity like order item is a good example for this. The
order item will be meaningless without an order so it depends on the existence of the order.

Weak Entity Example in ER diagrams

Attribute

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An attribute is a property, trait, or characteristic of an entity, relationship, or another attribute. For
example, the attribute Inventory Item Name is an attribute of the entity Inventory Item. An entity can
have as many attributes as necessary. Meanwhile, attributes can also have their own specific attributes.
For example, the attribute ―customer address‖ can have the attributes number, street, city, and state.
These are called composite attributes. Note that some top level ER diagrams do not show attributes for
the sake of simplicity. In those that do, however, attributes are represented by oval shapes.

Attributes in ER diagrams, Note that an attribute can have its own attributes ( composite attribute )

Multivalued Attribute

If an attribute can have more than one value it is called a multi-valued attribute. It is important to note
that this is different from an attribute having its own attributes. For example, a teacher entity can have
multiple subject values.

Example of a multivalued attribute

Derived Attribute

An attribute based on another attribute. This is found rarely in ER diagrams. For example, for a circle,
the area can be derived from the radius.

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 Derived Attribute in ER diagrams

Relationship

A relationship describes how entities interact. For example, the entity ―Carpenter‖ may be related to the
entity ―table‖ by the relationship ―builds‖ or ―makes‖. Relationships are represented by diamond
shapes and are labeled using verbs.

Using Relationships in Entity Relationship Diagrams

Recursive Relationship

If the same entity participates more than once in a relationship it is known as a recursive relationship.
In the below example an employee can be a supervisor and be supervised, so there is a recursive
relationship.

Example of a recursive relationship in ER diagrams

Cardinality and Ordinality

These two further defines relationships between entities by placing the relationship in the context of

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numbers. In an email system, for example, one account can have multiple contacts. The relationship, in
this case, follows a ―one to many‖ model. There are a number of notations used to present cardinality in
ER diagrams. Chen, UML, Crow’s foot, Bachman are some of the popular notations. Creately supports
Chen, UML and Crow’s foot notations.The following example uses UML to show cardinality.

Cardinality in ER diagrams using UML notation

How to Draw ER Diagrams

Below points show how to go about creating an ER diagram.

i) Identify all the entities in the system. An entity should appear only once in a particular
diagram. Create rectangles for all entities and name them properly.
ii) Identify relationships between entities. Connect them using a line and add a diamond
in the middle describing the relationship.
iii) Add attributes for entities. Give meaningful attribute names so they can be understood
easily.

Sounds simple right? In a complex system, it can be a nightmare to identify relationships. This is
something you’ll perfect only with practice.

ER Diagram Best Practices

1) Provide a precise and appropriate name for each entity, attribute, and relationship in the
diagram. Terms that are simple and familiar always beats vague, technical-sounding words. In
naming entities, remember to use singular nouns. However, adjectives may be used to
distinguish entities belonging to the same class (part-time employee and full-time employee, for
example). Meanwhile attribute names must be meaningful, unique, system-independent, and
easily understandable.
2) Remove vague, redundant or unnecessary relationships between entities.
3) Never connect a relationship to another relationship.
4) Make effective use of colors. You can use colors to classify similar entities or to highlight key
areas in your diagrams.

Drawing ER Diagrams Using Creately

You can draw entity relationship diagrams manually, especially when you are just informally showing
simple systems to your peers. However, for more complex systems and for external audiences, you
need diagramming software such as Creately’s to craft visually engaging and precise ER diagrams.
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The ER diagram software offered by Creately as an online service is pretty easy to use and is a lot more
affordable than purchasing licensed software. It is also perfectly suited for development teams because
of its strong support for collaboration.

ER Diagram Templates

Below are some ER diagram templates so you can get started quickly. Clicking on the image and in the
new page that opens click the ―Use as Template‖ button. For more templates check our ER diagram
templates section.

ER Diagram Template of exam database

A basic ER diagram template for a quick start

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Basic ER Diagram template

Benefits of ER diagrams

ER diagrams constitute a very useful framework for creating and manipulating databases. First, ER
diagrams are easy to understand and do not require a person to undergo extensive training to be able to
work with it efficiently and accurately. This means that designers can use ER diagrams to easily
communicate with developers, customers, and end users, regardless of their IT proficiency. Second, ER
diagrams are readily translatable into relational tables which can be used to quickly build databases. In
addition, ER diagrams can directly be used by database developers as the blueprint for implementing
data in specific software applications. Lastly, ER diagrams may be applied in other contexts such as
describing the different relationships and operations within an organization.

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