Chapter 18 Theory Questions Worksheet 2
Chapter 18 Theory Questions Worksheet 2
Student Name:
1 Tick TRUE or FALSE next to each statement to indicate whether it is an example of batch
processing.
2 A school keeps records of every student including details of their names, addresses,
phone numbers and dates of birth. Using this information, define the terms file, field and
record.
File……………………………………………………………………………………………….………
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Field……………………………………………………………………………………..…….…………
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Record…………………………………………………………………………………………..………
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3 Describe the batch processing of bank cheques.
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4 A car showroom uses a database to store information about the cars it has sold. Part of
this database is shown below.
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6 The manager of a bookshop uses a database to store data about the books she sells.
This is part of the database.
(a) How many fields are there in this part of the database?
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(b) How many records are there in this part of the database?
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(c) The records shown are to be sorted in ascending order of Number in stock. What will
be the title of the book which will be the first record in the database after it has been sorted?
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(d) What is the title of the book which has no more than 12 copies in stock and is not
Fiction?
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(e) Describe a validation check which could be carried out on the Next order due field.
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7 A test is marked out of 20 and recorded as an integer. Tick whether each of the following
marks is an example of abnormal data or extreme data.
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8 Chi has asked Toby, a systems analyst, to create a new database system for his property
agency in France. He only deals with apartments and houses. Here are some of the
questions customers ask:
(a) Complete the design table below filling in the field names and the most appropriate data
types to create a database which would answer these questions.
9 (a) Describe batch processing of data, using the processing of bank cheques as an
example.
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(b) Explain why the booking of airline tickets using batch processing would not be a good
idea.
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10 Li has asked Sharon, a systems analyst, to create a new database system for his
computer store. He only sells computers made by ZIKO. Here are some of the questions
customers ask:
“Have you got a computer with a hard disc which stores more than 1000 Gigabytes?”
“Have you got a laptop which has a separate number pad?”
“Have you got a PC which costs less than $500?”
(a) Complete the data dictionary below filling in the field names and the most appropriate
data types to create a database which would answer these questions.
11 A company wishes to replace its current system with a new computerised system. It
has employed a systems analyst to investigate the current system.
When large volumes of data are input to a new system it is usual to carry out verification and
validation on this data.
(b) Name and describe two methods of verification which could be used.
Name ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Description………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Name ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Description………………………………………………………………………………………………
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(c) Explain why it is necessary to carry out validation even though the data has been verified.
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12 Chi has employed Sarbjit, a systems analyst, to create a new database system for his
mobile telephone (cellphone) business.
(a) Complete the data dictionary below filling in the field names and the most appropriate
data types to create a database using only the above information.
(b) Name and describe three different validation checks that could be used on the data in
this database.
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14 The chemistry department in a school keeps its stock records on computer. The stock
for any item is not allowed to fall below 10 or go above 100.
Here are examples of records from the suggested database.
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(d) Identity the data type of the borrower phone number field.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………...[1]
(e) Why would the borrower number in the borrower’s database be used as a key field?
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(f) Write down the author of the book that Giovanni Benitez has borrowed.
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(g) The final digit in the ISBN is used for validation purposes.
Write down the name of this digit.
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(h) Describe two suitable validation checks, other than limit or range checks, that could be
carried out on the borrower number field.
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16 A headteacher wishes to store details of her students in a computer database. She has
been given an example of one student record by the school secretary:
The file is currently stored in the form of plain text with each record separated by a line
break.
(b) For each field identify the most appropriate data type. The Maths_test_score is used in
calculations.
(c) Identify the two fields for which a format check would be the most appropriate validation
check. In each case describe how the format check would work.
1 ............................................................................................................................................................
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2 ................................................................................................................................................
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17 A headteacher keeps all details of students in a database.
(a) Describe what is meant by the following terms, using examples of student data.
Field ..........................................................................................................................................
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File ............................................................................................................................................
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Record ......................................................................................................................................
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(b) Describe what is meant by a key field, using examples of student data.
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18 An airline keeps a database of all the flights it operates. A short extract is shown below.
(a) Explain fully, what is meant by the following validation checks using the extract above.
Range check .............................................................................................................................
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Format check ............................................................................................................................
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Length check ............................................................................................................................
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(b) Using the extract above, give an example of one field which would contain:
Text data (alphanumeric)
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Numeric data
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19 Justdiscs Limited stocks many music CDs. Below is a small selection of CDs stored on
their database. The data has been sorted on two fields.
(a) Write down the field which was used as the primary sort in the database and the order in
which it was sorted.
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(b) Write down the field which was used as the secondary sort in the database and the order
in which it was sorted.
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(c) Peter is the owner of the shop. He receives requests from customers about the CDs he
has in stock. He converts these requests into search criteria using comparison and Boolean
operators. For example, one customer might ask for CDs which were released after 2002
and also those that have at least 11 tracks. Peter would write this down as:
Year_released > 2002 OR Number_of_tracks >= 11
Write down the search criteria for a customer who wants a list of all the CDs which were
released before 2010 but only if they cost less than $8.99
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(d) Write down the names of the artists whose records match the requirements of part (c).
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20 Maria is the principal of the International Municipal school. She has employed Paulo, a
systems analyst, to create a new database system to store records of her final year IGCSE
students. Examples of the details of the students which will be stored are:
(a) Complete the following table by entering the field names and most appropriate data
type for each field.
(b) Paulo wishes to save storage space. He does not change the Name field, but decides
that two other fields could have their data shortened.
Apart from the Name field, identify the two other fields and describe how the contents will be
shortened.
Field 1................................................................................................................................
Shortened form 1...............................................................................................................
Field 2................................................................................................................................
Shortened form 2...............................................................................................................[4]
(c) There is no key field set. Maria’s secretary typed in the data to the database in this order:
Field...................................................................................................................................
Order.................................................................................................................................[2]
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21 Enrique has developed a new database system for a supermarket. Below is one record
from the database. He needs to test the validation checks that he has developed for the
system.
(a) He designed a length check for the Barcode field. However, when he entered the code
5012472141308 by mistake, the system still accepted it.
Describe the check he could have used to prevent this error.
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(b) The Reorder_level for each item is never more than 100. He developed a validation
check to make sure this is the case.
However, when he entered the number 100 it was rejected.
Name and describe the validation check he should use and explain why the number could
have been rejected.
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(c) He also designed a length check for the Supplier_code field. However, when he entered
EZQ23 by mistake, the system still accepted it.
Barcode......................................................................................................................................
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Supplier_code............................................................................................................................
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Contents.....................................................................................................................................
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Price..........................................................................................................................................
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Reorder_level...........................................................................................................................
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Weight(kg)...............................................................................................................................
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22 There are two types of verification, visual and double data entry.
Explain the differences between visual verification and double data entry.
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23 A school’s examinations officer has decided to develop a database to store pupil details
and the examinations they are due to sit next summer. They are going to use a relational
database.
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(b) Some of the records stored in the database are given below.
(c) Write the search criteria to search for all examinations which will be sat after 26/06/2018,
using at least one of the following operators >, >=, <, <=, = .
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(d) Apart from presence check, name and describe a suitable validation check for each of
the following fields in the database, based on the data shown in part (b).
Examination_ID.................................................................................................................
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Date_of_exam...................................................................................................................
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24 The owner of a gardening company is planning to create a database to store the details
of all his customers. He has the choice of using a flat file database or a relational database.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a relational database rather than a flat
file database.
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25 Tick TRUE or FALSE next to each statement to indicate whether or not it is an example
of real time processing.
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27 Tick whether the following statements apply to online processing or batch processing.
28 Put a tick in the column which best describes the type of processing used in the
following applications.
29 Put a tick in the column which best describes the type of processing used in the
following applications.
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