Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

 Entity:
 Things we store information about. (i.e. persons, places, objects, events, etc.)
 Have relationships to other entities (i.e. the entity Student has a relationship to
the entity Grades in a University Student database
 General class of people, places, or things (objects) for which data is collected,
stored, and maintained
 Attribute:
 These are pieces of information (characteristics) about an entity (i.e. Student ID,
Name, etc. for the entity Student)
 Data item:
 Specific value of an attribute

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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

The Key field is the Employee Number. The attributes include Last
Name, First Name, Hire Date an Department number
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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items
 Normalization
 Process of streamling complex groups of data to:
 Minimize redundant data elements.
 Minimize awkward many-to-many relationships.
 Increase stability and flexibility.

 Referential integrity rules

 Used by relational databases to ensure that relationships between coupled
tables remain consistent.
 For example: when one table has a foreign key that points to another table,
you may not add a record to the table with foreign key unless there is a
corresponding record in the linked table.
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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

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Data Entities, Attributes, and Items

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Designing Databases – Data Model

 Data Model
 A map or diagram that represents entities and their relationships
 Used by Database Administrators and System Designers to design tables
with their corresponding associations
 Modelling tools help the designers construct and validate models before
building the information system – therefore improving quality and
reducing long terms operational costs

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Designing Databases – Data Model

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Designing Databases - Associations
 Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
 Diagramming tool used to express entity relationships
 Very useful in developing complex databases
 Example
 Each Home Stadium has a Team (One-to-One)
 Each Team has Players (One-to-Many)
 Each Team participates in Games
 For each Player and Game there are Game Statistics

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Relational Database
 Data set up as a centralized collection of tables
 Tables are linked by common columns of data
 Tables are designed together to minimize repetition
 This is the most common database structure
 This is the one use in microcomputer databases and many larger ones
too.

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The Relational Model
 The most common type of database model used today in organizations
 Is a three-dimensional model compared to the traditional two-
dimensional database models
 Rows (first-dimension)
 Columns (second-dimension)
 Relationships (third-dimension)
 The third-dimension makes this model so powerful because any row of
data can be related to any other row or rows of data

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Relational Model – Example 2

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Data Modeling and Database
Characteristics
 When building a database, an organization must consider:
 Content: What data should be collected and at what cost?
 Access: What data should be provided to which users and when?
 Logical structure: How should data be arranged so that it makes sense to a
given user?
 Physical organization: Where should data be physically located?

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Data Modeling

 Building a database requires two types of designs:

 Logical design:
 Abstract model of how data should be structured and arranged to meet an
organization’s information needs
 Physical design:
 Starts from the logical database design and fine-tunes it for performance and cost
considerations
 Planned data redundancy:
 Done to improve system performance so that user reports or queries can be created
more quickly

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Data Modeling (continued)
 Data Model:
 Diagram of data entities and their relationships
 Enterprise data modeling:
 Starts by investigating the general data and information needs of the
organization at the strategic level
 Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams:
 Data models that use basic graphical symbols to show the organization of
and relationships between data

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Data Modeling Illustration

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Providing a User View

 Schema:
 Used to describe the entire database
 Serves as the “blue print” to the design of the dbms and focuses on the
relationships between entities.
 Can be part of the database or a separate schema file
 Three examples of schemas are shown on the next slide:
 (1) External Level Subschema (end user view) is focused at the end user level. It
serves as a map to the Conceptual View to the design of the DBMS.
 (2) Conceptual Schema (design view) and the (3) Internal Level Schema (data
dictionary view) is used by database analysts and design specialists to map the
DBMS.
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DBMS | DB Application System | MIS
 The information system needs raw data which is stored on disk as a relational
database.
 The relational database is managed by Database Management System
(DBMS) software. The system calls the DBMS (behind the scenes) and the
DBMS extracts data from the database.
 DBMS is a group of programs used to interface between a database and
application programs, or a database and the user.
 Database (Application) System is the combination of the database, the DBMS,
and the application programs that access the database.
 Management Information System (MIS) is the database system coupled with
a set of hardware, software, telecommunications, people, and procedures.
Programs which are part of the information system then transform the raw
data to useful information.

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DBMS | DB Application System | MIS

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Database Management System
(DBMS)
 System software that sets up the database structure (‘skeleton’ on disk
according to a certain model, fills the structure with data and retrieves
the data to provide meaningful information )
 Parts of dbms:
 Data Dictionary: defines each field and record, explains what each field
means and who is authorized to update it
 Query Language: used to extract data that satisfy certain criteria from a
database. Used to develop query retrieval commands and reports – which
are the two main forms of output from a DBMS

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Data Dictionary
 Is a document that database designers prepare to help
individuals enter data
 Provides several pieces of information about each attribute
in the database including:
 Name
 Key (is it a key or part of a key?)
 Data Type (date, alphanumeric, numeric, etc.)
 Valid Value (the format or numbers allowed)
 Can be used to enforce Business Rules which are captured
by the database designer to prevent illegal or illogical
values from entering the database. (e.g. who has authority
to enter certain kinds of data in specific files)
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DBMS Functions
 A DBMS enables interactions with the database through activities such
as:
 Data Dictionary Management
 Data Transformation and Presentation
 Security Management
 Backup and Recovery Management
 Data Integrity Management
 Database Access Languages and Application Programming Interfaces
 Database Communication Interfaces
 Transaction Management
 Data entry, queries, etc.
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DBMS – Data Entry

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DBMS - Queries
 Query – A way to extract data from the database
 Focuses on providing appropriate parameters to select the information required
 SQL (Structured Query Language)
 A Language to select and extract data from a database
 The industry standard language for relational databases
 QBE (Query by Example)
 A technique that allows a user to design a query on a screen by dragging and
placing the query field in the desired locations.

(Query Request) (Query Program) (Applicant Report) 36

The Database Management System –
Query Language*
 SQL: Structured Query Language:
 Popular language for making requests to a relational dbms

 SELECT LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, CITY

 FROM APPLICANT
 WHERE APPLICATION_DATE >= ‘August 19, 2012’

 SELECT LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, CITY SALARY

 FROM EMPLOYEE WHERE DEPARTMENT = ‘4530’ AND SALARY > 25000
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DBMS – Report
 Report – A database function that extracts and formats information from a database for
printing and presentation

 Report Generator
 A specialized program that uses SQL to retrieve and manipulate data (aggregate, transform, or
group)
 Report templates are designed using special report creation software (e.g. Crystal Reports,
Jasper Reports, Cognos)

 Example – Report on applicants entered in the last 30 days

 Report parameters are selected in the report request screen
 The database program uses SQL to query and present the result

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