Professional Documents
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Source of Data
• From another Database
Q8/I (A) –
Data File Environment 2006
Q5 (A) –
• Data File Environment, also called file system (often also written as
filesystem) is a method of storing and organizing computer files and their
data. Each file in this system is isolated and possesses no / very little
connection with another.
• In a data file environment, all files are produced using various tools and
applications, so file integrity is far less.
• Databases are broken down into smaller “Data Files” which is stored in
memory at random locations on related server. Such Data Files are logically
connected but physically scattered on server’s storage device.
• Hardware failure: A disk drive fails, preventing some of the transaction's database
changes from taking effect
• System failure: The user loses their connection to the application before providing
all necessary information
• Database failure: E.g., the database runs out of room to hold additional data
• Application failure: The application attempts to post data that violates a rule that
the database itself enforces, such as attempting to create a new account without
supplying an account number
Consistency
The consistency property ensures that the database remains in a consistent state.
More precisely, it says that any transaction will take the database from one
consistent state to another consistent state.
The consistency rule applies only to integrity rules that are within its scope. Thus, if
a DBMS allows fields of a record to act as references to another record, then
consistency implies the DBMS must enforce referential integrity: by the time any
transaction ends, each and every reference in the database must be valid. If a
transaction consisted of an attempt to delete a record referenced by another, each
of the following mechanisms would maintain consistency:
Isolation
Isolation refers to the requirement that other operations cannot access or see data
that has been modified during a transaction that has not yet completed. Each
transaction must remain unaware of other concurrently executing transactions,
except that one transaction may be forced to wait for the completion of another
transaction that has modified data that the waiting transaction requires.
Durability
Durability is the DBMS's guarantee that once the user has been notified of a
transaction's success, the transaction will not be lost. The transaction's data
changes will survive system failure, and that all integrity constraints have been
satisfied, so the DBMS won't need to reverse the transaction. Many DBMSs
implement durability by writing transactions into a transaction log that can be
reprocessed to recreate the system state right before any later failure. A
transaction is deemed committed only after it is entered in the log.
Deeper into Database modeling language Q2 (C) –
2007
Q4 (B) –
• Hierarchical model
o Degree of branching
• Network model
• Object model
Inverted lists and other methods are also used. A given database management
system may provide one or more of the four models. The optimal structure depends
on the natural organization of the application's data, and on the application's
requirements (which include transaction rate (speed), reliability, maintainability,
scalability, and cost).
The dominant model in use today is the ad hoc one embedded in SQL, despite the
objections of purists who believe this model is a corruption of the relational model,
since it violates several of its fundamental principles for the sake of practicality and
performance. Many DBMSs also support the Open Database Connectivity API that
supports a standard way for programmers to access the DBMS.
DBMS Concepts
Relations are the total table in which data are inserted and maintained. One or
more such tables may be linked using
different types of keys to form a
database. Such a link helps in relational
integrity (all related areas are updated
when a common field is updated) and
data sufficiency (low redundancy and
multiplicative errors).
Keys in DBMS
Primary key: The attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies a
row or record.
Composite key: A primary key that consists of two or more attributes is known as
composite key
Candidate key: is a column in a table which has the ability to become a primary
key.
Alternate Key: Any of the candidate keys that are not part of the primary key is
called an alternate key. An alternate key is any candidate key which is not selected to be the
primary key.
Super key - A super key is defined in the relational model as a set of attributes of a
relation variable for which it holds that in all relations assigned to that variable
there are no two distinct tuples (rows) that have the same values for the attributes
in this set. Equivalently a super key can also be defined as a set of attributes of a
variable upon which all attributes of the relation are functionally dependent.
• Database: Organizing files into related units which are then viewed as a
single storage. The data in the database are generally made available to a
wide range of users through sharing and mentioning different rights and roles
to different classes of users.
Q2 (B) –
Relevance of relational design in DSS 2007
Q5 (A) –
• Multidimensional problem solving: in DSS architecture, problem solving
requires multiple ways of evaluation of the problem and collecting requisite Q1 (A) –
information towards each different evaluation. 2005
Q2 (A) –
2006
• Critical queries: DBMS and RDBMS can handle complex queries and
information search which is very useful in DSS.
• Data mart support: RBDMS, through its access rights and different views to
the same data can create data marts for high involvement decision making
Q8/I (B) –
Database Normalization 2006
Q8/II (A) –
Normalization is the scientific method of breaking down complex table structures
into simple table structures using certain rules. This method is used to reduce
redundancy in table and eliminate the problems of inconsistency and disk space
usage. The normalization theory is based on the fundamental notion of functional
dependency. (Given a Relation / Table R, Attribute A is functionally dependent on
attribute B if each value of A in R is associated with precisely one value of B.
The relation is kept without any normalization rules and guidelines. E.g., >>
A table is said to be in 1NF if each cell of the table contains precisely one value.
E.g., >>
A table is said to be in 2NF when it is in 1NF and every attribute in the row is
functionally dependent on the whole key, and is not just a part of the key.
E.g., >>
E.g., >>