DBMS Chapter One IS304

Introduction to Database Management System

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Database Concepts
3. View of Data
4. File System
5. Database Management System (DBMS)
6. Purpose of DBMS
7. Types of DBMS
8. History of DBMS
9. Database Architecture
10. Data Independencies

1
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

1. Introduction

o A single piece of data is a single fact about something we are interested in.
o In any environment there are things that are important to you and there are
facts about those things that are worth remembering.
o A ‘‘thing’’ as a concept is broad enough to include a person, an organization
like a company, or an event that took place such as a particular meeting.
o Information is the result of processing raw data to reveal its meaning.
o Data processing can be as simple as organizing data to reveal patterns or as
complex as making forecasts or drawing inferences using statistical modeling.
o A database is a shared, integrated computer structure that stores a collection of:
End-user data: that is, raw facts of interest to the end user,
and Metadata: or data about data, through which the end-user data are
integrated and managed.

2
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

2. Database Concepts
o Thing or object in our environment that we want to keep track of is called an
entity.
o A collection of entities of the same type (e.g., all the company’s employees) is
called an entity set.
o An attribute is a property of, a characteristic of, or a fact that we know about
an entity.

o Field is a character or group of characters (alphabetic or numeric) that has a

specific meaning. A field is used to define and store data.
o Record is a logically connected set of one or more fields that describes a
person, place, or thing. For example, the fields that constitute a record for a
customer named Samir Ali might consist of Samir Ali’s name, address, phone
number, date of birth, credit limit, and unpaid balance.
o File is a collection of related records.
o The schema, which is the conceptual organization of the entire database as
viewed by the database administrator. The schema includes a definition of the
database name, the record type for each record, and the components that make
up those records.

3
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o The subschema, which defines the portion of the database “seen” by the
application programs that actually produce the desired information from the
data contained within the database. The existence of subschema definitions
allows all application programs to simply invoke the subschema required to
access the appropriate database file(s).

3. View of Data

o A major purpose of a database system is to provide users with an abstract view

of the data.
o The system hides certain details of how the data are stored and maintained

3.1. Data Abstraction

o For the system to be usable, it must retrieve data efficiently. The need for
efficiency has led designers to use complex data structures to represent data
in the database.

4
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o Since many database system users are not computer trained, developers hide
the complexity from users through several levels of abstraction, to simplify
users’ interactions with the system:
• 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.

• Logical level. The next-higher level of abstraction describes what data are
stored in the database, and what relationships exist among those data. The
logical level thus describes the entire database in terms of a small number of
relatively simple structures. Although implementation of the simple
structures at the logical level may involve complex physical-level structures,
the user of the logical level does not need to be aware of this complexity.

5
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

This is referred to as physical data independence. Database administrators,

who must decide what information to keep in the database, use the logical
level of abstraction.

• View level. The highest level of abstraction describes only part of the
entire database. Even though the logical level uses simpler structures,
complexity remains because of the variety of information stored in a large
database. Many users of the database system do not need all this
information; instead, they need to access only a part of the database. The
view level of abstraction exists to simplify their interaction with the system.
The system may provide many views for the same database.

3. 2 Instances and Schemas

o The collection of information stored in the database at a particular moment
is called an instance of the database.
o The overall design of the database is called the database schema. Schemas
are changed infrequently, if at all. The concept of database schemas and
instances can be understood by analogy to a program written in a
programming language. A database schema corresponds to the variable
declarations (along with associated type definitions) in a program. Each
variable has a particular value at a given instant.
o Database systems have several schemas, partitioned according to the levels
of abstraction. The physical schema describes the database design at the
physical level, while the logical schema describes the database design at the
logical level.
o A database may also have several schemas at the view level, sometimes
called subschemas, that describe different views of the database.
6
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

3. 3 Data Models
o Data model: a collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data
relationships, data semantics, and consistency constraints. A data model
provides a way to describe the design of a database at the physical, logical,
and view levels. The data models can be classified into four different
categories :
• Relational Model. The relational model uses a collection of tables to
represent both data and the relationships among those data. Each table has
multiple columns, and each column has a unique name. Tables are also
known as relations. The relational model is an example of a record-based
model. Record-based models are so named because the database is
structured in fixed-format records of several types. Each table contains
records of a particular type. Each record type defines a fixed number of
fields, or attributes.

• Entity-Relationship Model. The entity-relationship (E-R) data model uses

a collection of basic objects, called entities, and relationships among these
objects.

• Object-Based Data Model. Object-oriented programming (especially in

Java, C++, or C#) has become the dominant software-development
methodology. This led to the development of an object-oriented data model
that can be seen as extending the E-R model with notions of encapsulation,
methods (functions), and object identity.

7
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

• Semi-structured Data Model. The semi-structured data model permits the

specification of data where individual data items of the same type may have
different sets of attributes. This is in contrast to the data models mentioned
earlier, where every data item of a particular type must have the same set
of attributes. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is widely used to
represent semi-structured data.

4. File System

o In the recent past, a manager of almost any small organization was able to keep
track of necessary data by using a manual file system.
o Such a file system was traditionally composed of a collection of file folders,
each properly tagged and kept in a filing cabinet.
o Ideally, the contents of each file folder were logically related. For example, a
file folder in a doctor’s office might contain patient data, one file folder for each
patient. All of the data in that file folder would describe only that particular
patient’s medical history.
o As long as a data collection was relatively small and an organization’s
managers had few reporting requirements, the manual system served its role
well as a data repository.

8
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o Using the CUSTOMER file’s contents, the Data Processing specialist wrote
programs that produced very useful reports for the insurance company’s sales
department:
 Monthly summaries that showed the types and amounts of insurance
sold by each agent.
 Monthly checks to determine which customers must be contacted for
renewal.
 Reports that analyzed the ratios of insurance types sold by each agent.
 Periodic customer contact letters designed to summarize coverage and
to provide various customer relations bonuses.

4.1 File System Problems

o The simplest data retrieval task requires extensive programming.

o The need to write programs to produce even the simplest reports makes ad
hoc queries impossible.
o Making changes in an existing structure can be difficult in a file system
environment.
o As the number of files in the system expands, system administration
becomes more difficult.

9
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o The security features are difficult to program and are, therefore, often
omitted in a file system environment.

5. Database Management System (DBMS)

o Database Management System (DBMS) is a collection of inter-related data and

a set of programs to access those data that provide a way to store and retrieve
database information that is both convenient and efficient.
o Database systems are designed to manage large bodies of information.
Management of data involves both defining structures for storage of
information and providing mechanisms for the manipulation of information.
o Database system must ensure the safety of the information stored, despite
system crashes or attempts at unauthorized access.
o The DBMS serves as the intermediary between the user and the database.
The database structure itself is stored as a collection of files, and the only way
to access the data in those files is through the DBMS.
o The DBMS receives all application requests and translates them into the
complex operations required to fulfill those requests.
o The DBMS hides much of the database’s internal complexity from the
application programs and users.

10
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

6. Functions of DBMS

o A DBMS performs several important functions that guarantee the integrity and
consistency of the data in the database. Most of those functions are transparent
to end users, and most can be achieved only through the use of a DBMS.
1. Data dictionary management.
 The DBMS stores definitions of the data elements and their relationships
(metadata) in a data dictionary.
 The DBMS uses the data dictionary to look up the required data
component structures and relationships, thus relieving you from having to
code such complex relationships in each program.
 Additionally, any changes made in a database structure are automatically
recorded in the data dictionary, thereby freeing you from having to
modify all of the programs that access the changed structure.

11
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

2. Data storage management.

 The DBMS creates and manages the complex structures required for data
storage, thus relieving you from the difficult task of defining and
programming the physical data characteristics.
 A modern DBMS provides storage for the data, data entry forms or
screen definitions, report definitions, data validation rules, procedural
code, structures to handle video and picture formats, and so on.
 Data storage management is also important for database performance
tuning. Performance tuning relates to the activities that make the database
perform more efficiently in terms of storage and access speed.
 Although the user sees the database as a single data storage unit, the
DBMS actually stores the database in multiple physical data files.

12
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

3. Data transformation and presentation.

 The DBMS transforms entered data to conform to required data
structures.
 The DBMS relieves you of the chore of making a distinction between the
logical data format and the physical data format.
 That is, the DBMS formats the physically retrieved data to make it
conform to the user’s logical expectations. For example, imagine an
enterprise database used by a multinational company.
 An end user in England would expect to enter data such as July 11, 2008
as “11/07/2008.” In contrast, the same date would be entered in the
United States as “07/11/2008.” Regardless of the data presentation
format, the DBMS must manage the date in the proper format for each
country.

4. Security management.
 The DBMS creates a security system that enforces user security and data
privacy.
 Security rules determine which users can access the database, which data
items each user can access, and which data operations (read, add, delete,
or modify) the user can perform. This is especially important in
multiuser database systems.

5. Multiuser access control.

 To provide data integrity and data consistency, the DBMS uses
sophisticated algorithms to ensure that multiple users can access the

13
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

database concurrently without compromising the integrity of the

database.
 Data Consistency refers to the usability of data; we want data to be
constant in time and for us to be capable of using and showing them in
different ways without changing their structure.

6. Backup and recovery management.

 The DBMS provides backup and data recovery to ensure data safety and
integrity. Current DBMS systems provide special utilities that allow the
DBA to perform routine and special backup and restore procedures.
 Recovery management deals with the recovery of the database after a
failure, such as a bad sector in the disk or a power failure. Such capability
is critical to preserving the database’s integrity.

7. Data integrity management.

 The DBMS promotes and enforces integrity rules, thus minimizing data
redundancy and maximizing data consistency.
 The data relationships stored in the data dictionary are used to
enforce data integrity. Ensuring data integrity is especially important in
transaction-oriented database systems.

8. Database access languages and application programming interfaces.

 The DBMS provides data access through a query language. A query
language is a nonprocedural language one that lets the user specify
what must be done without having to specify how it is to be done.

14
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

 Structured Query Language (SQL) is the de facto query language and

data access standard supported by the majority of DBMS vendors.

9. Database communication interfaces.

 Current-generation DBMSs accept end-user requests via multiple,
different network environments. For example, the DBMS might provide
access to the database via the Internet
through the use of Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
 In this environment, communications can be accomplished in several
ways:
 End users can generate answers to queries by filling in
screen forms through their preferred Web browser.
 The DBMS can automatically publish predefined reports on
a Web site.
 The DBMS can connect to third-party systems to distribute
information via e-mail or other productivity applications.

7. Types of DBMS

The most popular way of classifying databases today, however, is based on how
they will be used and on the time sensitivity of the information gathered from
them.

o Online retailers: For sales data noted above plus online order tracking,
generation of recommendation lists, and maintenance of online product
evaluations.
o Banking: For customer information, accounts, loans, and banking transactions.

15
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o Credit card transactions: For purchases on credit cards and generation of

monthly statements.
o Finance: For storing information about holdings, sales, and purchases of
financial instruments such as stocks and bonds; also for storing real-time
market data to enable online trading by customers and automated trading
by the firm.
o Universities: For student information, course registrations, and grades (in
addition to standard enterprise information such as human resources and
accounting).
o Airlines: For reservations and schedule information. Airlines were among the
first to use databases in a geographically distributed manner.
o Telecommunication: For keeping records of calls made, generating monthly
bills, maintaining balances on prepaid calling cards, and storing information
about the communication networks

8. History of DBMS

o 1950s and early 1960s:

o Data processing using magnetic tapes for storage.
 Tapes provided only sequential access.
o Punched cards for input.
o Late 1960s and 1970s:
o Widespread use of hard disks in the late 1960s changed the scenario
for data processing greatly.
 Hard disks allowed direct access to data.
o The position of data on disk was immaterial, since any location on
disk could be accessed in just tens of milliseconds.

16
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o 1980s:
o IBM Research developed techniques for the construction of an
efficient relational database system.
o The fully functional System R prototype led to IBM’s first relational
database product, SQL/DS.
o At the same time, the Ingres system was being developed at the
University of California at Berkeley. It led to a commercial product of
the same name.
o Initial commercial relational database systems, such as IBM DB2,
Oracle, Ingres, and DEC Rdb, played a major role in advancing
techniques for efficient processing of declarative queries.
o The 1980s also saw much research on parallel and distributed
databases, as well as initial work on object-oriented databases.
o Early 1990s:
o The SQL language was designed primarily for decision support
applications.
o Decision support and querying reemerged as a major application area
for databases.
o Database vendors also began to add object-relational support to their
databases.
o 1990s:
o The major event of the 1990s was the explosive growth of the World
Wide Web.
o 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).
17
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o 2000s:
o XML and the associated query language XQuery as a new database
technology.
o Open-source database systems are emerged, particularly PostgreSQL
and MySQL. Several novel distributed data-storage systems have
been built to handle the data management requirements of very large
Web sites such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and
Yahoo.
o Data mining algorithms and streaming data, such as stock-market
ticker data or computer network monitoring data.

9. Database Architecture
o An early proposal for a standard terminology and general architecture for
database systems was produced in 1971 by the DBTG (Data Base Task
Group).
o The DBTG recognized the need for a two-level approach with a system view
called the schema and user views called subschemas.
o The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Planning and
Requirements Committee (SPARC), ANSI/X3/SPARC, produced a similar
terminology and architecture in 1975, ANSI-SPARC recognized the need for
a three-level approach with a system catalog.
o The levels form a three-level architecture comprising an external, a
conceptual, and an internal level.
o The way users perceive the data is called the external level.
o The way the DBMS and the operating system perceive the data is the
internal level, where the data is actually stored using the data structures and
files organizations.
18
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o The conceptual level provides both the mapping and the desired
independence between the external and internal levels.
o The objective of the three-level architecture is to separate each user’s view
of the database from the way the database is physically represented.
o There are several reasons why this separation is desirable:
 Each user should be able to access the same data, but have a
different customized view of the data. Each user should be able
to change the way he or she views the data, and this change
should not affect other users.
 Users should not have to deal directly with physical database
storage details, such as indexing or hashing. In other words, a
user’s interaction with the database should be independent of
storage considerations.
 The Database Administrator (DBA) should be able to change
the database storage structures without affecting the users’
views.
 The internal structure of the database should be unaffected by
changes to the physical aspects of storage, such as the
changeover to a new storage device.
 The DBA should be able to change the conceptual structure of
the database without affecting all users.

19
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

9.1 External Level

o The external level consists of a number of different external views of the
database. Each user has a view of the ‘real world’ represented in a form that
is familiar for that user. The external view includes only those entities,
attributes, and relationships in the ‘real world’ that the user is interested in.
o Other entities, attributes, or relationships that are not of interest may be
represented in the database, but the user will be unaware of them.
o Different views may have different representations of the same data. For
example, one user may view dates in the form (day, month, year), while
another may view dates as (year, month, day).
o Views may include data combined or derived from several entities (Age
from Birthdate).

9.2 Conceptual Level

o The community view of the database. This level describes what data level is
stored in the database and the relationships among the data.
o This level contains the logical structure of the entire database as seen by the
DBA.
o It is a complete view of the data requirements of the organization that is
independent of any storage considerations.
20
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o The conceptual level represents:

 All entities, their attributes, and their relationships;
 The constraints on the data; semantic information about the
data; security and integrity information.
o The conceptual level supports each external view.
o This level must not contain any storage-dependent details. For instance,
the description of an entity should contain only data types of attributes
(integer, real, character) and their length (maximum number of digits or
characters), but not any storage considerations, such as the number of bytes
occupied.

9.3 Internal Level

o This level describes how the data is stored in the database.
o The internal level covers the physical implementation of the database to
achieve optimal runtime performance and storage space utilization.
o It covers the data structures and file organizations used to store data on
storage devices. It interfaces with the operating system access methods (file
management techniques for storing and retrieving data records) to place the
data on the storage devices, build the indexes, retrieve the data, and so on.
o The internal level is concerned with such things as:
 Storage space allocation for data and indexes;
 Record descriptions for storage (with stored sizes for data
items);
 Record placement;
 Data compression and data encryption techniques.

21
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

9.4 Physical Organization

o Below the internal level there is a physical level that may be managed by the
operating system under the direction of the DBMS. However, the functions
of the DBMS and the operating system at the physical level are not clear-cut
and vary from system to system.
o Some DBMSs take advantage of many of the operating system access
methods, while others use only the most basic ones and create their own file
organizations.

o The physical level below the DBMS consists of items only the operating
system knows, such as exactly how the sequencing is implemented and
whether the fields of internal records are stored as contiguous bytes on the
disk.

10. Data Independency

o A major objective for the three-level architecture is to provide data

independence, which means that upper levels are unaffected by changes to
lower levels. There are two kinds of data independence: logical and physical.

22
 DBMS Chapter One IS304

o Logical data independence refers to the immunity of the external independence

schemas to changes in the conceptual schema.
o Changes to the conceptual schema, such as the addition or removal of new
entities, attributes, or relationships, should be possible without having to change
existing external schemas or having to rewrite application programs.
o Physical data independence refers to the immunity of the conceptual
independence schema to changes in the internal schema changes to the internal
schema, such as using different file organizations or storage structures, using
different storage devices, modifying indexes, or hashing algorithms, should be
possible without having to change the conceptual or external schemas.
o From the users’ point of view, the only effect that may be noticed is a change in
performance (important for all DBAs).
o The two-stage mapping in the ANSI-SPARC architecture may be inefficient,
but provides greater data independence. However, for more efficient
mapping, the ANSI-SPARC model allows the direct mapping of external
schemas on to the internal schema, thus by passing the conceptual schema.
This, of course, reduces data independence, so that every time the internal
schema changes, the external schema, and any dependent application programs
may also have to change.

23