Database Management System Conceptual View 11/25/2008 Institute of Management Sciences Muhammad Atif Nasim 2|Page Database A database

is a collection of related information in organize manner.The data stored in a database is Constant. Database Management Systems A database management system (DBMS) is software or a collection of software which can be used to create, maintain and work with databases. A client/server database system is one in which the database is stored and managed by adatabase server, and client software is used to request information from the server or to sendcommands to the server. Uses of databases Databases are commonly used to store bodies of data which are too large to be managed on paper or through simple spreadsheets. Most businesses use databases for accounts, inventory, personnel, and other record keeping. Databases are also becoming more widely used by home users for address books, cd collections, recipe archives, etc. There are very few fields in which databases cannot be used. Type of Databases Flat-file text databases Hierarchical databases such as LDAP Network databases Relational databases Object Oriented databases Delimited text files A delimited text file is one in which each line of text is a record, and the fields are separatedby a known character. The character used to delimit the data varies according to the type ofdata. Common

delimiters include the tab character (\t in Perl) or various punctuationcharacters. The delimiter should always be one which does not appear in the data. Delimited text files are easily produced by most desktop spreadsheet and databaseapplications (eg Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access). You can usually choose "File" then"Save As" 3|Page Imagine a file which contains peoples' given names, surnames, and ages, delimited by the pipe (|) symbol: Fred|Flintstone|40 Wilma|Flintstone|36 Barney|Rubble|38 Betty|Rubble|34 Homer|Simpson|45 Marge|Simpson|39 Bart|Simpson|11 Lisa|Simpson|9 The file above is available in your exercises directory asdelimited.txt. Comma-separated variable (CSV) files Comma separated variable files are another format commonly produced by spreadsheet anddatabase programs. CSV files delimit their fields with commas, and wrap textual data inquotation marks, allowing the textual data to contain commas if required: "Fred","Flintstone",40 "Wilma","Flintstone",36 "Barney","Rubble",38 "Betty","Rubble",34 "Homer","Simpson",45 "Marge","Simpson",39 "Bart","Simpson",11 "Lisa","Simpson",9 CSV files are harder to parse than ordinary delimited text files. The best way to parse them is to use the Text::ParseWords module: Problems with flat file databases Locking When using flat file databases without locking, problems can occur if two or more people open the files at the same time. This can cause data to be lost or corrupted. If you are implementing a flat file database, you will need to handle file locking using Perl's

flockfunct i on. Complex data If your data is more complex than a single table of scalar items, managing your flat file database can become extremely tedious and difficult. Efficiency Flat file databases are very inefficient for large quantities of data. Searching, sorting, andother simple activities can take a very long time and use a great deal of memory and othersystem resources. 4|Page Hierarchical Database Definition A kind of {database management system} that links records together like a family tree suchthat each record type has only one owner, e.g. an order is owned by only one customer.Hierarchical structures were widely used in the first {mainframe} database managementsystems.However, due to their restrictions, they often cannot be used to relate structures thatexist in the real world. Network model The network model is a database model conceived as a flexible way of representing objectsand their relationships. Its original inventor was Charles Bachman, and it was developed intoa standard specification published in 1969 by the CODASYL Consortium. Where thehierarchical model structures data as a tree of records, with each record having one parentrecord and many children, the network model allows each record to have multiple parent andchild records, forming a lattice structure. The chief argument in favour of the network model, in comparison to the hierarchic model,was that it allowed a more natural modelling of relationships between entities. Although themodel was widely implemented and used, it failed to become dominant for two main reasons.Firstly, IBM chose to stick to the hierarchical model with seminetwork extensions in theirestablished products such as IMS and DL/I. Secondly, it was eventually displaced by therelational model, which offered a higher-level, more declarative interface. Until the early1980s the performance benefits of the low-level navigational interfaces offered byhierarchical and network databases were persuasive for many large-scale applications, but ashardware became faster, the extra productivity and flexibility of the relational model led tothe gradual obsolescence of the network model in corporate enterprise usage Relational Database

A relational database is a collection of data items organized as a set of formally-described tables from which data can be accessed or reassembled in many differentways without having to reorganize the database tables. The relational database wasinvented by E. F. Codd at IBM in 1970. The standard user and application program interface to a relational database is thestructured query language (SQL). SQL statements are used both for interactivequeries for information from a relational database and for gathering data for reports. In addition to being relatively easy to create and access, a relational database has theimportant advantage of being easy to extend. After the original database creation, anew data category can be added without requiring that all existing applications bemodified. A relational database is a set of tables containing data fitted into predefinedcategories. Each table (which is sometimes called a relation) contains one or moredata categories in columns. Each row contains a unique instance of data for thecategories defined by the columns. For example, a typical business order entrydatabase would include a table that described a customer with columns for name,address, phone number, and so forth. Another table would describe an order: product,

5|Page customer, date, sales price, and so forth. A user of the database could obtain a view ofthe database that fitted the user's needs. For example, a branch office manager mightlike a view or report on all customers that had bought products after a certain date. Afinancial services manager in the same company could, from the same tables, obtain areport on accounts that needed to be paid.

 When creating a relational database, you can define the domain of possible values in adata column and further constraints that may apply to that data value. For example, adomain of possible customers could allow up to ten possible customer names but beconstrained in one table to allowing only three of these customer names to be specifiable. The definition of a relational database results in a table of metadata or formal descriptions of the tables, columns, domains, and constraints. Object-Oriented Database Definition (OODB) A system offering {DBMS} facilities in an {object-oriented programming}environment.Data is stored as {objects} and can be interpreted only using the {method}sspecified by its {class}.The relationship between similar objects is preserved ({inheritance})as are references between objects.Queries can be faster because {joins} are often not needed(as in a {relational database}).This is because an object can be retrieved directly without asearch, by following its object ID. The same programming language can be used for both datadefinition and data manipulation.The full power of the database programming language's{type system} can be used to model {data structures} and the relationship between thedifferent data items. {Multimedia} {applications} are facilitated because the {class} {method}s associated with the data are responsible for its correct interpretation. OODBstypically provide better support for {versioning}.An object can be viewed as the set of all itsversions.Also, object versions can be treated as fully fledged objects.OODBs also providesystematic support for {triggers} and {constraints} which are the basis of {active databases}.Most, if not all, object-oriented {application programs} that have database needs will benefitfrom using an OODB. {Ode} is an example of an OODB built on {C++}. Tables and relationships In a relational database, data is stored in tables. Each table contains data about a particular type of entity (either physical or conceptual). For instance, our sample database is the inventory and sales system for Acme Widget Co. It has tables containing data for the following entities: Table 4-1. Acme Widget Co Tables Table Description stock_itemInventory items

customerCustomer account details salepersonSales people working for Acme Widget Co. Sales

Tables in a database contain fields and records. Each record describes one entity. Each fielddescribes a single item of data for that entity. You can think of it like a spreadsheet, with therows being the records and the columns being the fields, thus: