parallel transmission: 1. The simultaneous transmission of the signal elements of a character or other data item. 2.

In digital communications, the simultaneous transmission of related signal elements over two or more separate paths. Note: Protocols for parallel transmission, such as those used for computer ports, have been standardized by ANSI parity bit: An extra bit that can be added to a group of "0" bits and "1" bits to make the parity of the group odd or even. Note: The parity bit is discarded when the message is received. [After X9.19] serial transmission: The sequential transmission of the signal elements of a group representing a character or other entity of data. Note: The characters are transmitted in a sequence over a single line, rather than simultaneously over two or more lines, as in parallel transmission. The sequential elements may be transmitted with or without interruption. Synonym sequential transmission. Introduction to TCP/IP A megabyte (derived from the SI prefix mega-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one million bytes. It is commonly abbreviated MB in writing (not to be confused with Mb, which is used for megabit) and meg in writing or speech.
Serial data transmission is the most common method of sending data from one DTE to another. During transmission, the data must pass through a serial interface to exit a computer as serial data.

2. Validation
A validation check is an automatic check made by a computer to ensure that any data entered into the computer is sensible. A validation check does not make sure that data has been entered correctly. It only ensures that the data is sensible. For this reason validation checks are not usually as effective as verification checks. They can however be carried out automatically by a computer and therefore require less work by computer operators making them cheaper to use. There are many different methods of validation. The most appropriate method(s) to use will depend upon what data is being entered. The most common methods are listed here. Validation Checks Checks that data has been entered into a field and that it has not been left blank. e.g. check that a surname is always entered into each record in a database of addresses. Checks that an entered value is of a particular type. e.g. check that age is numeric. Checks than an entered value e.g. surname is no longer than a

Presence Check Type Check Length

Check Range Check Format Check Check Digit Parity Check

set number of characters. Checks that an entered value falls within a particular range. For example the age of a person should be in the range 0 to 130 years. Checks that an entered value has a particular format. e.g. a new-style car registration number should consist of a letter followed by 1 to 3 numbers followed by 3 letters. A check digit is a digit attached to the end of a string of digits. It is calculated from the other digits and used to help ensure that the whole string is inputted correctly. Used in data communications to ensure that data is not corrupted when it is sent down a transmission medium such as a telephone line.

Validation checks can be performed by any piece of software. However you are most likely to encounter them when creating a new database. Sophisticated database packages will let you implement validation checks using validation rules. You can provide different validation rules for each different field in the database.

3. Presence Check
A presence check is the simplest method of validation. A presence check can be used on any field in a database and simply checks that some data has been entered into the field, i.e. that the field has not been left blank

4. Type Check
A type check is a validation check which most databases perform automatically on all entered data. When a database is created each field in the database is given a type. Whenever data is entered into a field the database will check that it is of the correct type, e.g. alphabetic or numeric. If it is not then an error message will be displayed and the data will have to be re-entered. Here are some example field names and appropriate types. Field Name Date of Birth Sex Shoe Size Postcode Type Date Alphabetic Numeric Alphanumeric Valid Data 11/03/96 Male, Female, Albert 12, 2.3, 12323 W12 6BD Invalid Data 30/02/76, fred 123, WA2 6G, house

Notice that a type check is not a very good validation check. Many of the entries in the Valid Data column in the table pass the type check but are clearly incorrect.

5. Length Check
As with type checks, most databases will automatically perform length checks on any entered data. The length check is a validation check which ensures that the data entered is no longer than a specified maximum number of characters. This is particularly important if a fixed length field is being used to store the data. If this is the case then any extra characters typed that made the data longer than the space available to store it would be lost. Here are some example field names and appropriate maximum lengths : Field Name Title Surname County Maximum Length 6 15 15 Valid Data Invalid Data

mr, Mrs, The Duke Of, Sixteen George Smith, Jones Smethurst-Whately The Former Yugoslav Republic of England, Car Macedonia

Length checks are usually only performed on alphabetic or alphanumeric data.

6. Range Check
Range checks are validation checks which are used on data made up of numbers or dates which must fall into a particular range. A lower and upper boundary for sensible values is specified. Any values which fall outside of this range will be rejected. Most sophisticated databases will let you set valid ranges for each field. Field Name Age Car Engine Size (L) Month Temperature in UK (C) Lower Boundary 0 0.5 1 -20 Upper Boundary 130 8.0 12 40

Sometimes there is only one boundary required for a particular field. For example the minimum volume of a cube would be zero cubic centimetres, but there is no maximum volume. When there is only one boundary to check the type of check used is known as a limit check rather than a range check.

7. Format Check
A format check is a validation check which ensures that entered data is in a particular format. The format that data must be in is specified using an input mask. The input mask is made up of special characters which indicate what characters may be typed where.

8. Check Digit
The check digit is a particularly important method of validation. It is used to ensure that code numbers that are originally produced by a computer are re-entered into another computer correctly. The check digit is a single digit added onto the end of a code number by the computer. The check digit is calculated from the other digits in the number. Check digits are included in bar code numbers.

9. Parity Check
Parity checks are used during transmission of data to detect errors that have been caused by interference or noise. All data is transmitted as a sequence of 1s and 0s. A common type of error that occurs during data transmission is that a bit is swapped from a 0 to a 1 or a 1 to a 0 by electrical interference. Parity checks detect this type of error. A parity check works like this : Parity checks are not very good at detecting burst errors where more than one bit in a byte is changed.

10. Verification
A verification check ensures that data is correctly transferred into a computer from the medium that it was originally stored on. Verification checks are usually used to check that information written on a data collection form has been correctly typed into a computer by a data entry worker. Verification checks do not ensure that the entered data is correct. If the original form was completed incorrectly then the entered data will pass a verification check despite being incorrect.