Database System Development Lifecycle (DBSDLC)

SECD2523 Database
Semester 1 2020/2021
 Learning Objective
• At the end of the topic, students will be able to:
• Define and describe the stages of the database system development life cycle.
• Define the activities and deliverables in the main phases of database design:
• Conceptual design
• Logical design
• Physical design

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 Stages of Database Application
Database planning

System definition
Lifecycle
Requirements collection
and analysis

Conceptual database design

DBMS selection Application design
Logical database design

Physical database design Focus is this course

Database design

Prototyping (optional) Implementation

Data conversion and loading

Testing

Operational maintenance

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 1) Database Planning
• Management activities that allow stages of database application lifecycle to be realized as
efficiently and effectively as possible.
• Must be integrated with overall information system (IS) strategy of the organization.

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 1) Database Planning
Define a clear mission statement
• major aims of database application
• clarify purpose of the database project
• provides clearer path towards the efficient and effective creation of required database application.
• Defined by ones who are driving database project – director or owner of the project
Identify mission objectives
• What tasks that must be supported by the system
• Each objective is one specific task

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 1) Database Planning
Other information accompanied in mission statement and objectives:
• The work to be done
• The resources with which to do it
• The money to pay for it
Database planning should also include development of standards that govern:
• how data will be collected,
• how the format should be specified,
• what necessary documentation will be needed,
• how design and implementation should proceed.

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 2) System Definition
• Describes scope and boundaries of database application and the major user views.
• System boundaries should involve current and future application areas and users
• User view defines what is required of a database application from the perspective of:
• a particular job role (such as Manager or Supervisor) or
• enterprise application area (such as marketing, personnel, or stock control)

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 2) System Definition
• Database application may have one or more user views.
• Identifying user views helps ensure that no major users of the database are forgotten
when developing requirements for new application.
• A user view provides requirements:
• What data to be included in the system
• What transactions to be performed on the data
• Requirements may be distinct or overlap with other views

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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis

• The process of collecting and analyzing information about the part of organization to
be supported by the database application and using this information to identify users’
requirements of new system.
• Information is gathered for each major user view including:
• a description of data used or generated;
• details of how data is to be used/generated;
• any additional requirements for new database application.

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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis
• Information is analyzed to identify requirements to be included in new database
application
• Documented in a Requirements specification for new database system
• Presented in a structured/organized using requirement specification techniques, such as SAD
techniques, DFD and HIPO charts
• Three main approaches in requirements collections and analysis from multiple user
views:
• centralized approach;
• view integration approach;
• combination of both approaches.

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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis
Centralized approach
• Requirements for each user view are merged into a single set of requirements for the new
database system.
• A global data model is created based on the merged requirements (which represents all user
views).
• Generally, this approach is preferred when there is a significant overlap in requirements for each
user view and the database system is not overly complex.

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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis

Centralized Approach
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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis
View integration approach
• Requirements for each user view are used to build a separate data model.
• Data model representing single user view is called a local data model, composed of diagrams and
documentation describing requirements of a particular user view of database.
• Local data models are then merged to produce a global data model, which represents all user views
for the database.

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 3) Requirements Collection and Analysis

View integration approach

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 4) Database Design
• The process of creating a design for a database that will support the enterprise’s
operations and objectives.
• Major aims:
• Represent data and relationships between data required by all major application areas and user
groups.
• Provide data model that supports any transactions required on the data.
• Specify a minimal design that is appropriately structured to achieve stated performance
requirements for the system (such as response times).

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 4) Database Design
Approaches include:
• Starts with developing data models which contain high-level entities and relationships.
Top-down • Then refine this high-level data models into a lower-level entities, relationships and attributes.
• Use Entity Relationship Model (ERM)

• Begins at the fundamental analysis of the associations between attributes

Bottom-up • Grouped into relations that represent types of entities and relationship between entities
• Use Normalization process

• Begins with identifying major entities

Inside-out • Then spreading out to consider other entities, attributes associated to those first identified.

• The mixed strategy approach uses both the bottom-up and top-down approach for various parts of the model before
Mixed finally combining all parts together.

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 4) Database Design
• Main purposes of data modeling include:
• to assist in understanding the meaning (semantics) of the data;
• to facilitate communication about the information requirements.
• Building data model requires answering questions about entities, relationships, and
attributes.
• A data model ensures we understand:
• each user’s perspective of the data;
• nature of the data itself, independent of its physical representations;
• use of data across user views.

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 4) Database Design
• Three phases of database design:
• Conceptual, Logical and Physical
• Process of constructing a model of information used in an enterprise, independent of all physical
Conceptual considerations.
• Entity Relationship Model; Data dictionary

• Process of constructing a model of information used in an enterprise based on a specific data model (e.g.
Logical relational), but independent of a particular DBMS and other physical considerations.
• Normalized database (relational) schemas

• Process of producing a description of the implementation of the database on secondary storage; it

Physical describes the base relations, file organizations, and indexes design used to achieve efficient access to the
data, and any associated integrity constraints and security measures.

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 Three-level ANSI-SPARC Architecture and
Phases of Database Design

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 Other Stages
• DBMS selection
• Application design – User interface (UI) design and application program design
• Prototyping
• Implementation
• Data Conversion and loading
• Testing
• Operational Maintenance

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