Introduction To Databases

The document defines key database terms and concepts including tables, records, fields, primary keys, foreign keys, and data types. It explains that a database is an organized collection of information and provides examples of common databases. It also describes the hierarchy of a database from the database down to individual bits.

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Introduction To Databases

Uploaded by

Nathaniel Whyte

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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Information

Technology

Introduction to
Database
Management
Specific Objectives
⚫ Explain the concept of a database
⚫ Definition of key database terms
⚫ Definition of database keys
Primary key
Secondary key or Alternate key
Composite key
Candidate key
Foreign key
What is a Database?
⦿ An organized collection of Information
⦿ Examples of common databases:
-Telephone book
-Mailing List
-Recipe book
-Book shelf
⦿ In Ms Access database is a set of an
organized collection of related information
to a specific purpose or topic.
⦿ It includes tools needed to work with data:
-Sorting
-Extracting
-Summarizing
Database Hierarchy
Database

Table

Record

Fields

Byte

Bit
Database Terminology - Table
⚫ Table - is a collection of related records,
made of a set of rows and columns. Also
called a relation.
Database Terminology -
Record
⚫ Record – is a row of data , or a collection
of related ﬁelds in a database. For example:

First name Lastname Address City Cust_ID

Kevin Nevers 2 Rose St Kingston 220

⚫ Tuple – is a row of data in relational

databases. It gives details about a particular
entity. For example:
(Kevin, Nevers, 2 Rose St,Kingston,220)
Database Terminology - Field
⦿ Field – is a single column in a database
table that stores data. Also referred to as an
attribute in a database For example :
Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5

Firstname Lastname Address City Cust_ID

Kevin Nevers 2 Rose St Kingston 220

This record consists of Five(5) ﬁelds or

columns.
One item of data such as the actual address
is called a Data value
Database Terminology
⚫ Byte – is a group of eight bits, usually

representing a single character.

⚫ An example of a byte is: 11000001 which

represents the letter “A”

⚫ Bit – is an acronym for binary digit. It can

be a value of 1 or 0.
Primary Keys
⚫ Primary Key – A unique field that is used to
identify each record in a database table.
⚫ The Cust_ID OR the TRN are both unique.
Any of the two fields can be assigned as the
primary key.
Other Keys - Candidate Key
⚫ Candidate Key - a field that could possibly
act as the primary key for the table.
⚫ Customer information table the candidate
keys are Cust_ID and TRN number(
because they both unique).
Other Keys - Composite Key
⚫ Composite Key - a primary key that
consists of two or more fields together.
⚫ In the table below observe that a course
may be offered several times for the year
and more than one lecturer teaches a
particular course.
CourseID Semester Lecturer Room_No Year
⚫
M10A Spring Brown SSLT 2005
M10A Summer Forbes N5 2004
M10A Spring Smith SSLT 2004
EC21A Spring Forbes IFLT 2005
EC21A Summer Brown IFLT 2004
Other Keys - Secondary or
Alternate Key
⚫ Secondary or Alternate Key - a candidate
key that has not been selected as the
primary key.
⚫ In this table the Cust_ID key was selected
as the Primary key and as result the
secondary key is TRN number.
Other Keys – Foreign Key
❑Foreign Key - a field in a table that is
has been linked with the primary key
field of another table .
❑ In the example below, the DVD ID in
the orders table is a foreign key
because it is the primary key in the
DVD Inventory table.
Microsoft Access Data Types
Data Type Description
Text Use for text or combinations
of text and numbers. 255
characters maximum

Memo Memo is used for larger

amounts of text. Stores up to
65,536 characters. Note: You
cannot sort a memo ﬁeld.
However, they are searchable

Currency Use for currency. Holds up to

15 digits of whole dollars, plus
4 decimal places. Tip: You can
choose which country's
currency to use
Microsoft Access Data Types
Data Type Description

AutoNumber AutoNumber ﬁelds

automatically give each
record its own number,
usually starting at 1
Date/Time Use for dates and times

Yes/No A logical ﬁeld can be displayed

as Yes/No, True/False, or
On/Oﬀ. In code, use the
constants True and False
(equivalent to -1 and
0).Note: Null values are not
allowed in Yes/No ﬁelds
Microsoft Access Data Types
Data type Description
Number Used to store numbers with or without
decimal places.

Ole Object Can store pictures, audio,

video, or other BLOBs (Binary
Large OBjects)

type indicates the kind of data that the ﬁeld

stores, such as large amounts of text or
attached files.
Conclusion
A data type is a field property, but it differs
from other field properties as follows:
⚫ You set a field's data type in the table
design grid, not in the Field Properties
pane.
⚫ A field's data type determines what other
properties the field has.
⚫ You must set a field's data type when you
create the field.
Questions???
Credits/ References