Database

1. What is database?
A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some inherent meaning, representing some
aspect of real world and which is designed, built and populated with data for a specific purpose.

2. What is DBMS?
It is a collection of programs that enables user to create and maintain a database. In other words it is
general-purpose software that provides the users with the processes of defining, constructing and
manipulating the database for various applications.

3. What is a Database system?

The database and DBMS software together is called as Database system.

4. Advantages of DBMS?
? Redundancy is controlled.
? Unauthorized access is restricted.
? Providing multiple user interfaces.
? Enforcing integrity constraints.
? Providing backup and recovery.

5. Disadvantage in File Processing System?

? Data redundancy & inconsistency.
? Difficult in accessing data.
? Data isolation.
? Data integrity.
? Concurrent access is not possible.
? Security Problems.

6. Describe the three levels of data abstraction?

Three levels of abstraction:
? Physical level: The lowest level of abstraction describes how data are stored.
? Logical level: The next higher level of abstraction, describes what data are stored in database and what
relationship among those data.
? View level: The highest level of abstraction describes only part of entire database.

7. Define the "integrity rules"

There are two Integrity rules.
? Entity Integrity: States that? Primary key cannot have NULL value?
? Referential Integrity: States that? Foreign Key can be either a NULL value or should be Primary Key
value of other relation.

8. What is extension and intension?

Extension -It is the number of tuples present in a table at any instance. This is time dependent.
Intension -It is a constant value that gives the name, structure of table and the constraints laid on it.

9. What is System R? What are its two major subsystems?

System R was designed and developed over a period of 1974-79 at IBM San Jose Research Center. It is
a prototype and its purpose was to demonstrate that it is possible to build a Relational System that can be
used in a real life environment to solve real life problems, with performance at least comparable to that
of existing system.
Its two subsystems are
? Research Storage
? System Relational Data System.
10. How is the data structure of System R different from the relational structure?
Unlike Relational systems in System R
? Domains are not supported
? Enforcement of candidate key uniqueness is optional
? Enforcement of entity integrity is optional
? Referential integrity is not enforced

11. What is Data Independence?

Data independence means that? The application is independent of the storage structure and access
strategy of data? In other words, the ability to modify the schema definition in one level should not
affect the schema definition in the next higher level.
Two types of Data Independence:
? Physical Data Independence: Modification in physical level should not affect the logical level.
? Logical Data Independence: Modification in logical level should affect the view level.
NOTE: Logical Data Independence is more difficult to achieve

12. What is a view? How it is related to data independence?

A view may be thought of as a virtual table, that is, a table that does not really exist in its own right but
is instead derived from one or more underlying base table. In other words, there is no stored file that
direct represents the view instead a definition of view is stored in data dictionary.
Growth and restructuring of base tables is not reflected in views. Thus the view can insulate users from
the effects of restructuring and growth in the database. Hence accounts for logical data independence.

13. What is Data Model?

A collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data relationships data semantics and constraints.

14. What is E-R model?

This data model is based on real world that consists of basic objects called entities and of relationship
among these objects. Entities are described in a database by a set of attributes.

15. What is Object Oriented model?

This model is based on collection of objects. An object contains values stored in instance variables with
in the object. An object also contains bodies of code that operate on the object. These bodies of code are
called methods. Objects that contain same types of values and the same methods are grouped together
into classes.

16. What is an Entity?

It is a 'thing' in the real world with an independent existence.

17. What is an Entity type?

It is a collection (set) of entities that have same attributes.

18. What is an Entity set?

It is a collection of all entities of particular entity type in the database.

19. What is an Extension of entity type?

The collections of entities of a particular entity type are grouped together into an entity set.

20. What is Weak Entity set?

An entity set may not have sufficient attributes to form a primary key, and its primary key compromises
of its partial key and primary key of its parent entity, then it is said to be Weak Entity set.
21. What is an attribute?
It is a particular property, which describes the entity.

22. What is a Relation Schema and a Relation?

A relation Schema denoted by R (A1, A2,…?, An) is made up of the relation name R and the list of
attributes Ai that it contains. A relation is defined as a set of tuples. Let r be the relation which contains
set tuples (t1, t2, t3... tn). Each tuple is an ordered list of n-values t= (v1, v2... vn).

23. What is degree of a Relation?

It is the number of attribute of its relation schema.

24. What is Relationship?

It is an association among two or more entities.

25. What is Relationship set?

The collection (or set) of similar relationships.

26. What is Relationship type?

Relationship type defines a set of associations or a relationship set among a given set of entity types.

27. What is degree of Relationship type?

It is the number of entity type participating.

25. What is DDL (Data Definition Language)?

A data base schema is specifies by a set of definitions expressed by a special language called DDL.

26. What is VDL (View Definition Language)?

It specifies user views and their mappings to the conceptual schema.

27. What is SDL (Storage Definition Language)?

This language is to specify the internal schema. This language may specify the mapping between two
schemas.

28. What is Data Storage - Definition Language?

The storage structures and access methods used by database system are specified by a set of definition in
a special type of DDL called data storage-definition language.

29. What is DML (Data Manipulation Language)?

This language that enable user to access or manipulate data as organized by appropriate data model.
? Procedural DML or Low level: DML requires a user to specify what data are needed and how to get
those data.
? Non-Procedural DML or High level: DML requires a user to specify what data are needed without
specifying how to get those data.

31. What is DML Compiler?

It translates DML statements in a query language into low-level instruction that the query evaluation
engine can understand.

32. What is Query evaluation engine?

It executes low-level instruction generated by compiler.

33. What is DDL Interpreter?

It interprets DDL statements and record them in tables containing metadata.
34. What is Record-at-a-time?
The Low level or Procedural DML can specify and retrieve each record from a set of records. This
retrieve of a record is said to be Record-at-a-time.

35. What is Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented?

The High level or Non-procedural DML can specify and retrieve many records in a single DML
statement. This retrieve of a record is said to be Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented.

36. What is Relational Algebra?

It is procedural query language. It consists of a set of operations that take one or two relations as input
and produce a new relation.

37. What is Relational Calculus?

It is an applied predicate calculus specifically tailored for relational databases proposed by E.F. Codd.
E.g. of languages based on it are DSL ALPHA, QUEL.

38. How does Tuple-oriented relational calculus differ from domain-oriented relational calculus
The tuple-oriented calculus uses a tuple variables i.e., variable whose only permitted values are tuples of
that relation. E.g. QUEL
The domain-oriented calculus has domain variables i.e., variables that range over the underlying
domains instead of over relation. E.g. ILL, DEDUCE.

39. What is normalization?

It is a process of analysing the given relation schemas based on their Functional Dependencies (FDs)
and primary key to achieve the properties
? Minimizing redundancy
? Minimizing insertion, deletion and update anomalies.

40. What is Functional Dependency?

A Functional dependency is denoted by X Y between two sets of attributes X and Y that are subsets of R
specifies a constraint on the possible tuple that can form a relation state r of R. The constraint is for any
two tuples t1 and t2 in r if t1[X] = t2[X] then they have t1[Y] = t2[Y]. This means the value of X
component of a tuple uniquely determines the value of component Y.

41. When is a functional dependency F said to be minimal?

? Every dependency in F has a single attribute for its right hand side.
? We cannot replace any dependency X A in F with a dependency Y A where Y is a proper subset of X
and still have a set of dependency that is equivalent to F.
? We cannot remove any dependency from F and still have set of dependency that is equivalent to F.

42. What is multivalued dependency?

Multivalued dependency denoted by X Y specified on relation schema R, where X and Y are both
subsets of R, specifies the following constraint on any relation r of R: if two tuples t1 and t2 exist in r
such that t1[X] = t2[X] then t3 and t4 should also exist in r with the following properties
? t3[x] = t4[X] = t1[X] = t2[X]
? t3[Y] = t1[Y] and t4[Y] = t2[Y]
? t3 [Z] = t2[Z] and t4[Z] = t1[Z]
Where [Z = (R-(X U Y)) ]

43. What is Lossless join property?

It guarantees that the spurious tuples generation does not occur with respect to relation schemas after
decomposition.
44. What is 1 NF (Normal Form)?
The domain of attribute must include only atomic (simple, indivisible) values.

45. What is Fully Functional dependency?

It is based on concept of full functional dependency. A functional dependency X Y is full functional
dependency if removal of any attribute A from X means that the dependency does not hold any more.

46. What is 2NF?

A relation schema R is in 2NF if it is in 1NF and every non-prime attribute A in R is fully functionally
dependent on primary key.

47. What is 3NF?

A relation schema R is in 3NF if it is in 2NF and for every FD X A either of the following is true
? X is a Super-key of R.
? A is a prime attribute of R.
In other words, if every non prime attribute is non-transitively dependent on primary key.

48. What is BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)?

A relation schema R is in BCNF if it is in 3NF and satisfies an additional constraint that for every FD X
A, X must be a candidate key.

49. What is 4NF?

A relation schema R is said to be in 4NF if for every multivalued dependency X Y that holds over R,
one of following is true
? X is subset or equal to (or) XY = R.
? X is a super key.

50. What is 5NF?

A Relation schema R is said to be 5NF if for every join dependency {R1, R2... Rn} that holds R, one the
following is true
? Ri = R for some i.
? The join dependency is implied by the set of FD, over R in which the left side is key of R.

51. What is Domain-Key Normal Form?

A relation is said to be in DKNF if all constraints and dependencies that should hold on the constraint
can be enforced by simply enforcing the domain constraint and key constraint on the relation.

52. What are partial, alternate,, artificial, compound and natural key?
Partial Key:
It is a set of attributes that can uniquely identify weak entities and that are related to same owner entity.
It is sometime called as Discriminator.
Alternate Key:
All Candidate Keys excluding the Primary Key are known as Alternate Keys.
Artificial Key:
If no obvious key, either stand alone or compound is available, then the last resort is to simply create a
key, by assigning a unique number to each record or occurrence. Then this is known as developing an
artificial key.
Compound Key:
If no single data element uniquely identifies occurrences within a construct, then combining multiple
elements to create a unique identifier for the construct is known as creating a compound key.
Natural Key:
When one of the data elements stored within a construct is utilized as the primary key, then it is called
the natural key.

53. What is indexing and what are the different kinds of indexing?
Indexing is a technique for determining how quickly specific data can be found.
Types:
? Binary search style indexing
? B-Tree indexing
? Inverted list indexing
? Memory resident table
? Table indexing

54. What is system catalog or catalog relation? How is better known as?
A RDBMS maintains a description of all the data that it contains, information about every relation and
index that it contains. This information is stored in a collection of relations maintained by the system
called metadata. It is also called data dictionary.

55. What is meant by query optimization?

The phase that identifies an efficient execution plan for evaluating a query that has the least estimated
cost is referred to as query optimization.

56. What is join dependency and inclusion dependency?

Join Dependency:
A Join dependency is generalization of multivalued dependency. A JD {R1, R2, ..., Rn} is said to hold
over a relation R if R1, R2, R3, ..., Rn is a lossless-join decomposition of R . There is no set of sound
and complete inference rules for JD.
Inclusion Dependency:
An Inclusion Dependency is a statement of the form that some columns of a relation are contained in
other columns. A foreign key constraint is an example of inclusion dependency.

57. What is durability in DBMS?

Once the DBMS informs the user that a transaction has successfully completed, its effects should persist
even if the system crashes before all its changes are reflected on disk. This property is called durability.

58. What do you mean by atomicity and aggregation?

Atomicity:
Either all actions are carried out or none are. Users should not have to worry about the effect of
incomplete transactions. DBMS ensures this by undoing the actions of incomplete transactions.
Aggregation:
A concept which is used to model a relationship between a collection of entities and relationships. It is
used when we need to express a relationship among relationships.

59. What is a Phantom Deadlock?

In distributed deadlock detection, the delay in propagating local information might cause the deadlock
detection algorithms to identify deadlocks that do not really exist. Such situations are called phantom
deadlocks and they lead to unnecessary aborts.

60. What is a checkpoint and when does it occur?

A Checkpoint is like a snapshot of the DBMS state. By taking checkpoints, the DBMS can reduce the
amount of work to be done during restart in the event of subsequent crashes.
61. What are the different phases of transaction?
Different phases are
? Analysis phase
? Redo Phase
? Undo phase

62. What do you mean by flat file database?

It is a database in which there are no programs or user access languages. It has no cross-file capabilities
but is user-friendly and provides user-interface management.

63. What is "transparent DBMS"?

It is one, which keeps its Physical Structure hidden from user.

64. Brief theory of Network, Hierarchical schemas and their properties

Network schema uses a graph data structure to organize records example for such a database
management system is CTCG while a hierarchical schema uses a tree data structure example for such a
system is IMS.

65. What is a query?

A query with respect to DBMS relates to user commands that are used to interact with a data base. The
query language can be classified into data definition language and data manipulation language.

66. What do you mean by Correlated sub query?

Sub queries, or nested queries, are used to bring back a set of rows to be used by the parent query.
Depending on how the sub query is written, it can be executed once for the parent query or it can be
executed once for each row returned by the parent query. If the sub query is executed for each row of the
parent, this is called a correlated sub query.
A correlated sub query can be easily identified if it contains any references to the parent sub query
columns in its WHERE clause. Columns from the sub query cannot be referenced anywhere else in the
parent query. The following example demonstrates a non-correlated sub query.
E.g. Select * From CUST Where '10/03/1990' IN (Select ODATE from ORDER Where CUST.CNUM =
ORDER.CNUM)

67. What are the primitive operations common to all record management systems?
Addition, deletion and modification.

68. Name the buffer in which all the commands that are typed in are stored
? Edit? Buffer

69. What are the unary operations in Relational Algebra?

PROJECTION and SELECTION.

70. Are the resulting relations of PRODUCT and JOIN operation the same?
No.
PRODUCT: Concatenation of every row in one relation with every row in another.
JOIN: Concatenation of rows from one relation and related rows from another.

71. What is RDBMS KERNEL?

Two important pieces of RDBMS architecture are the kernel, which is the software, and the data
dictionary, which consists of the system-level data structures used by the kernel to manage the database
You might think of an RDBMS as an operating system (or set of subsystems), designed specifically for
controlling data access; its primary functions are storing, retrieving, and securing data. An RDBMS
maintains its own list of authorized users and their associated privileges; manages memory caches and
paging; controls locking for concurrent resource usage; dispatches and schedules user requests; and
manages space usage within its table-space structures
.
72. Name the sub-systems of a RDBMS
I/O, Security, Language Processing, Process Control, Storage Management, Logging and Recovery,
Distribution Control, Transaction Control, Memory Management, Lock Management

73. Which part of the RDBMS takes care of the data dictionary? How
Data dictionary is a set of tables and database objects that is stored in a special area of the database and
maintained exclusively by the kernel.

74. What is the job of the information stored in data-dictionary?

The information in the data dictionary validates the existence of the objects, provides access to them,
and maps the actual physical storage location.

75. not only RDBMS takes care of locating data it also

Determines an optimal access path to store or retrieve the data

76. How do you communicate with an RDBMS?

You communicate with an RDBMS using Structured Query Language (SQL)

77. Define SQL and state the differences between SQL and other conventional programming Languages
SQL is a nonprocedural language that is designed specifically for data access operations on normalized
relational database structures. The primary difference between SQL and other conventional
programming languages is that SQL statements specify what data operations should be performed rather
than how to perform them.

78. Name the three major set of files on disk that compose a database in Oracle
There are three major sets of files on disk that compose a database. All the files are binary. These are
? Database files
? Control files
? Redo logs
The most important of these are the database files where the actual data resides. The control files and the
redo logs support the functioning of the architecture itself.
All three sets of files must be present, open, and available to Oracle for any data on the database to be
useable. Without these files, you cannot access the database, and the database administrator might have
to recover some or the entire database using a backup, if there is one.

79. What is an Oracle Instance?

The Oracle system processes, also known as Oracle background processes, provide functions for the
user processes? Functions that would otherwise be done by the user processes themselves
Oracle database-wide system memory is known as the SGA, the system global area or shared global
area. The data and control structures in the SGA are shareable, and all the Oracle background processes
and user processes can use them.
The combination of the SGA and the Oracle background processes is known as an Oracle instance

80. What are the four Oracle system processes that must always be up and running for the database to be
useable
The four Oracle system processes that must always be up and running for the database to be useable
include DBWR (Database Writer), LGWR (Log Writer), SMON (System Monitor), and PMON (Process
Monitor).
81. What are database files, control files and log files? How many of these files should a database have
at least? Why?
Database Files
The database files hold the actual data and are typically the largest in size. Depending on their sizes, the
tables (and other objects) for all the user accounts can go in one database file? But that's not an ideal
situation because it does not make the database structure very flexible for controlling access to storage
for different users, putting the database on different disk drives, or backing up and restoring just part of
the database.
You must have at least one database file but usually, more than one file are used. In terms of accessing
and using the data in the tables and other objects, the number (or location) of the files is immaterial.
The database files are fixed in size and never grow bigger than the size at which they were created
Control Files
The control files and redo logs support the rest of the architecture. Any database must have at least one
control file, although you typically have more than one to guard against loss. The control file records the
name of the database, the date and time it was created, the location of the database and redoes logs, and
the synchronization information to ensure that all three sets of files are always in step. Every time you
add a new database or redo log file to the database, the information is recorded in the control files.
Redo Logs
Any database must have at least two redo logs. These are the journals for the database; the redo logs
record all changes to the user objects or system objects. If any type of failure occurs, the changes
recorded in the redo logs can be used to bring the database to a consistent state without losing any
committed transactions. In the case of non-data loss failure, Oracle can apply the information in the redo
logs automatically without intervention from the DBA.
The redo log files are fixed in size and never grow dynamically from the size at which they were
created.

82. What is ROWID?

The ROWID is a unique database-wide physical address for every row on every table. Once assigned
(when the row is first inserted into the database), it never changes until the row is deleted or the table is
dropped.
The ROWID consists of the following three components, the combination of which uniquely identifies
the physical storage location of the row.
? Oracle database file number, which contains the block with the rows
? Oracle block address, which contains the row
? The row within the block (because each block can hold many rows)
The ROWID is used internally in indexes as a quick means of retrieving rows with a particular key
value. Application developers also use it in SQL statements as a quick way to access a row once they
know the ROWID

83. What is Oracle Block? Can two Oracle Blocks have the same address?
Oracle "formats" the database files into a number of Oracle blocks when they are first created? Making
it easier for the RDBMS software to manage the files and easier to read data into the memory areas.
The block size should be a multiple of the operating system block size. Regardless of the block size, the
entire block is not available for holding data; Oracle takes up some space to manage the contents of the
block. This block header has a minimum size, but it can grow.
These Oracle blocks are the smallest unit of storage. Increasing the Oracle block size can improve
performance, but it should be done only when the database is first created.
Each Oracle block is numbered sequentially for each database file starting at 1. Two blocks can have the
same block address if they are in different database files.

84. What is database Trigger?

A database trigger is a PL/SQL block that can defined to automatically execute for insert, update, and
delete statements against a table. The trigger can e defined to execute once for the entire statement or
once for every row that is inserted, updated, or deleted. For any one table, there are twelve events for
which you can define database triggers. A database trigger can call database procedures that are also
written in PL/SQL.

85. Name two utilities that Oracle provides, which are use for backup and recovery.
Along with the RDBMS software, Oracle provides two utilities that you can use to back up and restore
the database. These utilities are Export and Import.
The Export utility dumps the definitions and data for the specified part of the database to an operating
system binary file. The Import utility reads the file produced by an export, recreates the definitions of
objects, and inserts the data
If Export and Import are used as a means of backing up and recovering the database, all the changes
made to the database cannot be recovered since the export was performed. The best you can do is
recover the database to the time when the export was last performed.

86. What are stored-procedures? And what are the advantages of using them.
Stored procedures are database objects that perform a user defined operation. A stored procedure can
have a set of compound SQL statements. A stored procedure executes the SQL commands and returns
the result to the client. Stored procedures are used to reduce network traffic.

87. How are exceptions handled in PL/SQL? Give some of the internal exceptions' name
PL/SQL exception handling is a mechanism for dealing with run-time errors encountered during
procedure execution. Use of this mechanism enables execution to continue if the error is not severe
enough to cause procedure termination.
The exception handler must be defined within a subprogram specification. Errors cause the program to
raise an exception with a transfer of control to the exception-handler block. After the exception handler
executes, control returns to the block in which the handler was defined. If there are no more executable
statements in the block, control returns to the caller.
User-Defined Exceptions
PL/SQL enables the user to define exception handlers in the declarations area of subprogram
specifications. User accomplishes this by naming an exception as in the following example:
Ot_failure EXCEPTION;
In this case, the exception name is ot_failure. Code associated with this handler is written in the
EXCEPTION specification area as follows:
EXCEPTION
When OT_FAILURE then
out_status_code:= g_out_status_code;
out_most:= g_out_msg;
The following is an example of a subprogram exception:
EXCEPTION
When NO_DATA_FOUND then
g_out_status_code:= 'FAIL';
RAISE ot_failure;
Within this exception is the RAISE statement that transfers control back to the ot_failure exception
handler. This technique of raising the exception is used to invoke all user-defined exceptions.
System-Defined Exceptions
Exceptions internal to PL/SQL are raised automatically upon error. NO_DATA_FOUND is a system-
defined exception. Table below gives a complete list of internal exceptions.

PL/SQL internal exceptions.

PL/SQL internal exceptions.

Exception Name Oracle Error

CURSOR_ALREADY_OPEN ORA-06511
DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX ORA-00001
INVALID_CURSOR ORA-01001
INVALID_NUMBER ORA-01722
LOGIN_DENIED ORA-01017
NO_DATA_FOUND ORA-01403
NOT_LOGGED_ON ORA-01012
PROGRAM_ERROR ORA-06501
STORAGE_ERROR ORA-06500
TIMEOUT_ON_RESOURCE ORA-00051
TOO_MANY_ROWS ORA-01422
TRANSACTION_BACKED_OUT ORA-00061
VALUE_ERROR ORA-06502
ZERO_DIVIDE ORA-01476

In addition to this list of exceptions, there is a catch-all exception named OTHERS that traps all errors
for which specific error handling has not been established.

88. Does PL/SQL support "overloading"? Explain

The concept of overloading in PL/SQL relates to the idea that you can define procedures and functions
with the same name. PL/SQL does not look only at the referenced name, however, to resolve a
procedure or function call. The count and data types of formal parameters are also considered.
PL/SQL also attempts to resolve any procedure or function calls in locally defined packages before
looking at globally defined packages or internal functions. To further ensure calling the proper
procedure, you can use the dot notation. Prefacing a procedure or function name with the package name
fully qualifies any procedure or function reference.

89. Tables derived from the ERD

a) Are totally UN normalized
b) Are always in 1NF
c) Can be further denormalized
d) May have multi-valued attributes

(b) Are always in 1NF

90. Spurious tuples may occur due to

i. Bad normalization
ii. Theta joins
iii. Updating tables from join
a) i & ii b) ii & iii
c) i & iii

90) Define Union All operator and Union.

Full recordings of two tables is Union All operator.A distinct recording of two tables is Union.

91) Define cursor.

A database object which helps in manipulating data row by row representing a result set is called cursor.
92) Enlist the cursor types.

They are:

• Dynamic: it reflects changes while scrolling.

• Static: doesn’t reflect changes while scrolling and works on recording of snapshot.
• Keyset: data modification without reflection of new data is seen.

93) Enlist the types of cursor.

They types of cursor are:

• Implicit cursor: Declared automatically as soon as the execution of SQL takes place without the
awareness of the user.
• Explicit cursor: Defined by PL/ SQL which handles query in more than one row.

94) Define sub-query.

A query contained by a query is called Sub-query.

95) Why is group-clause used?

Group-clause uses aggregate values to be derived by collecting similar data.

96) Compare Non-clustered and clustered index

Both having B-tree structure, non-clustered index has data pointers enabling one table many non-
clustered indexes while clustered index is distinct for every table.

100) Define Aggregate functions.

Functions which operate against a collection of values and returning single value is called aggregate
functions

101) Define Scalar functions.

Scalar function is depended on the argument given and returns sole value.

102) What restrictions can you apply when you are creating views?

Restrictions that are applied are:

• Only the current database can have views.

• You are not liable to change any computed value in any particular view.
• Integrity constants decide the functionality of INSERT and DELETE.
• Full-text index definitions cannot be applied.
• Temporary views cannot be created.
• Temporary tables cannot contain views.
• No association with DEFAULT definitions.
• Triggers such as INSTEAD OF is associated with views.

103) Define “correlated subqueries”.

A ‘correlated subquery’ is a sort of sub query but correlated subquery is reliant on another query for a
value that is returned. In case of execution, the sub query is executed first and then the correlated query.

104) Define Data Warehousing.

Storage and access of data from the central location in order to take some strategic decision is called
Data Warehousing. Enterprise management is used for managing the information whose framework is
known as Data Warehousing.

105) Define Join and enlist its types.

Joins help in explaining the relation between different tables. They also enable you to select data with
relation to data in another table.

The various types are:

• INNER JOINs: Blank rows are left in the middle while more than equal to two tables are joined.
• OUTER JOINs: Divided into Left Outer Join and Right Outer Join. Blank rows are left at the
specified side by joining tables in other side.

Other joins are CROSS JOINs, NATURAL JOINs, EQUI JOIN and NON-EQUI JOIN.

106) What do you mean by Index hunting?

Indexes help in improving the speed as well as the query performance of database. The procedure of
boosting the collection of indexes is named as Index hunting.

107) How does Index hunting help in improving query performance?

Index hunting helps in improving the speed as well as the query performance of database. The followed
measures are achieved to do that:

• The query optimizer is used to coordinate the study of queries with the workload and the best use
of queries suggested based on this.
• Index, query distribution along with their performance is observed to check the effect.
• Tuning databases to a small collection of problem queries is also recommended.

108) Enlist the disadvantages of query.

The disadvantages of query are:

• No indexes
• Stored procedures are excessively compiled.
• Triggers and procedures are without SET NOCOUNT ON.
• Complicated joins making up inadequately written query.
• Cursors and temporary tables showcase a bad presentation.

109) Enlist ways to efficiently code transactions.

Ways to efficiently code transactions:

• User input should not be allowed while transactions.

• While browsing, transactions must not be opened of data.
 • Transactions must be kept as small as possible.
• Lower transaction segregation levels.
• Least information of data must be accessed while transacting.

110) What is Executive Plan?

Executive plan can be defined as:

• SQL Server caches collected procedure or the plan of query execution and used thereafter by
subsequent calls.
• An important feature in relation to performance enhancement.
• Data execution plan can be viewed textually or graphically.

111) Define B-trees.

A data structure in the form of tree which stores sorted data and searches, insertions, sequential access
and deletions are allowed in logarithmic time.

112) Differentiate Table Scan from Index Scan.

Iterating over all the table rows is called Table Scan while iterating over all the index items is defined as
Index Scan.

113) What do you mean by Fill Factor concept with respect to indexes?

Fill Factor can be defined as being that value which defines the percentage of left space on every leaf-
level page that is to be packed with data. 100 is the default value of Fill Factor.

114) Define Fragmentation.

Fragmentation can be defined as a database feature of server that promotes control on data which is
stored at table level by the user.

115) Differentiate Nested Loop, Hash Join and Merge Join.

Nested loop (loop over loop)

An outer loop within an inner loop is formed consisting of fewer entries and then for individual entry,
inner loop is individually processed.

E.g.

• Select col1.*, col2.* from coll, col2 where coll.col1=col2.col2;

It’s processing takes place in this way:

For i in (select * from col1) loop

For j in (select * from col2 where col2=i.col1) loop
Results are displayed;
End of the loop;
End of the loop;

The Steps of nested loop are:

 • Identify outer (driving) table
• Assign inner (driven) table to outer table.
• For every row of outer table, access the rows of inner table.

Nested Loops is executed from the inner to the outer as:

• outer_loop
• inner_loop
• Hash join

While joining large tables, the use of Hash Join is preferred.

Algorithm of Hash Join is divided into:

• Build: It is a hash table having in-memory which is present on the smaller table.
• Probe: this hash value of the hash table is applicable for each second row element.
• Sort merge join

Two independent sources of data are joined in sort merge join. They performance is better as compared
to nested loop when the data volume is big enough but it is not good as hash joins generally.The full
operation can be divided into parts of two:

Sort join operation :

Get first row R1 from input1

Get first row R2 from input2.

Merge join operation:

‘while’ is not present at either loop’s end.

if R1 joins with R2
next row is got R2 from the input 2
return (R1, R2)
else if R1 < style=””> next row is got from R1 from input 1
else
next row is got from R2 from input 2
end of the loop

116) What is Database partitioning?

Division of logical database into independent complete units for improving its management, availability
and performance is called Database partitioning.

117) Explain the importance of partitioning.

Splitting of one table which is large into smaller database entities logically is called database
partitioning. Its benefits are:

• To improve query performance in situations dramatically when mostly rows which are heavily
accessed are in one partition.
• Accessing large parts of a single partition
• Slower and cheaper storage media can be used for data which is seldom used.
118) Define Database system.

DBMS along with database is called Database system.

119) What do you mean by Query Evaluation Engine?

Query Evaluation Engine executes the low-level instructions that are generated by the compiler.

120) Define DDL Interpreter.

DDL statements are interpreted and recorded in tables called metadata.

121) Define Atomicity and Aggregation.

Atomicity: It’s an all or none concept which enables the user to be assured of incomplete transactions to
be taken care of. The actions involving incomplete transactions are left undone in DBMS.

Aggregation: The collected entities and their relationship are aggregated in this model. It is mainly used
in expressing relationships within relationships.

122) Enlist the various transaction phases.

The various transaction phases are:

• Analysis Phase.
• Redo Phase
• Undo Phase

123) Define Object-oriented model.

Compilations of objects make up this model in which values are stored within instance variables which
is inside the object. The object itself comprises bodies of object for its operation which are called
methods. Objects containing same kind of variables and methods are called classes.

124) Define Entity.

It can be defined as being a ‘thing’ with an independent existence in the real world.

125) What do you mean by Entity type?

A set of entries having similar attributes are entity types.

126) Define Entity Set.

Compilation of all entries of any particular type of entry in the database is called Entity Set.

127) What do you mean by Entity type extension?

Compilation of similar entity types into one particular type which is grouped together as an entity set.

128)Define Denormalization.

Boosting up database performance, adding of redundant data which in turn helps rid of complex
data is called denormalization.

129)Define DDL and DML.

Managing properties and attributes of database is called Data Definition Language(DDL).

Manipulating data in a database such as inserting, updating, deleting is defined as Data

Manipulation Language. (DML)

130)Enlist some commands of DDL.

They are:

CREATE:

Create is used in the CREATE TABLE statement. Syntax is:

CREATE TABLE [column name] ( [column definitions] ) [ table parameters]

ALTER:

It helps in modification of an existing object of database. Its syntax is:

ALTER objecttype objectname parameters.

DROP:

It destroys an existing database, index, table or view. Its syntax is:

DROP objecttype objectname.

131)Define Union All operator and Union.

Full recordings of two tables is Union All operator.

A distinct recording of two tables is Union.

132)Define cursor.

A database object which helps in manipulating data row by row representing a result set is called
cursor.

133)Enlist the cursor types.

They are:

• Dynamic: it reflects changes while scrolling.

• Static: doesn’t reflect changes while scrolling and works on recording of snapshot.
• Keyset: data modification without reflection of new data is seen.

134)Enlist the types of cursor.

They types of cursor are:

• Implicit cursor: Declared automatically as soon as the execution of SQL takes place without
the awareness of the user.
• Explicit cursor: Defined by PL/ SQL which handles query in more than one row.

135)Define sub-query.

A query contained by a query is called Sub-query.

136)Why is group-clause used?

Group-clause uses aggregate values to be derived by collecting similar data.

137)Compare Non-clustered and clustered index

Both having B-tree structure, non-clustered index has data pointers enabling one table many non-
clustered indexes while clustered index is distinct for every table.

138)Define Aggregate functions.

Functions which operate against a collection of values and returning single value is called aggregate
functions
139)Define Scalar functions.

Scalar function is depended on the argument given and returns sole value.

140)What restrictions can you apply when you are creating views?

Restrictions that are applied are:

• Only the current database can have views.

• You are not liable to change any computed value in any particular view.
• Integrity constants decide the functionality of INSERT and DELETE.
• Full-text index definitions cannot be applied.
• Temporary views cannot be created.
• Temporary tables cannot contain views.
• No association with DEFAULT definitions.
• Triggers such as INSTEAD OF is associated with views.

141) Define “correlated subqueries”.

A ‘correlated subquery’ is a sort of sub query but correlated subquery is reliant on another query
for a value that is returned. In case of execution, the sub query is executed first and then the
correlated query.

142) Define Data Warehousing.

Storage and access of data from the central location in order to take some strategic decision is
called Data Warehousing. Enterprise management is used for managing the information whose
framework is known as Data Warehousing.

143)Define Join and enlist its types.

Joins help in explaining the relation between different tables. They also enable you to select data
with relation to data in another table.

The various types are:

• INNER JOINs: Blank rows are left in the middle while more than equal to two tables
are joined.
• OUTER JOINs: Divided into Left Outer Join and Right Outer Join. Blank rows are left at
the specified side by joining tables in other side.

Other joins are CROSS JOINs, NATURAL JOINs, EQUI JOIN and NON-EQUI JOIN.

144)What do you mean by Index hunting?

Indexes help in improving the speed as well as the query performance of database. The procedure of
boosting the collection of indexes is named as Index hunting.
 Questions & Answers- MySQL

145)What is MySQL?

MySQL is an open source DBMS which is built, supported and distributed by MySQL AB
(now acquired by Oracle)

146)What are the technical features of MySQL?

MySQL database software is a client or server system which includes

• Multithreaded SQL server supporting various client programs and libraries

• Different backend
• Wide range of application programming interfaces and
• Administrative tools.

147)Why MySQL is used?

MySQL database server is reliable, fast and very easy to use. This software can be downloaded as
freeware and can be downloaded from the internet.

148)What are Heap tables?

HEAP tables are present in memory and they are used for high speed storage on temporary

basis.

• BLOB or TEXT fields are not allowed

• Only comparison operators can be used =, <,>, = >,=<

• AUTO_INCREMENT is not supported by HEAP tables

• Indexes should be NOT NULL

149)What is the default port for MySQL Server?

The default port for MySQL server is 3306.

150)What are the advantages of MySQL when compared with Oracle?

• MySQL is open source software which is available at any time and has no cost involved.
• MySQL is portable
• GUI with command prompt.
• Administration is supported using MySQL Query Browser
151)Difference between CHAR and VARCHAR?

Following are the differences between CHAR and VARCHAR:

• CHAR and VARCHAR types differ in storage and retrieval

• CHAR column length is fixed to the length that is declared while creating table. The length
value ranges from 1 and 255
• When CHAR values are stored then they are right padded using spaces to specific length.
Trailing spaces are removed when CHAR values are retrieved.

152)Give string types available for column?

The string types are:

• SET
• BLOB
• ENUM
• CHAR
• TEXT
• VARCHAR

153)How to get current MySQL version

SELECT VERSION ();

154)What are the drivers in MySQL?

• PHP Driver
• JDBC Driver
• ODBC Driver
• C WRAPPER
• PYTHON Driver
• PERL Driver
• RUBY Driver
• CAP11PHP Driver
• Ado.net5.mxj

155)What does a TIMESTAMP do on UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP data type?

TIMESTAMP column is updated with Zero when the table is created. UPDATE
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP modifier updates the timestamp field to current time whenever there is
a change in other fields of the table.

156)What is the difference between primary key and candidate key?

Every row of a table is identified uniquely by primary key. There is only one primary key for a
table.

Primary Key is also a candidate key. By common convention, candidate key can be designated as
primary and which can be used for any foreign key references.

157)What, if a table has one column defined as TIMESTAMP?

Timestamp field gets the current timestamp whenever the row gets altered.
158)What happens when the column is set to AUTO INCREMENT and if you reach
maximum value in the table?

It stops incrementing. Any further inserts are going to produce an error, since the key has been used
already.

159)How can we find out which auto increment was assigned on Last insert?

LAST_INSERT_ID will return the last value assigned by Auto_increment and it is not required
to specify the table name.

160)How can you see all indexes defined for a table?

Indexes are defined for the table by:

SHOW INDEX FROM <tablename>;

161)What do you mean by % and _ in the LIKE statement?

% corresponds to 0 or more characters, _ is exactly one character in the LIKE statement.

162)What is the difference between NOW() and CURRENT_DATE()?

NOW() command is used to show current year, month, date with hours, minutes and seconds
while CURRENT_DATE() shows the current year with month and date only.

163)What is a trigger in MySQL?

A trigger is a set of codes that executes in response to some events.

164)How many Triggers are possible in MySQL?

There are six Triggers allowed to use in MySQL database.

1. Before Insert
2. After Insert
3. Before Update
4. After Update
5. Before Delete
6. After Delete

165)What is the difference between TRUNCATE and DELETE in MySQL?

The DELETE command is used to delete data from a table. It only deletes the rows of data from
the table while, truncate is very dangerous command and should be used carefully because it
deletes every row permanently from a table.
 Questions & Answers- NoSQL

166)Compare NoSQL & RDBMS

Criteria NoSQL RDBMS

Data format Does not follow any order Organized and structured
Scalability Very Good Average
Querying Limited as no Join Clause Using SQL
Storage Key-Value Pair, document, Data & relationship stored in
mechanism column storage, etc. different tables

167)What is NoSQL?

NoSQL encompasses a wide variety of different database technologies that were developed in
response to a rise in the volume of data stored about users, objects and products. The frequency in
which this data is accessed, and performance and processing needs. Relational databases, on the
other hand, were not designed to cope with the scale and agility challenges that face modern
applications, nor were they built to take advantage of the cheap storage and processing power
available today.

168)What are the features of NoSQL?

When compared to relational databases, NoSQL databases are more scalable and provide superior
performance, and their data model addresses several issues that the relational model is not designed
to address:

• Large volumes of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data

• Agile sprints, quick iteration, and frequent code pushes
• Object-oriented programming that is easy to use and flexible
• Efficient, scale-out architecture instead of expensive, monolithic architecture

Questions & Answers- MongoDB

170)Explain what is MongoDB?

Mongo-DB is a document database which provides high performance, high availability and easy
scalability.

171) What is “Namespace” in MongoDB?

MongoDB stores BSON (Binary Interchange and Structure Object Notation) objects in the
collection. The concatenation of the collection name and database name is called a namespace.
 172) What is sharding in MongoDB?

The procedure of storing data records across multiple machines is referred as Sharding. It is a
MongoDB approach to meet the demands of data growth. It is the horizontal partition of data in a
database or search engine. Each partition is referred as shard or database shard.

173) How can you see the connection used by Mongos?

To see the connection used by Mongos use db_adminCommand (“connPoolStats”);

174) Explain what is a replica set?

A replica set is a group of mongo instances that host the same data set. In replica set, one node is
primary, and another is secondary. From primary to the secondary node all data replicates.

175) How replication works in MongoDB?

Across multiple servers, the process of synchronizing data is known as replication. It provides
redundancy and increase data availability with multiple copies of data on different database
server. Replication helps in protecting the database from the loss of a single server.

176)While creating Schema in MongoDB what are the points need to be taken
in consideration?

Points need to be taken in consideration are

a. Design your schema according to user requirements

b. Combine objects into one document if you use them together. Otherwise, separate them
c. Do joins while write, and not when it is on read
d. For most frequent use cases optimize your schema
e. Do complex aggregation in the schema

177) What is the syntax to create a collection and to drop a collection in MongoDB?

a. Syntax to create collection in MongoDB is db.createCollection(name,options)

b. Syntax to drop collection in MongoDB is db.collection.drop()

178) Explain what is the role of profiler in MongoDB?

MongoDB database profiler shows performance characteristics of each operation against the
database. You can find queries using the profiler that are slower than they should be.

179)Explain can you move old files in the moveChunk directory?

Yes, it is possible to move old files in the moveChunk directory, during normal shard balancing
operations these files are made as backups and can be deleted once the operations are done.

180)To do safe backups what is the feature in MongoDB that you can use?

Journaling is the feature in MongoDB that you can use to do safe backups.
 181)Mention what is Objecld composed of?

Objectld is composed of

a. Timestamp
b. Client machine ID
c. Client process ID
d. 3 byte incremented counter

182)Mention what is the command syntax for inserting a document?

For inserting a document command syntax is database.collection.insert (document).

183)Mention how you can inspect the source code of a function?

To inspect a source code of a function, without any parentheses, the function must be invoked.

184)What is the command syntax that tells you whether you are on the master server or not? And
how many master does MongoDB allow?

Command syntax Db.isMaster() will tell you whether you are on the master server or not. MongoDB
allows only one master server, while couchDB allows multiple masters.

185)Mention the command syntax that is used to view Mongo is using the link?

The command syntax that is used to view mongo is using the link is
db._adminCommand(“connPoolStats.”)

186)Explain what are indexes in MongoDB?

Indexes are special structures in MongoDB, which stores a small portion of the data set in an easy to traverse
form. Ordered by the value of the field specified in the index, the index stores the value of a specific field or set
of fields.

187)Mention what is the basic syntax to use index in MongoDB?

The basic syntax to use in MongoDB is >db.COLLECTION_NAME.ensureIndex ( {KEY:1} ). In here the key
is the the name of the COLUMN (or KEY:VALUE pair) which is present in the documents.

188)Explain what is GridFS in MongoDB?

For storing and retrieving large files such as images, video files and audio files GridFS is used. By default, it uses
two files fs.files and fs.chunks to store the file’s metadata and the chunks.

189)What are alternatives to MongoDB?

Cassandra, CouchDB, Redis, Riak, Hbase are a few good alternatives.

190)What is a transaction?

A transaction is a logical unit of database processing that includes one or moredatabase access
operations.
 191)What are the different phases of Transaction?

Analysis phase

Redo phase Undo

phase

192)What is “transparent dbms”?

It is one, which keeps its physical structure hidden from user.

193)What are the primitive operations common to all record managementSystem?

Addition, deletion and modification.

194)Explain the differences between structured data and unstructureddata.

Structured data are facts concerning objects and events. The most importantstructured data are
numeric, character, and dates.

Structured data are stored in tabular form. Unstructured data are multimedia data such as documents,
photographs, maps, images, sound, and video clips. Unstructureddata are most commonly found on Web servers
and Web-enabled databases.

195)What are the major functions of the database administrator?

Managing database structure, controlling concurrent processing, managing processing rights and
responsibilities, developing database security, providing fordatabase recovery, managing the DBMS and
maintaining the data repository.

196)What is a dependency graph?

A dependency graph is a diagram that is used to portray the connections betweendatabase elements.

197)Explain the difference between an exclusive lock and a shared lock?

An exclusive lock prohibits other users from reading the locked resource; a sharedlock allows other users to
read the locked resource, but they cannot update it.

198)Explain the "paradigm mismatch" between SQL and applicationprogramming languages.

SQL statements return a set of rows, while an application program works on one rowat a time. To resolve this
mismatch the results of SQL statements are processed as pseudofiles, using a cursor or pointer to specify which
row is being processed.

199)Name four applications for triggers.

(1)Providing default values, (2) enforcing data constraints,

(3) Updating views and (4) enforcing referential integrity

200)What are the advantages of using stored procedures?

The advantages of stored procedures are (1) greater security, (2) decreased network traffic, (3) the fact that SQL
can be optimized and (4) code sharing which leads to lesswork, standardized processing, and specialization among
developers.

201)Explain the difference between attributes and identifiers.

Entities have attributes. Attributes are properties that describe the entity's characteristics. Entity instances have
identifiers. Identifiers are attributes that name,or identify, entity instances.

202)What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and what kind of adatabase is used in an ERP
application?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an information system used in manufacturingcompanies and includes
sales, inventory, production planning, purchasing and otherbusiness functions. An ERP system typically uses a
multiuser database.

203)Describe the difference between embedded and dynamic SQL?

Embedded SQL is the process of including hard coded SQL statements. These statements do not change unless
the source code is modified. Dynamic SQL is the process of generating SQL on the fly.The statements
generated do not have to be thesame each time.

204)Explain a join between tables

A join allows tables to be linked to other tables when a relationship between the tablesexists. The relationships are
established by using a common column in the tables andoften uses the primary/foreign key relationship.
 205)Describe a subquery.

A subquery is a query that is composed of two queries. The first query (inner query) iswithin the WHERE clause of
the other query (outer query).

206)Compare a hierarchical and network database model?

The hierarchical model is a top-down structure where each parent may have many children but each child can
have only one parent. This model supports one-to-one andone-to-many relationships.

The network model can be much more flexible than the hierarchical model since eachparent can have multiple
children but each child can also have multiple parents. This model supports one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-
to-many relationships.

207)Explain the difference between a dynamic and materialized view.

A dynamic view may be created every time that a specific view is requested by a user.A materialized view is
created and or updated infrequently and it must be synchronized with its associated base table(s).

208)Explain what needs to happen to convert a relation to third normalform.

First you must verify that a relation is in both first normal form and second normal form. If the relation is not, you
must convert into second normal form. After a relationis in second normal form, you must remove all transitive
dependencies.
 209)Describe the four types of indexes?

A unique primary index is unique and is used to find and store a row. A nonunique primary index is not unique
and is used to find a row but also where to store a row (based on its unique primary index). A unique secondary
index is unique for each rowand used to find table rows. A nonunique secondary index is not unique and used to
find table rows.

210)Explain minimum and maximum cardinality?

Minimum cardinality is the minimum number of instances of an entity that can be associated with each instance
of another entity. Maximum cardinality is the maximum number of instances of an entity that can be associated
with each instanceof another entity.

211)What is deadlock? How can it be avoided? How can it be resolved onceit occurs?

Deadlock occurs when two transactions are each waiting on a resource that the othertransaction holds. Deadlock
can be prevented by requiring transactions to acquire alllocks at the same time; once it occurs, the only way to
cure it is to abort one of the transactions and back out of partially completed work.

212)Explain what we mean by an ACID transaction.

An ACID transaction is one that is atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable. Durable means that database changes
are permanent. Consistency can mean either statement level or transaction level consistency. With transaction level
consistency, a transactionmay not see its own changes.Atomic means it is performed as a unit.
 213)Under what conditions should indexes be used?

Indexes can be created to enforce uniqueness, to facilitate sorting, and to enable fastretrieval by column values.
A good candidate for an index is a column that is frequently used with equal conditions in WHERE clauses.

214)What is difference between SQL and SQL SERVER?

SQL is a language that provides an interface to RDBMS, developed by IBM. SQLSERVER is a RDBMS just like
Oracle, DB2.

215)What is Specialization?

It is the process of defining a set of subclasses of an entity type where each subclasscontain all the attributes and
relationships of the parent entity and may have additional attributes and relationships which are specific to itself.

216)What is generalization?

It is the process of finding common attributes and relations of a number of entitiesand defining a common
super class for them.

217)What is meant by Proactive, Retroactive and Simultaneous Update?

Proactive Update: The updates that are applied to database before it becomeseffective in real world.

Retroactive Update: The updates that are applied to database after it becomes
effective in real world.

Simultaneous Update: The updates that are applied to database at the same timewhen it becomes effective in
real world.

218)What is RAID Technology?

Redundant array of inexpensive (or independent) disks. The main goal of raid technology is to even out the
widely different rates of performance improvement ofdisks against those in memory and microprocessor.
Raid technology employs the technique of data striping to achieve higher transfer rates.

219)What are serial, non serial schedule?

A schedule S is serial if, for every transaction T participating in the schedule, all theoperations of T is executed
consecutively in the schedule, otherwise, the schedule iscalled non-serial schedule.

220)What are conflict serializable schedules?

A schedule S of n transactions is serializable if it is equivalent to some serial scheduleof the same n transactions.

221)What is view serializable?

A schedule is said to be view serializable if it is view equivalent with some serialschedule.

222)What is a foreign key?

A key of a relation schema is called as a foreign key if it is the primary key ofsome other relation to
which it is related to.
 223)What are the disadvantages of using a dbms?

1) High initial investments in h/w, s/w, and training.

2) Generality that a DBMS provides for defining and processing data.
3) Overhead for providing security, concurrency control, recovery, and
integrityfunctions.

224)What is Lossless join property?

It guarantees that the spurious tuple generation does not occur with respect to
relation schemas after decomposition.

225)What is a Phantom Deadlock?

In distributed deadlock detection, the delay in propagating local information might
cause the deadlock detection algorithms to identify deadlocks that do not really exist.
Such situations are called phantom deadlocks and they lead to unnecessary aborts.

226)What is a checkpoint and When does it occur?

A Checkpoint is like a snapshot of the DBMS state. By taking checkpoints, the DBMS
can reduce the amount of work to be done during restart in the event of subsequent
crashes.

227)What is schema?
The description of a data base is called the database schema , which is specified during
database design and is not expected to change frequently . A displayed schemais called
schema diagram .We call each object in the schema as schema construct.

----------------------0Ooooooo00000-------------------------------------