DBMS Lab Viva Questions

Q1. What are the differences between a DBMS and RDBMS?

DBMS RDBMS
Provides an organized way of managing,
Provides the same as that of DBMS, but
retrieving, and storing from a collection of
it provides relational integrity
logically related information

Q2. Explain the terms database and DBMS. Also, mention the different
types of DBMS.

A software application that interacts with databases, applications, and users to

capture and analyze the required data. The data stored in the database can be
retrieved, deleted and modified based on the client’s requirement.

The different types of DBMS are as follows:

• Relational DBMS (RDBMS): This type of DBMS, uses a structure which

allows the users to access data in relation to another piece of data in a
database. In this type of DBMS, data is stored in the form of tables.
• Hierarchical DBMS: As the name suggests, this type of DBMS has a
structure similar to that of a tree, wherein the nodes represent records and the
branches of the tree represent fields.
• Network DBMS: This type of DBMS supports many-to-many relations
wherein multiple member records can be linked.
• Object-oriented DBMS: Uses small individual software called object to store
pieces of data and the instructions for the actions to be done with the data.

Q3. What are the advantages of DBMS?

The advantages of DBMS are as follows:

• Sharing of Data: Multiple users can use data from the same database
simultaneously.
• Integrity constraints: These constraints allow the data to be stored in a
database in a refined manner.
• Redundancy control: Supports a mechanism to control the redundancy of
data by integrating all the data into a single database.
• Data Independence: Allows to change the structure of the data without
affecting the structure of any of the running application programs.
• Provide backup and recovery facility: Provides a feature of ‘backup and
recovery’ to automatically create the data backup and restore the data as and
when required.

Q4. Mention the different languages present in DBMS

The different languages present in DBMS are as follows:

• DDL(Data Definition Language) – Consists of commands which are used to

define the database.
• DML(Data Manipulation Language) – Consists of commands which are
used to manipulate the data present in the database.
• DCL(Data Control Language) – Consists of commands which deal with the
user permissions and controls of the database system.
• TCL(Transaction Control Language) – Consist of commands which deal
with the transaction of the database.

Q5. What do you understand by query optimization?

Query optimization is the phase that identifies a plan for evaluation query that has
the least estimated cost. This phase comes into the picture when there are a lot of
algorithms and methods to execute the same task.

The advantages of query optimization are as follows:

• The output is provided faster

• A larger number of queries can be executed in less time
• Reduces time and space complexity

Q6. Do we consider NULL values the same as that of blank space or

zero?

A NULL value is not at all same as that of zero or a blank space. The NULL value
represents a value which is unavailable, unknown, assigned or not applicable
whereas zero is a number and blank space is a character.

Q7. What do you understand by aggregation and atomicity?

Aggregation Atomicity
This property states that a database
This is a feature of the E-R model which modification must either follow all the
allows a relationship set to participate in rules or nothing at all. So, if one part of
another relationship set. the transaction fails, then the entire
transaction fails.
Q8. What are the different levels of abstraction in the DBMS?

There are three levels of data abstraction in DBMS. They are:

• Physical Level: It is the lowest level of abstraction and describes how the
data is stored.
• Logical Level: This is the next level of abstraction after the Physical level.
This layer determines what data is stored in the database, and what is the
relationship between the data points.
• View Level: The View Level is the highest level of abstraction and it
describes only a part of the entire database.
Q9. What is an entity-relationship model?

It is a diagrammatic approach to database design, where you represent real-world

objects as entities and mention relationships between them. This approach helps the
team of DBAs’ to understand the schema easily.

Q10. What do you understand by the terms Entity, Entity Type, and
Entity Set in DBMS?

• Entity: An entity is a real-world object having attributes, which are nothing but
characteristics of that particular object. For example, an employee can be an
entity. This particular entity can have attributes such as empid, empname, etc.
• Entity Type: Entity type is nothing but a collection of entities, having the
same attributes. Generally, an entity type refers to one or more related tables
in a particular database. So, you can understand, entity type as a
characteristic which uniquely identifies the entity. For example, An employee
can have attributes such as empid, empname, department, etc.
• Entity Set: An entity set is the collection of all the entities of a particular entity
type in a database. For example, a set of employees, a set of companies, and
a set of people can come under an entity set.

Q11. What are relationships and mention different types of

relationships in the DBMS

A relationship in DBMS is the scenario where two entities are related to each other.
In such a scenario, the table consisting of foreign key references to that of a primary
key of the other table.

The different types of relationships in DBMS are as follows:

• One-to-One Relationship – Used when a single row in Table A is related to

a single row in Table B.
• One-to-Many Relationship – Used when a single row in Table A is related to
many rows in table B.
• Many-to-Many Relationship – Used when many rows in table A can be
related to many rows in table B.
• Self -Referencing Relationship – Used when a record in table A is related to
the same table itself.

Q12. What is concurrency control?

This is a process of managing simultaneous operations in a database so that

database integrity is not compromised. The following are the two approaches
involved in concurrency control:

• Optimistic approach – Involves versioning

• Pessimistic approach – Involves locking

Q13. What are the ACID properties in DBMS?

ACID stands for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability. It is used to ensure that
the data transactions are processed reliably in a database system.

• Atomicity: Atomicity refers to those transactions which are completely

successful or failed. Here each transaction refers to a single logical operation
of a data. So, even if one part of any transaction fails, the entire transaction
fails and the database state is left unchanged.
• Consistency: Consistency ensures that the data must meet all the validation
rules. In simple words, you can say that your transaction never leaves the
database without completing its state.
• Isolation: The main goal of isolation is concurrency control.
• Durability: Durability means that if a transaction has been committed, it will
occur whatever may be the scenario.

Q14. What is normalization and what are the different types of

normalization?

The process of organizing data to avoid any duplication of data and redundancy is
known as Normalization. There are many successive levels of normalization which
are known as normal forms. Each consecutive normal form depends on the
previous one. The following are the first three normal forms. Apart from these, you
have higher normal forms such as BCNF.

• First Normal Form (1NF) – No repeating groups within rows

• Second Normal Form (2NF) – Every non-key (supporting) column value is
dependent on the whole primary key.
• Third Normal Form (3NF) – Dependent solely on the primary key and no
other non-key (supporting) column value.

Q15. What are the different types of keys in the database?

There are mainly 7 types of Keys, that can be considered in a database. I am going
to consider the below tables to explain to you the various keys.
 Fig 1: Different Types of Keys in Database – DBMS Interview Questions

• Candidate Key – This is a set of attributes which can uniquely identify a

table. Each table can have more than a candidate key. Apart from this, out of
all the candidate keys, one key can be chosen as the Primary key. In the
above example, since CustomerID and PanNumber can uniquely identify
every tuple, they would be considered as a Candidate Key.
• Super Key – This is a set of attributes which can uniquely identify a tuple. So,
a candidate key, primary key, and a unique key is a superkey, but vice-versa
isn’t true.
• Primary Key – This is a set of attributes which are used to uniquely identify
every tuple. In the above example, since CustomerID and PanNumber are
candidate keys, any one of them can be chosen as a Primary Key. Here
CustomerID is chosen as the primary key.
• Unique Key – The unique key is similar to the primary key, but allows NULL
values in the column. Here the PanNumber can be considered as a unique
key.
• Alternate Key – Alternate Keys are the candidate keys, which are not chosen
as a Primary key. From the above example, the alternate key is PanNumber
• Foreign Key – An attribute that can only take the values present as the
values of some other attribute, is the foreign key to the attribute to which it
refers. in the above example, the CustomerID from the Customers Table is
referred to the CustomerID from the Customer_Payment Table.
• Composite Key – A composite key is a combination of two or more columns
that identify each tuple uniquely. Here, the CustomerID and Date_of_Payment
can be grouped together to uniquely identify every tuple in the table.
Q16. What do you understand by correlated subqueries in DBMS?

A correlated subquery is also a sort of subquery reliant on another query. So, when
subqueries are executed for each of the rows of outer queries, then they are termed
as correlated subqueries. Each subquery is executed a single time for every row of
the outer query.

You can also understand correlated subqueries as those queries, which are used for
row-by-row processing by the parent statement. Here, the parent statement can be
SELECT, UPDATE or DELETE statement.

Q17. Explain Database partitioning and its importance.

Data partitioning is the process of dividing a logical database into independent units
for the betterment of availability, performance, and manageability.

The importance of database partitioning is as follows:

• Enables you to access large parts of a specific partition

• Cheap and slower storage can be used to store data
• Improves query performance

Q18. What do you understand by functional dependency and

transitive dependency in DBMS?

Functional Dependency: A functional dependency is a constraint that is used in

describing the relationship among different attributes in a relation.

Example: Consider a relation “A1” having attributes X and Y. The functional

dependency among these two attributes will be X -> Y, this implies that Y is
functionally dependent on X.

Transitive Dependency: A transitive dependency is a constraint that can only occur

in a relation of three or more attributes.

Example: Consider a relation “A1” having attributes X, Y and Z. Now, X->Z is said to
hold transitive dependency, only if the following functional dependencies holds true:

• X -> Y
• Y doesn’t ->X
• Y -> Z

Q19. What is the difference between two and three-tier architectures?

Two-tier architecture Three-tier architecture

This is similar to the client-server This architecture contains an extra layer
architecture. between the client and the server.
Clients directly communicate with the Clients communicate with an
database at the server-side application(GUI) on the server-side, that
 makes the system more secure and
accessible. This application thereafter
communicates with the database system.

Fig 2: Two-Tier vs Three-Tier Architecture – DBMS Interview Questions

Q20. Mention the differences between Unique Key and Primary Key

Unique Key Primary Key

The primary key cannot have a NULL
Unique Key can have a NULL value
value
Each table can have more than one
Each table can have only one primary key
unique key
Q21. What is a checkpoint in DBMS and when does it occur?

A checkpoint is a mechanism where all the previous logs are removed from the
system and are permanently stored on the storage disk. So, basically, checkpoints
are those points from where the transaction log record can be used to recover all the
committed data up to the point of crash.

Q22. Mention the differences between Trigger and Stored Procedures

Triggers Stored Procedures

A special kind of stored procedure that is A group of SQL statements which can be
not called directly by a user. In fact, a reused again and again. These
trigger is created and is programmed to statements are created and stored in the
fire when a specific event occurs. database.
A trigger cannot be called
or execute directly by a user. Only when Can execute stored procedures by using
the corresponding events are fired, the exec command, whenever we want.
triggers are created.
You can schedule a job to execute the
You cannot schedule a trigger.
stored procedure on a pre-defined time.
Cannot directly call another trigger within Call a stored procedure
a trigger. from another stored procedure.
Parameters cannot be passed as input Parameters can be passed as input
Cannot return values. Can return zero or n values.
Transactions are not allowed within a You can use transactions within a stored
trigger. procedure.
Q23. What are the differences between Hash join, Merge join and
Nested loops?

Hash join Merge join Nested loops

Merge join is used when
The hash join is used The nested loop consists of
projections of the joined
when you have to join an outer loop and an inner
tables are sorted on the join
large tables. loop.
columns.

Q24. What do you understand by Proactive, Retroactive and

Simultaneous Update?

• Proactive Update: These updates are applied to the database before it

becomes effective in the real-world environment.
• Retroactive Update: These retroactive updates are applied to a database
after it becomes effective in the real-world environment.
• Simultaneous Update: These updates are applied to the database at the
same instance of time as it becomes effective in a real-world environment.

Q25. What are indexes? Mention the differences between the

clustered and non-clustered index

Indexes are data structures responsible for improving the speed of data retrieval
operations on a table. This data structure uses more storage space to maintain extra
copies of data by using additional writes. So, indexes are mainly used for searching
algorithms, where you wish to retrieve data in a quick manner.

The differences between clustered and non-clustered index are as follows:

Clustered Index Non-clustered Index

A clustered index is faster Non clustered index is relatively slower
Does not alter the way it was stored but it
Alters the way records are stored in a
creates a separate object within a table
database as it sorts out rows by the
which points back to the original table
column which is set to be clustered index
rows after searching
One table can only have one clustered One table can only have many non
index clustered indexes
Q26. What do you understand by intension and extension?

Intension: Intension or most commonly known as Database schema defines the

description of the database. This is specified during the database design and mostly
remains unchanged.

Extension: Extension is the number of tuples available in the database at any

instance of time. This value keeps changing as and when the tuples are created,
updated and destroyed. So, the data present in the database at a specific instance of
time is known as the extension of the database or most commonly known as the
snapshot of the database.
Q27. What do you understand by cursor? Mention the different types
of cursor

A cursor is a database object which helps in manipulating data, row by row and
represents a result set.

The types of cursor are as follows:

• Implicit cursor: This type of cursor is declared automatically as soon as the

execution of SQL takes place. Here, the user is not indicated about the
declaration of the cursor.
• Explicit cursor: This type of cursor is defined by the PL/ SQL, as it handles a
query in more than a single row.

Q28. Explain the terms specialization and generalization

• Specialization: Specialization is a process of defining a set of subclasses of

the entity type. Here, each subclass will contain all the attributes and
relationships of the parent entity. Apart from this, the subclasses may contain
additional attributes and relationships specific to itself.
• Generalization: Generalization is a process of finding relations, common
attributes for a particular set of entities; and finally defining a common
superclass for them.

Q29. What do you understand by Data Independence?

When you say an application has data independence, it implies that the application is
independent of the storage structure and data access strategies of data.

Q30. What are the different integrity rules present in the DBMS?

The different integrity rules present in DBMS are as follows:

• Entity Integrity: This rule states that the value of the primary key can never
be NULL. So, all the tuples in the column identified as the primary key should
have a value.
• Referential Integrity: This rule states that either the value of the foreign key
is NULL or it should be the primary key of any other relation.

Q31. What does Fill Factor concept mean with respect to indexes?

Fill Factor is used to mention the percentage of space left on every leaf-level page,
which is packed with data. Usually, the default value is 100.

Q32. What is Index hunting and how does it help in improving query
performance?
The process of boosting a collection of indexes is known as Index hunting. This is
done as indexes improve the query performance and the speed at which they are
processed.

It helps in improving query performance in the following way:

• The best queries are suggested using the query optimizer.

• Index, query distribution and their performance are used as metrics to check
the effect
• Databases are tuned into a small collection of problem queries.

Q33. What are the differences between network and hierarchical

database model?

Network Database Model Hierarchical Database Model

A top-down structure where each parent
Each parent node can have multiple node can have many child nodes. But, a
children nodes and vice versa. child node can have only a single parent
node.
Supports one-to-one, one-to-many, and Supports one-tone and one-to-many
many-to-many relationships relationships
Q34. Explain what is a deadlock and mention how it can be resolved?

Deadlock is a situation which occurs when two transactions wait on a resource which
is locked or other transaction holds. Deadlocks can be prevented by making all the
transactions acquire all the locks at the same instance of time. So, once deadlock
occurs, the only way to cure is to abort one of the transactions and remove the
partially completed work.

Q35. What are the differences between an exclusive lock and a shared
lock?

Exclusive Lock Shared Lock

An exclusive lock is a lock on a data item
A shared lock allows more than one
when a transaction is about to perform
transaction to read the data items.
the write operation.

Q36. What are the differences between DROP, TRUNCATE and

DELETE commands?

DROP TRUNCATE DELETE

Used to delete a database, Used to delete all rows Used to delete a row in the
table or a view from a table table
Data cannot be rollbacked Data cannot be rollbacked Data can be rollbacked
A DDL command A DDL command A DML command.
Slower than TRUNCATE Faster than DROP and Slower than TRUNCATE
 DELETE
Deletes the full structure of Preserves the structure of Deletes the structure of the
the table the table row from a table
Q2. What is SQL and where is it used?

SQL aka Structured Query Language is the core of the relational database which is
used for accessing and managing the databases. This language is used to
manipulate and retrieve data from a structured data format in the form of tables and
holds relationships between those tables. So, in layman terms, you can use SQL to
communicate with the database.

Q3. What do you understand by sub-queries in SQL?

A subquery is a query inside another query where a query is defined to retrieve data
or information back from the database. In a subquery, the outer query is called as
the main query whereas the inner query is called subquery. Subqueries are always
executed first and the result of the subquery is passed on to the main query. It can
be nested inside a SELECT, UPDATE or any other query. A subquery can also use
any comparison operators such as >,< or =.

Q4. Mention the differences between UNION and UNION ALL

UNION UNION ALL

Combines the result of two or more Combines the result set of two or more
SELECT statements consisting of distinct SELECT statements consisting of
values duplicate values
Syntax: UNION Syntax: UNION ALL
Has better performance than UNION, as
Has low performance than UNION ALL,
duplicate rows need not have to be
as duplicate rows need to be removed.
removed.
Q5. What do you understand by CLAUSE in SQL?

CLAUSE in SQL is used to limit the result set by mentioning a condition to the query.
So, you can use a CLAUSE to filter rows from the entire set of records.

Example: WHERE HAVING clause.

Q6. Mention the differences between HAVING and WHERE clause?

HAVING WHERE
Used only with SELECT statement Used in a GROUP BY clause
Used with the GROUP BY function in a Applied to each row before they are a
query part of the GROUP BY function in a query
Note: Whenever GROUP BY is not used, HAVING behaves like a WHERE clause.
Q7. How can you perform pattern matching in SQL?

You can perform pattern matching in SQL by using the LIKE operator. With the LIKE
operator, you can use the following symbols:

1. %(Percentage sign) – To match zero or more characters.

2. _ (Underscore) –To match exactly one character.

Example:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘s%’

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE CustomerName like ‘xyz_’

Q8. Mention few case manipulation functions in SQL

There are three case manipulation functions in SQL, namely:

LOWER: This function returns the string in lowercase. It takes a string as an

argument and returns it by converting it into lower case.

Syntax: LOWER(‘string’)

UPPER: This function returns the string in uppercase. It takes a string as an

argument and returns it by converting it into uppercase.

Syntax: UPPER(‘string’)
INITCAP: This function returns the string with the first letter in uppercase and the
rest of the letters in lowercase.

Syntax: INITCAP(‘string’)

Q9. What are joins in SQL and what are the different types of joins?

A JOIN clause is used to combine rows from two or more tables, based on a related
column between them. It is used to merge two tables or retrieve data from there.
There are 4 joins in SQL namely:

• Inner Join
• Right Join
• Left Join
• Full Join

Q10. What do you understand by the view and mention the steps to
create, update and drop a view?

A view in SQL is a single table, which is derived from other tables. So, a view
contains rows and columns similar to a real table and has fields from one or more
table.
To create a view, use the following syntax:

1 CREATE VIEW ViewName AS

2 SELECT Column1, Column2, ..., ColumnN
3 FROM TableName
WHERE Condition;
4
To update a view, use the following syntax:

1 CREATE VIEW OR REPLACE ViewName AS

2 SELECT Column1, Column2, ..., ColumnN
3 FROM TableName
WHERE Condition;
4
To drop a view, use the following syntax:

1 DROP VIEW ViewName;

Q1. Write a query to create a duplicate table with and without data
present?

Consider you have a table named Customers, having details such as CustomerID,
CustomerName and so on. Now, if you want to create a duplicate table named
‘DuplicateCustomer’ with the data present in it, you can mention the following query:

1 CREATE TABLE DuplicateCustomer AS SELECT * FROM Customers;

Similarly, if you want to create a duplicate table without the data present, mention the
following query:

1 CREATE TABLE DuplicateCustomer AS SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE 1=2;

Q2. Mention a query to calculate the even and odd records from a
table

To write a query to calculate the even and odd records from a table, you can write
two different queries by using the MOD function.

So, if you want to retrieve the even records from a table, you can write a query as
follows:

SELECT CustomerID FROM (SELECT rowno, CustomerID from Customers) where

1 mod(rowno,2)=0;
Similarly, if you want to retrieve the odd records from a table, you can write a query
as follows:

SELECT CustomerID FROM (SELECT rowno, CustomerID from Customers) where

1 mod(rowno,2)=1;
Q3. Write a query to remove duplicate rows from a table?

To remove duplicate rows from a table, you have to initially select the duplicate rows
from the table without using the DISTINCT keyword. So, to select the duplicate rows
from the table, you can write a query as follows:

1 SELECT CustomerNumber FROM Customers WHERE ROWID (SELECT MAX (rowid) FROM Cu
Now, to delete the duplicate records from the Customers table, mention the following
query:

DELETE FROM Customers WHERE ROWID(SELECT MAX (rowid) FROM Customers C WHERE
1 CustomerNumber = C.CustomerNumber);
Q4. Mention a query to add email validation to your database

Well, there are multiple ways to add email validation to your database, but one out
the lot is as follows:

SELECT Email FROM Customers WHERE NOT REGEXP_LIKE(Email, &lsquo;[A-Z0-9._%+-

1 ]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+.[A-Z]{2,4}&rsquo;, &lsquo;i&rsquo;);

Q5. Write a query to retrieve the last day of next month in Oracle.

To write a query to retrieve the last day of the next month in Oracle, you can write a
query as follows:

1 SELECT LAST_DAY (ADD_MONTHS (SYSDATE,1)) from dual;