282 Data Concepts

CHAPTER 13

DATABASE CONCEPTS

OBJECTIVES

 To understand the concept of database.

 Various terms used in database.
 To understand various data model.
 To understand how the keys are used in database
 Data warehouse and datamining.
Data Concepts 283

13.1 Introduction :
The large and complex data which are collected, entered, stored and accessed
based on the users needs are in the form of queries. Unique softwares are
developed and used, which are highly secured and complex. This chapter will
illustrate the database concepts.
Today the database is used everywhere and in all walks of life. The database
is becoming the backbone of all the softwares from standalone, client-server,on-
line, mainframe, supercomputers etc. For exam pl e use in business,
government agency, service organization etc. Wherever the data and information
is required, there the database software is used and the results are presented in
the form of reports or graphical representation, which are easier for
understanding, so that furture activities can be carried out based on these reports.
One of the area where database is used can be schools; for example. The Fees
payment software. The basic requirements for new student admission are Name,
student id, admission no, father name, class, section, amount, date of entry into
the school are entered and saved. Some of the activities can be admission fees/
annual fees, monthly fees, late payment etc., created and the respective reports
are generated.
DATABASE
 284 Data Concepts

13.2 APPLICATION OF DATABASE:

Databases are widely used. Here are some representative applications:
1. Banking: For customer information, accounts, and loans, and banking
transactions.
2. Water meter billing : The RR number and all the details are stored in
the database and connected to the server based works.
3. Rail and Airlines: For reservations and schedule information. Airlines
were among the first to use databases in a geographically distributed
manner terminals situated around the world accessed the central
database system through phone lines and other data networks.
4. Colleges : For student information, course registrations, and grades.
5. Credit card transactions: For purchases on credit cards and generation
of monthly statements.
6. Telecommunication: For keeping records of calls made, generating
monthly bills, maintaining balances on prepaid calling cards, and storing
information about the communication networks.
7. Finance: For storing information about holdings, sales, and purchases
of financial instruments such as stocks and bonds.
8. Sales: For customer, product, and purchase information.
9. Manufacturing: For management of supply chain and for tracking
production of items in factories, inventories of items in warehouses/
stores, and orders for items.
10.Human resources: For information about employees recruitment, salaries,
payroll taxes and benefits, and for generation of paychecks.

13.3 Origin of data

The fact is something that is really occurred or is actually the case. The
things that are happening and happened in real form or virtual form are
considered to be fact. The fact is pursued by sense organs.

Data: Data is a collection of facts, figures, statistics, which can be

processed to produce meaningful information.

The process of converting fact to data will be the first task, for any person
in database concepts. The human intervention is mandatory for converting from
fact to data form. The data may be in the form of letters, numbers, symbols,
images, sound, video etc. The origin of fact can be from the organization/within
or outside organization or any part of universe. For example the marks obtained
by the student in the exam is 80, 80 is the fact, on the marks card the 80
entered will be in numberic symbols which is data.
Data Concepts 285

The different forms of data and its representation is illustrated. One such form
is sound represented using musical notes (software generated), these notes is
stored in the form of bytes in the sound file(software digitized). In the
hardware data is stored in the form of bits.

Fig. 13.1 Different forms of data

Information: Information is processed data with some definite mean-
ing. Information represents facts, figures, or statistics, which have proper
meaning.

For example, in the marks card of the student total marks, percentage
and the result are processed data known as the information.

13.4 Evolution of Database - Manual File systems

Historically, When the file management came into existence, such systems
were often manual, paper-and-pencil systems. The papers within these systems
were organized to facilitate the expected use of the data. Typically, this was
accomplished through a system of file folders and filing cabinets. As long as a
collection of data was relatively small and an organization’s users had few reporting
requirements, the manual system served its role well as a data repository.
However, as organizations grew and as reporting requirements became more
complex, keeping track of data in a manual file system became more difficult.
Therefore, companies looked to computer technology for help.
 286 Data Concepts

Computerized File systems

Initially, the computer files within the file system were similar to the manual
files. The description of computer files requires a specialized vocabulary.
Every discipline develops its own terminology to enable its practitioners to
communicate clearly.
Differences between Manual and Computerized data processing

Manual Data processing Computerized Electronic Data

processing
The Volume of the data, which can be The volume of data which can be
processed, is limited in a desirable time. processed can be very large.
Manual data processing requires large Reasonable less amount of paper is
quantity of paper used.
The speed and accuracy at which the job The job executed is faster and
is executed is limited. Accurate.
Labour cost is high. Labour cost is economical.
Storage medium is paper Storage medium is Secondary
storage medium.

13.5 DATA PROCESSING CYCLE

The way information is processed in a computer information management system.

The information processing cycle consists of five specific steps:

1. Data input– This is any kind of data- letters, numbers, symbols, shapes,
images or whatever raw material put into the computer system that needs
processing. Input data is put into the computer using a keyboard, mouse or
other devices such as the scanner, microphone and the digital camera. In general
data must be converted to computer understandable form (English to machine
code by the input devices).

2. Data processing – The processing is a series of actions or operations from the

input data to generate outputs. some of the operations are classification based
on some condition, calculation, sorting, indexing, accessing data, extracting
part of filed/attribute, substring etc., convertion of data into information by the
central processing unit. For example; when the computer adds 4+4=8 that is an
act of processing.

3. Storage - Data and information not currently being used must be stored so it
can be accessed later. There are two types of storage; primary and secondary
storage. Primary storage is the computer circuitry that temporarily holds data
Data Concepts 287

waiting to be processed (RAM) and it is inside the computer. Secondary storage

is where data is held permanently. A floppy disk, hard disk or CD- ROM is
examples of this kind of
DATAPROCESSINGCYCLE storage.

4 . O u t p u t – T h e
result(information)
obtained after processing
the data must be
presented to the user in
user understandable form.
The result may be in form
of reports(hardcopy/
softcopy). Some of the
output can be animated
Fig. 13.2 Data Processing cycle
with sound and video/
picture.

5. Communication – Computers nowadays have communication ability which

increases their power. With wired or wireless communication connections, data
may be input from afar, processed in a remote area and stored in several different
places and then be transmitted by modem as an e-mail or posted to the website
where the online services are rendered.
13.6 Database terms :

File : File is basic unit of storage in computer system. The file is the large
collection of related data.

Database: A Database is a collection of logically related data organized in a way

that data can be easily accessed, managed and updated.
Tables : In Relational database, a table is a collection of data elements orga-
nized in terms of rows and columns. A table is also considered as convenient
representation of relations. Table is the most simplest form of data storage.
Below is an example : Employee table
Emp_ID NAME AGE SALARY
1 RAJAPPA 43 45000.00
2 ALEX 37 56444.00
Table : Employee, 3 RAMESH 55 56000.00
Columns :Emp_Id,NAME,AGE,SALARY 4 IMRAN 28 60000.00
Rows :There are four rows. Fig 13.3 Table with rows and columns
 288 Data Concepts

Fig 13.4 Different database terms

Fig 13.5 Single persons details

Records: A single entry in a table is called a Record or Row. A Record in a
table represents set of related data. Following is an example of single record.
Tuple :Records are also called the tuple.
Fields : Each Columns is identified by a distinct header called attribute or field
Domain :Set of values for an attribute in that column.
An Entity is an object such as a table or Form An Entity Relationship is how
each table link to each other
13.7 Data types of DBMS(Data types in DBMS)
1. Integer – Hold whole number without fractions.
2. Single and double precision – Seven significant value for a number.
3. Logical data type-Store data that has only two values true or false.
4. Characters – Include letter, number, spaces, symbols and punctuation.
Characters fields or variables store text information like name, address, but
size will be one byte.
5. Strings – Sequence of character more than one. Fixed length is 0 to 63Kb and
dynamic strings length range from 0 to 2 billion characters.
6. Memo data type – Store more than 255 characters. A memo fields can store
up to 65536 characters. Long documents can store OLE objects.
7. Index fields –Used to store relevant information along with the documents.
The document input to an index field is used to find those documents when
needed. The programs provides up to 25 user definable index fields in an index
set. Name drop-down look-up list, Standard, auto-complete History list.
8. Currency fields – The currency field accepts data in dollar form by default.
9. Date fields -The date fields accepts data entered in date format.
10. Text fields – Accepts data as an alpha-numeric text string.
Data Concepts 289

13.8 DBMS-DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A DBMS is a software that allows creation,

definition and manipulation of database. DBMS is
actually a tool used to perform any kind of
operation on data in database. DBMS also provides
protection and security to database. It maintains
data consistency in case of multiple users. Here
are some examples of popular DBMS, MySql,
Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft Access and IBM DB2 etc.

The primary goal of a DBMS is to provide a way to store and retrieve database
information that is both convenient and efficient.

Features of Database System

Database approach came into existence due to the overcome of the drawbacks of
file processing system. In the database approach, the data is stored at a central
location and is shared among multiple users. Thus, the main advantage of DBMS
is centralized data management. The
centralized nature of database system
provides several advantages, which overcome
the limitations of the conventional file
processing system. These advantages are
listed here.
 Controlled data redundancy: During
database design, various files are integrated
and each logical data item is stored at central
location. This eliminates
replicating(duplication) the data item in
Fig 13.6 Features of DBMS different files, and ensures consistency and
saves the storage space. Note that the redundancy in the database systems
cannot be eliminated completely as there could be some performance and
technical reasons for having some amount of redundancy. However, the DBMS
should be capable of controlling this redundancy in order to avoid data
inconsistencies.
 Enforcing data integrity: In database approach, enforcing data integrity is
much easier. Data integrity refers to the validity of data and it can be compromised
 290 Data Concepts

in a number of ways. Data integrity constraints can be enforced automatically

by the DBMS, and others may have to be checked by the application programs.
 Data sharing: The data stored in the database can be shared among multiple
users or application programs. Moreover, new applications can be developed to
use the same stored data. Due to shared data, it is possible to satisfy the data
requirements of the new applications without having to create any additional
data or with minimal modification.
 Ease of application development: The application programmer needs to
develop the application programs according to the users’ needs. The other issues
like concurrent access, security, data integrity, etc., are handled by the RDBMS
itself. This makes the application development an easier task.
 Data security: Since the data is stored centrally, enforcing security constraints
is much easier. The RDBMS ensures that the only means of access to the database
is through an authorized channel only. Hence, data security checks can be
carried out whenever access is attempted to sensitive data. To ensure security, a
RDBMS provides security tools such as user codes and passwords. Different
checks can be established for each type of access (addition, modification, deletion,
etc.) to each piece of information in the database.
 Multiple user interfaces: In order to meet the needs of various users having
different technical knowledge, DBMS provides different types of interfaces such
as query languages, application program interfaces, and graphical user interfaces
(GUI) that include forms-style and menu-driven interfaces. A form-style interface
displays a form to each user and user
interacts using these forms. In menu-
driven interface, the user interaction
is through lists of options known as
menus.
 Backup and recovery: The
RDBMS provides backup and
recovery subsystem that is responsible
for recovery from hardware and
software failures. For example, if the
Fig 13.7 Different Layers Database failure occurs in between the
transaction, the RDBMS recovery subsystem either reverts back the database to
the state which existed prior to the start of the transaction or resumes the
transaction from the point it was interrupted so that its complete effect can be
recorded in the database.
Data Concepts 291

Note : Why a Spreadsheet Is Not a Database

While a spreadsheet allows for the creation of multiple tables, it does not support
even the most basic data-base functionality such as support for
self-documentation through metadata, enforcement of data types or domains to
ensure consistency of data within a column, defined relationships among tables,
or constraints to ensure consistency of data across related tables. Most users
lack the necessary training to recognize the limitations of spreadsheets for these
types of tasks.

13.9 Data Abstraction

The DBMS architecture describes how data in the database is viewed by the
users. It is not concerned with how the data is handled and processed by the
RDBMS. The database users are provided with an abstract view of the data by
hiding certain details of how data is physically stored. This enables the users
to manipulate the data without worrying about where it is located or how it is
actually stored.
In this architecture, the overall database description can be defined at three
levels, namely, internal, conceptual, and external levels and thus, named three-
level RDBMS architecture. This architecture is proposed by ANSI/SPARC
(American National Standards Institute/Standards Planning and Requirements
Committee) and hence, is also known as ANSI/SPARC architecture.
· Internal level: Internal level is
the lowest level of data
abstraction that deals with the
physical representation of the
database on the computer and
thus, is also known as physical
level. It describes how the data
is physically stored and
organized on the storage
medium. At this level, various
aspects are considered to
achieve optimal runtime
performance and storage space
utilization. These aspects include
storage space allocation
techniques for data and indexes,
access paths such as indexes,

Fig 13.8 Different Levels of Database

 292 Data Concepts
data compression and encryption techniques, and record placement.
Conceptual level: This level of abstraction deals with the logical structure of the entire database
and thus, is also known as logical level. Conceptual level describes what data is stored in the
database, the relationships among the data and complete view of the user’s requirements without
any concern for the physical implementation. That is, it hides the complexity of physical storage
structures.
The conceptual view is the overall view of the database and it includes all the
information that is going to be represented in the database.
External level: External level is the highest level of abstraction that deals with
the user’s view of the database and thus, is also known as view level. In general,
most of the users and application programs do not require the entire data stored
in the database. The external level describes a part of the database for a particular
group of users. It permits users to access data in a way that is customized according
to their needs, so that the same data can be seen by different users in different
ways, at the same time. In this way, it provides a powerful and flexible security
mechanism by hiding the parts of the database from certain users, as the user is
not aware of existence of any attributes that are missing from the view.
DBMS users : The broad classification of dbms users are
1. Application programmers and system analysts: System analsysts determine
the requirement of end users; especially naive, parametric end users, and develop
specifications for transactions that meet these requirements.Application
programmers implement these parameters in programs.
2. End users : People who require access to the database for querying updating
and generating reports. The database exists primarily for/their use.
3. Database Administrator (DBA): DBA is responsible for authorization access to
the database for coordinating and
monitoring its use, and for
acquiring the needed software
and hardware resources.
4. Database designers: Database
designers are responsible for
identifying the data to be stored
in the database for choosing
appropriate structures to
represent and store the data.
Schema objects are database
objects that contain data or govern or perform operations on data.
Data Concepts 293

13.10 Data Independence:

Data Independence is an ability of a database to modify a schema definition at
one level without affecting a schema in the next higher level (the ability to change
the conceptual schema without affecting the external schemas or application
programs). Data independence occurs because when the schema is changed at
one level, the schema at next level remains unchanged and only the mapping
between the two levels is changed. Two types of data independence are:
1. Physical Data Independence. 2. Logical Data Independence

Fig 13.9 Data Independence

Physical Data independence
All schemas are logical and actual data is stored in bit format on the disk. Namely
storage medium: Hard disk (all the files will be stored), floppies, drum, tapes, SD
etc., System designs choose to organize, access and process records and files in
different ways depending on the type of application and the needs of users. The
three commonly used file organizations used in dbms/rdbms data processing
applications are sequential, direct and indexed sequential access method(ISAM).
The selection of a particular file organization depends upon the application used.
To access a record some key field or unique identifying value that is found in
every record in a file is used.

Serial File Organization : With serial file organization, records are arranged
one after another, in no particular order-other than, the chronological order in
which records are added to the file. Serial organization is commonly found in
the transaction data. Where records are created in a file in the order in which
transaction takes place. Serial file organization provides advantages like fast
 294 Data Concepts

access to next records in sequence, stored in economical storage media and

easy to do the file backup facility, updating is slowly in this file organization.

Sequential File organization : Records are stored one after another in an

ascending or descending order determined by the key field of the records.
Example payroll file, records are stored in the form of employee id. Sequentially
organized files that are processed by computer systems are normally stored on
storage media such as magnetic tape, punched cards, or magnetic disks. To
access these records the computer must read the file in sequence from the
beginning. The first record is read and processed first, then the second record in
the file sequence, and so on. To locate a particular record, the computer program
must read in each record in sequence and compare its key field to the one that
is needed. The retrieval search ends only when the desired key matches with
the key field of the currently read record. On an average, about half of the file
has to be searched to retrieve the desired record from a sequential file.

Fig 13.10 File organisation

Data Concepts 295

Random/Direct Access File Organization: Direct access file organization allow

immediate direct access to individual records on the file. The record are stored
and retrieved using a relative record number, which gives the position of the
record in the file. This type of organization also allows the file to accessed
sequentially. The primary storage in a CPU truly provides for direct access.
There are some devices outside the CPU which can provide the direct feature;the
direct access storage devices have the capability of directly reaching any location.
Although there are several types of storage devices including discs and other
mass storage.
Self(direct) Addressing: Under self-direct addressing, a record key is used as
its relative address. Therefore, anyone can compute the record’s address from
the record key and the physical address of the first record in the file.
Advantage is self-addressing no need to store an index.
Disadvantages are, the records must be of fixed length, if some records are
deleted the space remains empty.
Random access method : Records are stored on disk by using a hasing algorithm.
The key field is fed through hashing algorithm and a relative address is created.
This address gives the position on the disk where the record is to be stored. The
desired records can be directly accessed using randomizing procedure or hashing
without accessing all other records in the file. Randomizing procedure is
characterized by the fact that records are stored in such a way that there is no
relationship between the keys of the adjacent records. The technique provide for
converting the records key number to a physical location represented by a disk
address through a computational procedure.
Advantages : The access to, and retrieval of a records is quick and direct.
Transactions need not be stored and placed in sequence prior to processing
Best used for online transaction.
Disadvantages: Address generation overhead is involved for accessing each record
due to hashing function.
May be less efficient in the use of storage space than sequentially organized
files.
Indexed Sequential Access Method(ISAM): ISAM is the hybrid between
sequential and direct access file organization. The records within the file are
stored sequentially but direct access to individual records is possible through an
index. Indexing permit access to selected records without searching the entire
file.

Advantages: ISAM permits efficient and economical use of sequential processing

techniques when the activity ratio is high.
Permits direct access processing of records in a relatively efficient way when the
activity ratio is low.
 296 Data Concepts

Cylinder 1 track index Cylinder 2 track index

Cylinder Highest
Track Highest Track Highest
Record key
Record key Record key
in the cylinder
in the cylinder in the cylinder
1 84
1 84 1 95
2 250
2 250 2 110
3 398
3 398 3 175
4 479
4 479 4 250

Fig 13.11 Table describing ISAM

Disadvantages: Files must be stored in a direct-access storage device. Hence

relatively expensive hardware and software resources are required.
Access to records may be slower than direct file.
Less efficient in the use of storage space than some other alternatives.

Different types of Architecture

The design of a Database Management System highly depends on its architecture.

It can be centralized or decentralized or hierarchical. DBMS architecture can be
seen as single tier or multi-tier. N-tier architecture divides the whole system
into related but independent n modules, which can be independently modified,
altered, changed or replaced.
Database architecture is logically divided into three types.
1. Logical one-tier In 1-tier architecture,
2. Logical two-tier Client / Server architecture
3. Logical three-tier Client/Server architecture

Logical one-tier In 1-tier architecture

In 1-tier architecture, DBMS is the only entity where user directly sits on DBMS
and uses it. Any changes done
here will directly be done on
DBMS itself. It does not provide
handy tools for end users and
preferably database designer
and programmers use single
tier architecture.
Fig 13.12 Logical one tier
architecture
Data Concepts 297

Logical two-tier Client / Server architecture

Two-tier Client / Server Architecture

Two-tier Client / Server architecture is used for User Interface program and
Application Programs that runs on client side. An interface called ODBC (Open
Database Connectivity) provides an API that allows client side program to call
the DBMS. Most DBMS vendors provide ODBC drivers. A client program may
connect to several DBMS's. In this architecture some variation of client is also
possible for example in some DBMS's more functionality is transferred to the
client including data dictionary, optimization etc. Such clients are called Data
server.

Fig 13.13 2-Level Tier Architecture

 298 Data Concepts

Three-tier Client / Server Architecture

Three-tier Client / Server database architecture is commonly used architecture
for web applications. Intermediate layer called Application server or Web Server
stores the web connectivity software and the business logic (constraints) part of
application used to access the right amount of data from the database server.
This layer acts like medium for sending partially processed data between the
database server and the client.

Fig 13.14 3-Level Tier Architecture

 Database (Data) Tier: At this tier, only database resides. Database along with
its query processing languages sits in layer-3 of 3-tier architecture. It also
contains all relations and their constraints.
 Application (Middle) Tier: At this tier the application server and program,
which access database, resides. For a user this application tier works as
abstracted view of database. Users are unaware of any existence of database
beyond application. For database-tier, application tier is the user of it.
Database tier is not aware of any other user beyond application tier. This tier
works as mediator between the two.
 User (Presentation) Tier: An end user sits on this tier. From a users aspect
this tier is everything. He/she doesn't know about any existence or form of
database beyond this layer. At this layer multiple views of database can be
provided by the application. All views are generated by applications, which
reside in application tier. Multiple tier database architecture is highly
modifiable as almost all its components are independent and can be changed
independently.

13.11 Database Model

A database model or simply a data model is an abstract model that describes

how the data is represented and used. A data model consists of a set of data
Data Concepts 299

structures and conceptual tools that is used to describe the structure (data
types, relationships, and constraints) of a database.

A data model not only describes the structure of the data, it also defines a set
of operations that can be performed on the data. A data model generally
consists of data model theory, which is a formal description of how data may
be structured and used, and data model instance, which is a practical data
model designed for a particular application. The process of applying a data
model theory to create a data model instance is known as data modeling.

The main objective of database system is to highlight only the essential

features and to hide the storage and data organization details from the user.
This is known as data abstraction. A database model provides the necessary
means to achieve data abstraction.

A Database model defines the logical design of data. The model describes the
relationships between different parts of the data.
In history of database design, three models have been in use.
* Hierarchical Model
* Network Model
* Relational Model
13.11.1 Hierarchical Model

The hierarchical data model is the oldest type of data model, developed by IBM
in 1968. This data model organizes the data in a tree-like structure, in which
each child node (also known as dependents) can have only one parent node.
The database based on the hierarchical data model comprises a set of records
connected to one another through links. The link is an association between two
or more records. The top of the tree structure consists of a single node that does
not have any parent and is called the root node.

The root may have any number of dependents; each of these dependents may
have any number of lower level dependents. Each child node can have only one
parent node and a parent node can have any number of (many) child nodes. It,
therefore, represents only one-to-one and one-to-many relationships. The
collection of same type of records is known as a record type.

For simplicity, only few fields of each record type are shown. One complete
record of each record type represents a node.
 300 Data Concepts

In this model each entity has only one parent but can have several children . At
the top of hierarchy there is only one entity which is called Root.
Hierarchical Model Example

Fig 13.15 Hierarchical Model

Advantage Dis-advantage

The hierarchical data model is that The main drawback of this model is
the data access is quite predictable that the links are ‘hard coded’ into
in the structure and, therefore, both the data structure, that is, the link is
the retrieval and updates can be permanently established and cannot
highly optimized by the DBMS. be modified. The hard coding makes
the hierarchical model rigid. In
addition, the physical links make it
difficult to expand or modify the
database and the changes require
substantial redesigning efforts.

13.11.2 Network Model

The first specification of network data model was presented by Conference on

Data Systems Languages (CODASYL) in 1969, followed by the second specification
in 1971. It is powerful but complicated. In a network model the data is also
represented by a collection of records, and relationships among data are
represented by links. However, the link in a network data model represents an
association between precisely two records. Like hierarchical data model, each
record of a particular record type represents a node. However, unlike hierarchical
data model, all the nodes are linked to each other without any hierarchy. The
main difference between hierarchical and network data model is that in
Data Concepts 301

hierarchical data model, the data is organized in the form of trees and in network
data model, the data is organized in the form of graphs.
In the network model, entities are organized in a graph, in which some
entities can be accessed through several path

Fig 13.16 Network Model of database

Network Model of database

Advantage Dis-advantage

The network data model is that a The network data model is that it
parent node can have many child can be quite complicated to maintain
nodes and a child can also have all the links and a single broken link
many parent nodes. Thus, the can lead to problems in the
network model permits the modeling database. In addition, since there are
of many-to-many relationships in no restrictions on the number of
data. relationships, the database design
can become complex.

13.11.3 Relational Model

The relational data model was developed by E. F. Codd in 1970. In the relational
data model, unlike the hierarchical and network models, there are no physical
links. All data is maintained in the form of tables (generally, known as relations)
consisting of rows and columns. Each row (record) represents an entity and a
column (field) represents an attribute of the entity. The relationship between
the two tables is implemented through a common attribute in the tables and not
by physical links or pointers. This makes the querying much easier in a relational
database system than in the hierarchical or network database systems. Thus,
 302 Data Concepts

the relational model has become more programmer friendly and much more
dominant and popular in both industrial and academic scenarios. Oracle, Sybase,
DB2, Ingres, Informix, MS-SQL Server are few of the popular relational DBMSs.

In this model, data is organized in two-dimensional tables called relations. The

tables or relation are related to each other.
Relational Model of database

Fig 13.17 Relational Model of database

Basic Rules for the Realational Datamodel
13.12 Codd’s Rule
E.F Codd was a Computer Scientist who invented Relational model for Database
management. Based on relational model, Relation database was created. Codd
proposed 13 rules popularly known as Codd’s 12 rules to test DBMS’s concept
against his relational model. Codd’s rule actually define what quality a DBMS
requires in order to become a Relational Database Management System(RDBMS).
Till now, there is hardly any commercial product that follows all the 13 Codd’s
rules. Even Oracle follows only eight and half out(8.5) of 13. The Codd’s 12 rules
are as follows.
Rule zero
This rule states that for a system to qualify as an RDBMS, it must be
able to manage database entirely through the relational capabilities.
Rule 1 : Information rule
All information(including meta-deta) is to be represented as stored data
in cells of tables. The rows and columns have to be strictly unordered.
Rule 2 : Guaranteed Access
Each unique piece of data(atomic value) should be accessible by :
Table Name + primary key(Row) + Attribute(column).
NOTE : Ability to directly access via POINTER is a violation of this rule.
Rule 3 : Systemetic treatment of NULL
Data Concepts 303

Rule 3 : Systemetic treatment of NULL

Null has several meanings, it can mean missing data, not applicable or
no value. It should be handled consistently. Primary key must not be
null. Expression on NULL must give null.
Rule 4 : Active Online Catalog
Database dictionary(catalog) must have description of Database.
Catalog to be governed by same rule as rest of the database. The same
query language to be used on catalog as on application database.
Rule 5 : Powerful language
One well defined language must be there to provide all manners of access
to data. Example: SQL. If a file supporting table can be accessed by any
manner except SQL interface, then its a violation to this rule.
Rule 6 : View Updation rule
All view that are theoretically updatable should be updatable by the system.
Rule 7 : Relational Level Operation
There must be Insert, Delete, Update operations at each level of relations. Set
operation like Union, Intersection and minus should also be supported.
Rule 8 : Physical Data Independence
The physical storage of data should not matter to the system. If say, some file
supporting table were renamed or moved from one disk to another, it should
not effect the application.
Rule 9 : Logical Data Independence
If there is change in the logical structure(table structures) of the database the
user view of data should not change. Say, if a table is split into two tables, a
new view should give result as the join of the two tables. This rule is most
difficult to satisfy.
Rule 10 : Integrity Independence
The database should be able to con-force its own integrity rather than using
other programs. Key and Check constraints, trigger etc should be stored in
Data Dictionary. This also make *RDBMS* independent of front-end.
Rule 11 : Distribution Independence
A database should work properly regardless of its distribution across a
network. This lays foundation of distributed database.
Rule 12 : Non-subversion rule
If low level access is allowed to a system it should not be able to subvert or
bypass integrity rule to change data. This can be achieved by some sort of
looking or encryption.
 304 Data Concepts

13.13 Logical database concepts : Normalization, Entities, attributes, relations

13.13.1 Normalization Rule: Normalization is the process of organizing data in
a database. This includes creating tables and establishing relationships between
those tables according to rules designed both to protect the data and to make
the database more flexible by eliminating redundancy and inconsistent
dependency.
There are a few rules for database normalization. Each rule is called a “normal
form.” If the first rule is observed, the database is said to be in “first normal
form.” If the first three rules are observed, the database is considered to be in
“third normal form.” Although other levels of normalization are possible, third
normal form is considered the highest level necessary for most applications.
As with many formal rules and specifications, real world scenarios do not always
allow for perfect compliance. In general, normalization requires additional tables
and some customers find this cumbersome. If you decide to violate one of the
first three rules of normalization, make sure that your application anticipates
any problems that could occur, such as redundant data and inconsistent
dependencies.
Normalization rule are divided into following normal form.
1. First Normal Form
2. Second Normal Form
3. Third Normal Form
4. BCNF
First Normal Form (1NF)
A row of data cannot contain repeating group of data i.e each column must have
a unique value. Each row of data must have a unique identifier i.e *Primary key*.
For example consider a table which is not in First normal form
Student Table :

You can clearly see here that student name Daryl is used twice in the table and
subject *maths* is also repeated. This violates the *First Normal form*. To reduce
above table to *First Normal form* break the table into two different tables
Data Concepts 305

*New Student Table :*

S _id S _N am e S _S u b ject
401 D aryl M ath s
402 R am esh P h ysics
403 R ak sh an a M ath s
404 N ak sh atria C om p u ter S cien ce
*Subject Table :*
Fig 13.18 1NF Student table with S-id,S_name,S_subject

Suject_id S_id S_Subject

35 401 Maths
35 401 Maths
33 403 Physics
34 404 Chemistry
41 405 Computer Science

In Student table concatenation of subject_id and student_id is the Primary key.

Now both the Student table and Subject table are normalized to first normal
form

Second Normal Form (2NF)

A table to be normalized to Second Normal Form should meet all the needs of
First Normal Form and there must not be any partial dependency of any column
on primary key. It means that for a table that has concatenated primary key,
each column in the table that is not part of the primary key must depend upon
the entire concatenated key for its existence. If any column depends only on
one part of the concatenated key, then the table fails Second normal form. For
example, consider a table which is not in Second normal form.

Library Table : Fig 13.19 Student table with 1NF rule rewritten
Library_id S_Name Issue_id Issue_name Book_detail
101 RAMU 10 Rakesh C++
102 RAMU 11 Rakesh Java
103 Zama 12 Gopal MATHS
104 SATISH 13 Gopal MATHS

In Library table concatenation of Library_id and issue_id is the primary key.

This table is in First Normal form but not in Second Normal form because there
are partial dependencies of columns on primary key. S_Name is only dependent
on Library_id, Issue_name is dependent on Issue_id and there is no link between
Book_detail and S_name.
 306 Data Concepts

To reduce Library table to Second Normal form break the table into
following three different tables.
Library_id S_Name
Library_id S_Name
101 RAMU
102 RAMU
103 Zama
104 SATISH

Issue_Detail Table :

Issue_id Issue_name
10 Rakesh
11 Rakesh
12 Gopal
13 Gopal

Book_Detail Table :

Library_id Issue_id Book_detail

101 10 C++
102 11 Java
103 12 MATHS
104 13 MATHS

Now all these three table comply with Second Normal form.
Library_id S_Name Issue_Detail Table :

Library_id S_Name Issue_id Issue_name

101 RAMU 10 Rakesh
102 RAMU 11 Rakesh
103 Zama 12 Gopal
104 SATISH 13 Gopal
Book_Detail Table :
Library_id Issue_id Book_detail
101 10 C++
102 11 Java
103 12 MATHS
104 13 MATHS

Fig 13.20 2NF Library Tablewith primary key and Issue key
Data Concepts 307

Now all these three table comply with Second Normal form.

Third Normal Form (3NF)

Third Normal form applies that every non-prime attribute of table must be
dependent on primary key. The transitive functional dependencyshould be
removed from the table. The table must be in Second Normal form.
For example, consider a table with following fields.

Student_Detail Table :

Student_id Student_name DOB Street city State Pin

In this table Student_id is Primary key, but street, city and state depends upon
pin. The dependency between pin and other fields is called transitive dependency.
Hence to apply 3NF, we need to move the street, city and state to new table, with
pin as primary key.

New Student_Detail Table :

Student_id Student_name DOB pin

Address Table :

pin Street city state

The advantage of removing transitive dependency is,

* Amount of data duplication is reduced.

* Data integrity achieved.

Boyce and Codd Normal Form (BCNF)

BCNF is a higher version of the Third Normal form. This form deals with certain
type of anamoly that is not handled by 3NF. A 3NF table which does not have
multiple overlapping candidate keys is said to be in BCNF.
 When a relation has more than one candidate key, anomalies may result
even though the relation is in 3NF.

 3NF does not deal satisfactorily with the case of a relation with overlapping
candidate keys

 i.e. composite candidate keys with at least one attribute in common.

 308 Data Concepts

 BCNF is based on the concept of a determinant.

 A determinant is any attribute (simple or composite) on which some other

attribute is fully functionally dependent.

 A relation is in BCNF is, and only if, every determinant is a candidate key.

Consider the following relation and determinants.

R(a,b,c,d)

a,c -> b,d

a,d -> b

Here, the first determinant suggests that the primary key of R could be changed
from a,b to a,c. If this change was done all of the non-key attributes present in
R could still be determined, and therefore this change is legal. However, the
second determinant indicates that a,d determines b, but a,d could not be the
key of R as a,d does not determine all of the non key attributes of R (it does not
determine c). We would say that the first determinate is a candidate key, but the
second determinant is not a candidate key, and thus this relation is not in
BCNF (but is in 3rd normal form).
„A relation R(X) is in Boyce–Codd Normal Form if for every non-trivial functional
dependency Y->Z defined on it, Y contains a key K of R(X). That is, Y is a
superkey for R(X).

13.13.2 Entity-Relationship Diagram

ER-Diagram is a visual representation of data that describes how data is
related to each other.

Fig 13.21 Entity-Relationship Symbols

Data Concepts 309

Components of E-R Diagram

The E-R diagram has three main components.

1) Entity

An Entity can be any object, place, person or class. In E-R Diagram, an entity is
represented using rectangles. Consider an example of an Organization.
Employee, Manager, Department, Product and many more can

be taken as entities from an Organization.

Entity In E-R Diagram

Fig 13.22 Entity and example

Weak entity is an entity that depends on
another entity. Weak entity doen’t have key
attribute of their own. Double rectangle
represents weak entity.
Fig 13.23 Entity with loan and payment

2) Attribute

An Attribute describes a property or characteristic of an entity. For

example, Name, Age, Address etc. can be attributes of a Student. An attribute is
represented using eclipse.
Attribute
A ttrib u te A ttrib u te ex a m p le

Fig 13.24 Attribute with example

 310 Data Concepts

Key Attribute Key attribute

represents the main characteristic
of an Entity. It is used to represent
Primary key. Ellipse with
underlying lines represent Key
Attribute.
Fig 13.25 Attribute key with primary key

Composite Attribute : An
attribute can also have their own
attributes. These attributes are
known as Composite attribute.

composite attribute example

Fig 13.26 Composite attribute

3) Relationship
A Relationship describes relations between entities. Relationship is
represented using diamonds.
Relationship Relationship example

Fig 13.27 Relationship with example

There are three types of relationship that exist between Entities.

* Binary Relationship
* Recursive Relationship
* Ternary Relationship
Data Concepts 311

Binary Relationship

Binary Relationship means relation between two Entities. This is further

divided into three types.
1. One to One : This type of relationship is rarely seen in real world.

one-to-one example

Fig 13.28 1:1 Relationship with example

The above example describes that one student can enroll only for one course
and a course will also have only one Student. This is not what you will usually
see in relationship.

2. One to Many : It reflects business rule that one entity is associated with
many number of same entity. For example, Student enrolls for only one Course
but a Course can have many Students.

One to Many

Fig 13.29 1:M Relationship with example

 312 Data Concepts

The arrows in the diagram describes that one student can enroll
for only one course.

3. Many to Many : The above diagram represents that many students can
enroll for more than one courses.

Many to Many

Fig 13.30 M:M Relationship with example

PARTICIPATION CONSTRAINTS

 Total Participation: Each entity in the entity is involved in the relationship.

Total participation is represented by double lines.
 Partial participation: Not all entities are involved in the relation ship.
Partial participation is represented by single line.

Fig 13.31 Total partipation and partial participation

Data Concepts 313

13.13.3 Cardinality

Cardinality specifies how many instances of an entity

relate to one instance of another entity.

Ordinality is also closely linked to cardinality. While

cardinality specifies the occurrences of a relationship,
ordinality describes the relationship as either
mandatory or optional. In other words, cardinality
specifies the maximum number of relationships and
ordinality specifies the absolute minimum number of
relationships.
Fig 13.32 Cardinality

Fig 13.33 Cardinality Notation with examples

Cardinality NotationCardinality specifies how many instances of an entity relate
to one instance of another entity.Ordinality is also closely linked to cardinality.
While cardinality specifies the occurances of a relationship, ordinality describes
the relationship as either mandatory or optional. In other words, cardinality
specifies the maximum number of relationships and ordinality specifies the
absolute minimum number of relationships. When the minimum number is
zero, the relationship is usually called optional and when the minimum number
is one or more, the relationship is usually called mandatory.
 314 Data Concepts

Fig 13.34 Cardinality Notation

Recursive Relationship

Fig 13.35 Recursive Relationship

Data Concepts 315

Generalization Specialization

Generalization is a bottom-up *Specialization* is opposite to

approach in which two lower level Generalization. It is a top-down
entities combine to form a higher approach in which one higher level
level entity. In generalization, the entity can be broken down into two
higher level entity can also combine lower level entity. In specialization,
with other lower level entity to make some higher level entities may
further higher level entity. not have lower-level entity sets at all.

Fig13.36 Generalization & Specialization

When an Entity is related with itself it is known

as Recursive Relationship.

Fig13.37 Aggregration
Aggregration : Aggregration is a process when
relation between two entity is treated as a single
entity. Here the relation between Center and Course, is acting as an Entity in
relation with Visitor.

13.14 Keys
The word “key” is used in the context of relational database design. They are
used to establish and identify relation between tables. The key is a set of one or
more columns whose combined values are unique among all occurrences in a
given table.
 316 Data Concepts

Fig 13.38 Database terms with example

There are various types of relational keys:

1. Candidate key(ck): A Candidate key is any set of one or more columns
whose combined values are unique among all occurrences(ie tuples or
rows). Since a null value is not guaranteed to be unique, no component of
a candidate key is allowed to be null.
2. Primary key(pk): Primary key is a
candidate key that is most appropriate to
become the main key of the table. Primary
key is a key that uniquely identify each
record in a table. Example student_id,
Employee_id, Bank_acoount_no,
Transfer_certificate_id, Driving_licence_no
etc., by which only one value can exist, no dupilcation can exist.
Data Concepts 317

3. Alternate key/Secondary key(sk): The alternate keys of any table are simply
those candidate keys which are not currently selected as the primary key.
An alternative key is a function of all candidate keys minus the primary
key.
5. Super Key : A superkey is basically all sets of columns for which no two
rows share the same values for those sets. An attribute or set of attributes
that uniquely identifies a tuple within a relation/table. Super Key is a
superset of Candidate key.
6. Foreign key(fk) :A foreign key is a field in a relational table that matches
the primary key column of another table. The foreign key can be used to
cross-reference tables.

Table Employees
Employee_id Name Age city Salary Car_loan_id
1 Rajappa 42 Tumkur 42000 585

Table BMWcars
Car_load_id Model Loanamount EMI Noof EMI Balance
585 Basic 1800000 80000 225 1000000

Fig 13.39 Foreign key with example

1.Composite Key : Key that consists of two or more attributes that uniquely
identify an entity occurrence is called
Composite key. But any attribute
that makes up the Composite key is
not a simple key in its own.
Example: Consider a Relation or
Table R1. Let A,B,C,D,E are the
attributes of this relation.

Fig.14.47 Composite Key

 318 Data Concepts

R(A,B,C,D,E)
A?BCDE This means the attribute 'A' uniquely determines the other attributes
B,C,D,E.
BC?ADE This means the attributes 'BC' jointly determines all the other attributes
A,D,E in the relation.
Primary Key :A
Candidate Keys :A, BC
Super Keys : A,BC,ABC,AD
Note : ABC,AD are not Candidate Keys since both are not minimal super keys.

13.15 Relational Algebra

In order to implement a DBMS, there must exist a set of rules which state how
the database system will behave. For instance, somewhere in the DBMS must
be a set of statements which indicate than when someone inserts data into a
row of a relation, it has the effect which the user expects. One way to specify this
is to use words to write an ‘essay’ as to how the DBMS will operate, but words
tend to be imprecise and open to interpretation. Instead, relational databases
are more usually defined using Relational Algebra.

Relational Algebra is :
 the formal description of how a relational database operates
 an interface to the data stored in the database itself
 the mathematics which underpin SQL operations
Operators in relational algebra are not necessarily the same as SQL operators,
even if they have the same name. For example, the SELECT statement exists in
SQL, and also exists in relational algebra. These two uses of SELECT are not the
same. The DBMS must take whatever SQL statements the user types in and
translate them into relational algebra operations before applying them to the
database.
Terminology
 Relation – a set of tuples.
 Tuple – a collection of attributes which describe some real world entity.
 Attribute – a real world role played by a named domain.
 Domain – a set of atomic values.
 Set – a mathematical definition for a collection of objects which
contains no duplicates.
Data Concepts 319

Operators – Write
 INSERT – provides a list of attribute values for a new tuple in a relation.
This operator is the same as SQL.
 DELETE – provides a condition on the attributes of a relation to
determine which tuple(s) to remove from the relation. This operator is the
same as SQL.
 MODIFY – changes the values of one or more attributes in one or more
tuples of a relation, as identified by a condition operating on the attributes of
the relation. This is equivalent to SQL UPDATE.
Operators – Retrieval
There are two groups of operations:
 Mathematical set theory based relations:
UNION, INTERSECTION, DIFFERENCE, and CARTESIAN PRODUCT.

Fig.13.40 Relational Algebra

 Special database operations:

SELECT (not the same as SQL SELECT), PROJECT, and JOIN.
Relational SELECT
SELECT is used to obtain a subset of the tuples of a relation that satisfy
a select condition.
For example, find all employees born after 14th Feb 2014:
SELECTdob ‘14/feb/2014’(employee)
Relational PROJECT
The PROJECT operation is used to select a subset of the attributes of a relation by
specifying the names of the required attributes.
For example, to get a list of all employees surnames and employee numbers:
PROJECT
surname,empno
(employee)
 320 Data Concepts

SELECT and PROJECT

SELECT and PROJECT can be combined together. For example, to get a list of
employee numbers for employees in department number 1:
PROJECT EMPNO
(SELECT DEPTNO
=1 (EMPLOYEE))

MAPPING THIS BACK TO SQL GIVEN:

SELECT EMPNO
FROM EMPLOYEE
WHERE DEPTNO=1;
Fig.13.41 Select and project
Figure : Mapping select and project
Set Operations – semantics
Consider two relations R and S.
 UNION of R and S

the union of two relations is a relation that includes all the tuples that are
either in R or in S or in both R and S. Duplicate tuples are eliminated.

 INTERSECTION of R and S

the intersection of R and S is a relation that includes all tuples that are
both in R and S.

 DIFFERENCE of R and S

the difference of R and S is the relation that contains all the tuples that are
in R but that are not in S.

SET Operations – requirements

For set operations to function correctly the relations R and S must be union
compatible. Two relations are union compatible if

 they have the same number of attributes

 the domain of each attribute in column order is the same in both R and
S.
Data Concepts 321

UNION Example

Fig.13.42 Union

INTERSECTION Example

Fig.13.43 Intersection

DIFFERENCE Example

Fig.13.44 Difference
 322 Data Concepts

CARTESIAN PRODUCT
The Cartesian Product is also an operator which works on two sets. It is
sometimes called the CROSS PRODUCT or CROSS JOIN.
It combines the tuples of one relation with all the tuples of the other relation.
CARTESIAN PRODUCT example

Fig.13.45 Cartesian product

Figure : CARTESIAN PRODUCT
JOIN Operator
JOIN is used to combine related tuples from two relations:
 In its simplest form the JOIN operator is just the cross product of the
two relations.
 As the join becomes more complex, tuples are removed within the cross
product to make the result of the join more meaningful.
 JOIN allows you to evaluate a join condition between the attributes of
the relations on which the join is undertaken.
The notation used is
R JOINjoin condition S JOIN Example

Figure : JOIN Fig.13.46 Join

Data Concepts 323

Natural Join

Invariably the JOIN involves an equality test, and thus is often described as an
equi-join. Such joins result in two attributes in the resulting relation having
exactly the same value. A ‘natural join’ will remove the duplicate attribute(s).

 In most systems a natural join will require that the attributes have the
same name to identify the attribute(s) to be used in the join. This may
require a renaming mechanism.

 If you do use natural joins make sure that the relations do not have two
attributes with the same name by accident.

OUTER JOINs

Notice that much of the data is lost when applying a join to two relations. In
some cases this lost data might hold useful information. An outer join retains
the information that would have been lost from the tables, replacing missing
data with nulls.

There are three forms of the outer join, depending on which data is to be kept.

 LEFT OUTER JOIN – keep data from the left-hand table

 RIGHT OUTER JOIN – keep data from the right-hand table

 FULL OUTER JOIN – keep data from both tables

OUTER JOIN example 1

Fig.13.47 Outer Join left/right OUTER JOIN (left/right)

 324 Data Concepts

JOIN example 2

Fig.13.48 Outer Join Full OUTER JOIN (full)

Consider the following SQL to find which departments have had employees on
the ‘Further Accounting’ course.
SELECT DISTINCT dname
FROM department, course, empcourse, employee
WHERE cname = ‘Further Accounting’
AND course.courseno = empcourse.courseno
AND empcourse.empno = employee.empno
AND employee.depno = department.depno;
The equivalent relational algebra is
PROJECTdname (department JOINdepno = depno (
PROJECTdepno (employee JOINempno = empno (
PROJECTempno (empcourse JOINcourseno = courseno (
PROJECTcourseno (SELECTcname = ‘Further Accounting’ course) )) )) ))
Symbolic Notation

From the example, one can see that for complicated cases a large amount of
the answer is formed from operator names, such as PROJECT and JOIN. It is
therefore commonplace to use symbolic notation to represent the operators.

 SELECT ->ó (sigma)

 PROJECT -> ð(pi)

 PRODUCT -> ×(times)

 JOIN -> |×| (bow-tie)

Data Concepts 325

 UNION -> *” (cup)

 INTERSECTION -> )”(cap)

 DIFFERENCE -> - (minus)

 RENAME ->ñ (rho)

Usage

The symbolic operators are used as with the verbal ones. So, to find all
employees in department 1:

SELECTdepno = 1(employee)
becomes ódepno = 1(employee)
Conditions can be combined together using ^ (AND) and v (OR). For example,
all employees in department 1 called ‘URS’:

SELECTdepno = 1 ^ surname = ‘URS’(employee)

becomes ódepno = 1 ^ surname = ‘URS’(employee)
The use of the symbolic notation can lend itself to brevity. Even better, when
the JOIN is a natural join, the JOIN condition may be omitted from |x|. The
earlier example resulted in:

PROJECTdname (department JOINdepno = depno (

PROJECTdepno (employee JOINempno = empno (
PROJECTempno (empcourse JOINcourseno = courseno (
PROJECTcourseno (SELECTcname = ‘Further Accounting’
course)))))))
becomes

ðdname (department |×| (

ðdepno (employee |×| (
ðempno (empcourse |×| (
ðcourseno (ócname = ‘Further Accounting’ course) ))))))
 326 Data Concepts

Rename Operator

The rename operator returns an existing relation under a new name.

ñA(B) is the relation B with its name changed to A. For example, find the
employees in the same Department as employee 3.

Ñemp2.surname,emp2.forenames (
óemployee.empno = 3 ^ employee.depno = emp2.depno (
employee × (ñemp2employee) ) )
Derivable Operators

 Fundamental operators:ó, ð, ×, *”, -, ñ

 Derivable operators: |×|,)”
Equivalence

A|×|cB Ô! ða1,a2,…aN(óc(A × B))

 where c is the join condition (eg A.a1 = B.a1),

 and a1,a2,…aN are all the attributes of A and B without repetition.

C is called the join-condition, and is usually the comparison of primary and

foreign key. Where there are N tables, there are usually N-1 join-conditions. In
the case of a natural join, the conditions can be missed out, but otherwise
missing out conditions results in a ptimizat product (a common mistake to
make).

Equivalences

The same relational algebraic expression can be written in many different

ways. The order in which tuples appear in relations is never significant.

 A ×B Ô! B × A

 A )” B Ô! B )” A

 A *”B Ô! B *” A

 (A – B) is not the same as (B – A)

Data Concepts 327

 óc1 (óc2(A)) Ô! óc2 (óc1(A)) Ô! óc1 ^ c2(A)

 ða1(A) Ô! ða1(ða1,etc(A))

where etc represents any other attributes of A.

 many other equivalences exist.

While equivalent expressions always give the same result, some may be much
easier to evaluate that others.

When any query is submitted to the DBMS, its query ptimizat tries to find the
most efficient equivalent expression before evaluating it.

Comparing RA and SQL

Relational algebra: SQL:
 Is closed (the result of every  Is a superset of relational algebra
expression is a relation)  Has convenient formatting
 Has a rigorous foundation features, etc.
 Has simple semantics  Provides aggregate functions
 Is used for reasoning, query  Has complicated semantics
optimization, etc.  Is an end-user language

Any relational language as powerful SQL is a superset of relational

as relational algebra is called algebra, it is also relationally
relationally complete. complete.

A relationally complete language can

perform all basic, meaningful
operations on relations.

13.16 Data warehouse

A data ware house is a repository of an organization’s electronically stored data.
Data warehouse are designed to facilitate reporting and supporting data analysis.
The concept of data warehouses was introduced in late 1980’s. The concept was
introduced to meet the growing demands for management information and
analysis that could not be met by operational systems.

Separate computer databases began to be built that were specifically designed

to support management information and analysis purposes. These data warehouse
 328 Data Concepts

were able to bring in data from a range of different data sources, such as,
mainframe computer, minicomputer, as well as personal computer and office
automation software such as spreadsheets and integrate this information in a
single place. This capability, coupled with user-friendly reporting tools, and
freedom from operational impacts has led to a growth of this type of computer
system.

Data ware house have evolved though several fundamental stages like:

Offline operational databases – Data warehouse in this initial stage are developed
by simply copying the database of an operational system to an off-line server
where the processing load of reporting does not impact on the operational
system’s performance.

Offline data warehouse – Database warehouses in this stages of evolution are

updated on regular time cycle(usually daily, weekly or monthly) form operational
systems and the data is stored in a integrated reporting-oriented data structure.

Real Time data warehouse – Data warehouses are updated on transaction or

event basis, event time an operational system performs a transaction.

Integrated data warehouses – Data warehouses used to generate activity or

transactions that are passed back into the operational systems for use in the
daily activity of the organization.

Components of data warehouses

Data Sources: Data sources refer to any electronic repository of information that
contains data of interest for management use or analytics. From mainframe(IBM
DB2,ISAM,Adabas, etc.), client-server databases (e.g Oracle database, Informix,
Microsoft SQL Server etc.,), PC databases (e.g Microsoft Access), and ESS and
other electronic store of data. Data needs to be passed from these to systems to
the data warehouse either on the transaction-by-transaction basis for real-time
data warehouses or on a regular cycle(e.g daily or weekly) for offline data
warehouses.

Data transformation: The data transformation layer receives data from the data
sources, cleaned and standardizes and loads it into the data repository. This is
often called “staging” data as data often passes through a temporary database
whilst it is being transformed. This activity of transformation data can be
performed either by manually created code or a specific type of software could
be used called an Extract, Transform and load(ETL) tool.
Data Concepts 329

Reporting : The data in the data warehouses must be available to the

organization’s staff if the data warehouses is to be useful. There are a very large
number of applications that perform this function or reporting can be custom-
developed. Some are Bussiness intelligence tools, Executive information systems,
Online Analytical processing(OLAP) Tools, Data Mining etc.,

Metadata: Metadata or “Data about data” is used to inform operators and uses of
the data warehouses about its status and the information held within the data
warehouses.

Operations : Data warehouses operations comprises of the processes of loading,

manipulating and extracting data from the data warehouse. Operations also
cover users management security, capacity management and related functions.

Optional components: In addition the following components also exist in some

data warehouses: 1. Dependent data marts. 2. Logical data marts. 3. Operational
data store.
Advantages of data ware houses:
1. Enhance end-user access to reports and analysis of information.
2. Increases data consistency.
3. Increases productivity and decreases computing costs.
4. Able to combine data from different sources, in one place.
5. Data warehouses provide an infrastructure that could support changes to
data and replication of the changed data back into the operational systems.
Disadvantages
Extracting, cleaning and loading data could be time consuming.
Data warehouses can get outdated relatively quickly.
Problems with compatibility with systems already in place.
Providing training to end-users.
Security could develop into a serious issue, especially if the data warehouses is
internet accessible.
A data warehouses is usually not static and maintenance costs are high.
13.17 Data Mining : Data mining is concerned with the analysis and picking
out relevant information. It is the computer, which is responsible for finding the
patterns by identifying the underling rules of the features in the data.

Data mining analysis tends to work form the data up and the best techniques
are those developed with an orientation towards large volumes of data, making
use of as much of the collected data as possible to arrive at reliable conclusions
and decisions.
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The analysis process starts with a set of data, uses a methodology to develop an
optimal representation to the structure of the data during which time knowledge
is acquired. Once knowledge has been acquired this can be extended to larger
sets of data working on the assumption that the larger data set has a structure
similar to the sample data. Again this is analogous to a mining operation where
large amounts of low grade materials are sifted through in order to find something
of value.
Some of the data mining software’s are SPSS, SAS, Think Analytics and G-Sat
etc.
The phases start with the raw data and finish with the extracted knowledge
which was acquired as a result of the following stages:
Selection- Selecting or segmenting the data according to some criteria e.g. all
those people who won a car, in this way subsets of the data can be determined.
Preprocessing – This is the data cleaning stage where certain information is
removed which deemed unnecessary and may slow down queries for e.g.: gender
of the patient. The data is reconfigured to ensure a consistent format as there is
a possibility of inconsistent formats because the data is drawn from several
sources e.g. gender may be recorded as F or M also as 1 or 0.
Transformation – The data is not merely transferred, but transformed. E.g.:
demographic overlays commonly used in market research. The data is made
useable and navigable.
Data mining- This stage is concerned with the extraction of patterns from the
data. A pattern can be defined as given a set of facts(data) F, a language L, and
some measure of certainty C a pattern is a statement S in L that describes
relationships among a subset Fs of F with a certainly c such that S is simpler in
some sense than the enumeration of all the facts in Fs.
Interpretation and Evaluation – The patterns identified by the system are
interpreted into knowledge which can be used to support human decision-making
e.g. prediction and classification tasks, summarizing the content of a database
or explaining observed phenomena.
Summary
> The basic concepts of database that can be used by various users to store
and retrieve thae data in standardized format.
> DBMS features, parts,problems and solutions.
>Three database structures.
> Enitity relations.
> Various relationships.
> Keys
> Database warehouse, Data mining
Data Concepts 331

Review questions
One mark questions
1. What is data?
2. What is information?
3. What is database?
4. What is a field?
5. What is a record?
6. What is an entity?
7. What is an instance?
8. What is an attribute?
9. What is domain?
10.What is a relation?
11.What is a table?
12. What is normalization?
13. What is a key?
14. Give the symbol notation for project.
15.What is data mining?

Two marks questions

1. How database helps us?
2. How do we get data?
3. Name the data types supported by DBMS.
4. What is generalization?
5. What is specification?
6. What is the difference between serial and direct access file organization?
7. Give the advantages and disadvantages of Index Sequential Access
Method.
8. Classify various types of keys used in Database.
9. What is relation Algebra?
10.Give an example for relation selection with example.
11.What is Cartesian product?
12. What is Join operation?
13.What is data warehouse?
14.What is data mining?
 332 Data Concepts

Three marks questions

1. Mention the applications of database.
2. List different forms of data(any three)
3. Give the difference between Manual and Electronic file systems.
4. Explain Boyce and Codd form (BCNF)
5. Explain any three components of E-R diagram.
6. What is a relationship? Classify and give example.
7. Explain physical data independence.
8. Explain ISAM with example
9.Explain database users
10.Explain hierarchical data model.
11.Explain relational data model.
12.Explain outer Join with example.
13.List the components of data warehouse.

Five marks questions

1. Explain data processing cycle?
2. Explain varius datatypes used in DBMS?
3. Explain Normalization with classifications and example
4. Explain cardinality with example.
5. Explain data independence in detail.
6. Discuss file organization with respect to physical data independence.
7. Explain the features of database system.
8. Explain DBMS Architecture.
9. Explain database model.
10.Explain Codd’s rules for database management.
11.Write compring RA and SQL.
12.List any five types of relational keys.
13.Explain Entity-Relationship in detail.
14. Explain the concept of Data abstraction.
15.Define and explain the phases of data mining.