1.

1 Database Management Systems (DBMS) :

A database is a collection of related data stored in a standard format, designed to be shared by
multiple users. A database is defined as “A collection of interrelated data items that can be
processed by one or more application programs”. A database can also be defined as “A collection of
persistent data that is used by the application systems of some given enterprise”. An enterprise can
be a single individual (with a small personal database), or a complete corporation or similar large
body (with a large shared database), or anything in between.

Example: A Bank, a Hospital, a University, a Manufacturing company.

INTRODUCTION TO DATA BASE MANAGEMENT

As the name suggests, the database management system consists of two parts. They are:

1. Database and

2. Management System

WHAT IS A DATABASE?
Data: Facts, figures, statistics etc. having no particular meaning (e.g. 1, ABC, 19 etc).

Record: Collection of related data items, e.g. in the above example the three data items had no
meaning. But if we organize them in the following way, then they collectively represent meaningful
information.

Roll Name Age

1 ABC 19

Table or Relation: Collection of related records.

Roll Name Age
1 ABC 19
2 DEF 22
3 XYZ 28

The columns of this relation are called Fields, Attributes or Domains.

The rows are called Tuples or Records.
Database: Collection of related relations. Consider the following collection of
tables:

T1
Roll Name Age
1 ABC 19
2 DEF 22
3 XYZ 28

T2
ROLL ADDRESS
1 KOL
2 DEL
3 MUM
T3
ROLL YEAR
1 I
2 II
3 I

T4
YEAR HOSTEL
I H1
II H2

We now have a collection of 4 tables. They can be called a “related collection” because we
can clearly find out that there are some common attributes existing in a selected pair of
tables. Because of these common attributes we may combine the data of two or more
tables together to find out the complete details of a student.
Questions like “Which hostel does the youngest student live in?” can be answered now,
although Age and Hostel attributes are in different tables.
In a database, data is organized strictly in row and column format. The rows are called Tuple
or Record. The data items within one row may belong to different data types. On the other
hand, the columns are often called Domain or Attribute. All the data items within a single
attribute are of the same data type.
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
A management system is a set of rules and procedures which help us to create organize and
manipulate the database. It also helps us to add, modify delete data items in the database.
The management system can be either manual or computerized. The management system is
important because without the existence of some kind of rules and regulations it is not
possible to maintain the database. We have to select the particular attributes which should
be included in a particular table; the common attributes to create relationship between two
tables; if a new record has to be inserted or deleted then which tables should have to be
handled etc. These issues must be resolved by having some kind of rules to follow in order
to maintain the integrity of the Database.

Data : Data is the raw material from which useful information is derived. The word data is the
plural of Datum. Data is commonly used in both singular and plural forms. It is defined as raw facts
or observations. It takes variety of forms, including numeric data, text and voice and images. Data is
a collection of facts, which is unorganized but can be made organized into useful information. The
term Data and Information come across in our daily life and are often interchanged.

Example: Weights, prices, costs, number of items sold etc.

Information : Data that have been processed in such a way as to increase the knowledge of
the person who uses the data. The term data and information are closely related. Data are raw
material resources that are processed into finished information products. The information as data
that has been processed in such way that it can increase the knowledge of the person who uses it. In
practice, the database today may contain either data or information.

Data Processing : The process of converting the facts into meaningful information is known
as data processing. Data processing is also known as information processing.

Metadata : Data that describe the properties or characteristics of other data.

Data is only become useful when placed in some context. The primary mechanism for providing
context for data is Metadata. Metadata are data that describe the properties, or characteristics of
other data. Some of these properties include data definition, data structures and rules or
constraints. The Metadata describes the properties of data but do not include that data.

It allows the database designer and users to understand what data Exit, what the data mean, and
what the fine distinctions are between seemingly similar data items. The management of Metadata
is at least as a crucial as meaning the associated data since data without clear meaning can be
confusing, misinterpreted or erroneous.

1.2 Database System Applications

Notes Databases are widely used. Here are some representative applications:

1. Banking: For customer information, accounts, and loans, and banking transactions.
 2. 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.

3. Universities: For student information, course registrations, and grades.

4. Credit card transactions: For purchases on credit cards and generation of monthly statements.

5. Telecommunication: For keeping records of calls made, generating monthly bills, maintaining
balances on prepaid calling cards, and storing information about the communication networks.

6. Finance: For storing information about holdings, sales, and purchases of financial instruments
such as stocks and bonds.

7. Sales: For customer, product, and purchase information.

8. Manufacturing: For management of supply chain and for tracking production of items in factories,
inventories of items in warehouses / stores, and orders for items.

9. Human resources: For information about employees, salaries, payroll taxes and benefits, and for
generation of paychecks.

1.3 Characteristics of the Database Approach

A shared collection of logically related data along with the description of the data that suits to the
needs of large enterprises.

This unit describes the basic differences between the traditional way of processing, also called as file
processing, and the database method of processing the data. Every operating system provides users
to open, save, and close a file. The users can store appropriate information in these files. Take a look
at the Figure 1.1 which shows the traditional file processing system that stores the program and data
description in a file. The related information of a particular application is stored in various files
named as File1, File2, etc., and these files are manipulated using Program1, Program2, etc. This is
the method that was used in early days.
Traditional File System Approach

Shared File System Approach

The introduction of shared files solves the problem of duplication and inconsistent
data across different versions of the same file held by different departments, but
other problems may emerge, including:
 File incompatibility: When each department had its own version of a file for
processing, each department could ensure that the structure of the file suited
their specific application. If departments have to share files, the file structure
that suits one department might not suit another. For example, data might
need to be sorted in a different sequence for different applications (for
instance, customer details could be stored in alphabetical order, or numerical
order, or ascending or descending order of customer number).
  Difficult to control access: Some applications may require access to more
data than others; for instance, a credit control application will need access to
customer credit limit information, whereas a delivery note printing application
will only need access to customer name and address details. The file will still
need to contain the additional information to support the application that
requires it.
 Physical data dependence: If the structure of the data file needs to be
changed in some way (for example, to reflect a change in currency), this
alteration will need to be reflected in all application programs that use that
data file. This problem is known as physical data dependence, and will be
examined in more detail later in the chapter.
 Difficult to implement concurrency: While a data file is being processed by one
application, the file will not be available for other applications or for ad hoc
queries. This is because, if more than one application is allowed to alter data
in a file at one time, serious problems can arise in ensuring that the updates
made by each application do not clash with one another. This issue of
ensuring consistent, concurrent updating of information is an extremely
important one, and is dealt with in detail for database systems in the chapter
on concurrency control. File-based systems avoid these problems by not
allowing more than one application to access a file at one time.

DATABASE Management Approach