Data Modelling

CP 224: DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

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Steve ‘25
Outline
• Data Models and Their Categories
• History of Data Models
• Schemas, Instances, and States
• Three-Schema Architecture
• Data Independence
• DBMS Languages and Interfaces
• Database System Utilities and Tools
• Centralized and Client-Server Architectures
• Classification of DBMSs

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Data Modelling
• Data modelling is the process of creating a data model
for the data to be stored in a database. This data model
is a conceptual representation of Data objects, the
associations between different data objects, and the
rules.
• Data modelling helps in the visual representation of data
and enforces business rules, regulatory compliances, and
government policies on the data. Data Models ensure
consistency in naming conventions, default values,
semantics, security while ensuring quality of the data.

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Data Models
• Data Model:
• A set of concepts to describe the structure of a database,
the operations for manipulating these structures, and
certain constraints that the database should obey.
• Data Model Structure and Constraints:
• Constructs are used to define the database structure
• Constructs typically include elements (and their data types)
as well as groups of elements (e.g. entity, record, table),
and relationships among such groups
• Constraints specify some restrictions on valid data; these
constraints must be enforced at all times
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Why use Data Model?
• Ensures that all data objects required by the database are
accurately represented. Omission of data will lead to creation of
faulty reports and produce incorrect results.
• A data model helps design the database at the conceptual, physical
and logical levels.
• Data Model structure helps to define the relational tables, primary
and foreign keys and stored procedures.
• It provides a clear picture of the base data and can be used by
database developers to create a physical database.
• It is also helpful to identify missing and redundant data.
• Though the initial creation of data model is labor and time
consuming, in the long run, it makes your IT infrastructure upgrade 5
and maintenance cheaper and faster.
Data Models (continued)
• Data Model Operations:
• These operations are used for specifying database
retrievals and updates by referring to the constructs of
the data model.
• Operations on the data model may include;
• basic model operations
(e.g. generic insert, delete, update)
• user-defined operations
(e.g. compute_student_gpa, update_inventory)

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Categories of Data Models
• Conceptual (high-level, semantic) data models:
• Provide concepts that are close to the way many users
perceive data.
• (Also called entity-based or object-based data models.)
• Physical (low-level, internal) data models:
• Provide concepts that describe details of how data is stored
in the computer. These are usually specified in an ad-hoc
manner through DBMS design and administration manuals
• Implementation (representational) data models:
• Provide concepts that fall between the above two, used by
many commercial DBMS implementations (e.g. relational
data models used in many commercial systems).
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Schemas versus Instances
• Database Schema:
• The description of a database.
• Includes descriptions of the database structure, data
types, and the constraints on the database.
• Schema Diagram:
• An illustrative display of (most aspects of) a database
schema.
• Schema Construct:
• A component of the schema or an object within the
schema, e.g., STUDENT, COURSE.

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Schemas versus Instances
• Database State:
• The actual data stored in a database at a particular
moment in time. This includes the collection of all the
data in the database.
• Also called database instance (or occurrence or
snapshot).
• The term instance is also applied to individual
database components, e.g. record instance, table
instance, entity instance

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Database Schema vs. Database State
• Database State:
• Refers to the content of a database at a moment in time.
• Initial Database State:
• Refers to the database state when it is initially loaded into the
system.
• Valid State:
• A state that satisfies the structure and constraints of the database.

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Database Schema vs. Database State
(continued)
• Distinction
• The database schema changes very infrequently.
• The database state changes every time the database is updated.

• Schema is also called intension.

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Example of a Database Schema

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Example of a database state

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Three-Schema Architecture
• Proposed to support DBMS characteristics of:
• Program-data independence.
• Support of multiple views of the data.
• Not explicitly used in commercial DBMS products,
but has been useful in explaining database
system organization
• The goal is to separate the user applications
from the physical database
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Three-Schema Architecture
• Defines DBMS schemas at three levels:
• Internal schema at the internal level to describe physical
storage structures and access paths (e.g indexes).
• Typically uses a physical data model.
• Conceptual schema at the conceptual level to describe the
structure and constraints for the whole database for a
community of users.
• Uses a conceptual or an implementation data model.
• External schemas at the external level to describe the
various user views.
• Usually uses the same data model as the conceptual schema.
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The three-schema architecture

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Three-Schema Architecture
• Mappings among schema levels are needed to transform
requests and data.
• Programs refer to an external schema, and are mapped by the
DBMS to the internal schema for execution.
• Data extracted from the internal DBMS level is reformatted to
match the user’s external view (e.g. formatting the results of an
SQL query for display in a Web page)

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Data Independence
• The capacity to change the schema at one level of a
database system without having to change the schema
at the next higher level
• Logical Data Independence:
• The capacity to change the conceptual schema without having
to change the external schemas and their associated
application programs.
• Physical Data Independence:
• The capacity to change the internal schema without having to
change the conceptual schema.
• For example, the internal schema may be changed when
certain file structures are reorganized or new indexes are
created to improve database performance 18
Data Independence (continued)
• When a schema at a lower level is changed, only the
mappings between this schema and higher-level schemas
need to be changed in a DBMS that fully supports data
independence.
• The higher-level schemas themselves are unchanged.
• Hence, the application programs need not be changed since they
refer to the external schemas.

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DBMS Languages
• Data Definition Language (DDL)
• Data Manipulation Language (DML)
• High-Level or Non-procedural Languages: These include the
relational language SQL
• May be used in a standalone way or may be embedded in a
programming language
• Low Level or Procedural Languages:
• These must be embedded in a programming language

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DBMS Languages
• Data Definition Language (DDL):
• Used by the DBA and database designers to specify the
conceptual schema of a database.
• In many DBMSs, the DDL is also used to define internal and
external schemas (views).
• In some DBMSs, separate storage definition language (SDL) and
view definition language (VDL) are used to define internal and
external schemas.
• SDL is typically realized via DBMS commands provided to the
DBA and database designers

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DBMS Languages
• Data Manipulation Language (DML):
• Used to specify database retrievals and updates
• DML commands (data sublanguage) can be embedded in a
general-purpose programming language (host language), such as
COBOL, C, C++, or Java.
• A library of functions can also be provided to access the DBMS
from a programming language
• Alternatively, stand-alone DML commands can be applied directly
(called a query language).

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Types of DML
• High Level or Non-procedural Language:
• For example, the SQL relational language
• Are “set”-oriented and specify what data to retrieve rather than
how to retrieve it.
• Also called declarative languages.
• Low Level or Procedural Language:
• Retrieve data one record-at-a-time;
• Constructs such as looping are needed to retrieve multiple
records, along with positioning pointers.
• the user specifies what data is needed and how to get it

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DBMS Interfaces
• User-friendly interfaces provided by a DBMS
• Stand-alone query language interfaces
• Example: Entering SQL queries at the DBMS interactive SQL
interface (e.g. SQL*Plus in ORACLE)
• Programmer interfaces for embedding DML in programming
languages
• User-friendly interfaces
• Menu-based, forms-based, graphics-based, etc.

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Typical DBMS Component Modules

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Centralized and
Client-Server DBMS Architectures
• Centralized DBMS:
• Combines everything into single system including- DBMS software,
hardware, application programs, and user interface processing
software.
• User can still connect through a remote terminal – however, all
processing is done at centralized site.

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A Physical Centralized
Architecture

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Basic 2-tier Client-Server Architectures

• Specialized Servers with Specialized functions

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Logical two-tier client server architecture

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Clients
• Provide appropriate interfaces through a client software
module to access and utilize the various server resources.
• Clients may be diskless machines or PCs or Workstations with
disks with only the client software installed.
• Connected to the servers via some form of a network.
• (LAN: local area network, wireless network, etc.)

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DBMS Server
• Provides database query and transaction services to the
clients
• Relational DBMS servers are often called SQL servers,
query servers, or transaction servers
• Applications running on clients utilize an Application
Program Interface (API) to access server databases via
standard interface such as:
• ODBC: Open Database Connectivity standard
• JDBC: for Java programming access
• Client and server must install appropriate client module
and server module software for ODBC or JDBC
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Two Tier Client-Server
Architecture
• A client program may connect to several DBMSs, sometimes
called the data sources.
• In general, data sources can be files or other non-DBMS
software that manages data.
• Other variations of clients are possible: e.g., in some object
DBMSs, more functionality is transferred to clients including
data dictionary functions, optimization and recovery across
multiple servers, etc.

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Two Tier Client-Server
Architecture

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Three Tier Client-Server
Architecture
• Common for Web applications
• Intermediate Layer called Application Server or Web
Server:
• Stores the web connectivity software and the business logic
part of the application used to access the corresponding
data from the database server
• Acts like a conduit for sending partially processed data
between the database server and the client.
• Three-tier Architecture Can Enhance Security:
• Database server only accessible via middle tier
• Clients cannot directly access database server 34
Three-tier client-server
architecture

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3Tier vs 2Tier Client-Server
Architecture

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Classification of DBMSs
• Based on the data model used
• Traditional: Relational, Network, Hierarchical.
• Emerging: Object-oriented, Object-relational.
• Other classifications
• Single-user (typically used with personal computers)
vs. multi-user (most DBMSs).
• Centralized (uses a single computer with one database)
vs. distributed (uses multiple computers, multiple databases)

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Variations of Distributed
DBMSs (DDBMSs)
• Homogeneous DDBMS
• Heterogeneous DDBMS
• Federated or Multidatabase Systems
• Distributed Database Systems have now come to be known as
client-server based database systems because:
• They do not support a totally distributed environment, but rather
a set of database servers supporting a set of clients.

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Cost considerations for DBMSs
• Cost Range: from free open-source systems to
configurations costing millions of dollars
• Examples of free relational DBMSs: MySQL, PostgreSQL,
others
• Commercial DBMS offer additional specialized modules,
e.g. time-series module, spatial data module, document
module, XML module
• These offer additional specialized functionality when
purchased separately
• Sometimes called cartridges (e.g., in Oracle) or blades
• Different licensing options: site license, maximum
number of concurrent users (seat license), single user, 39
etc.
History of Data Models
• Hierarchical Model
• Network Model
• Relational Model
• Entity Relationship Model
• Object-oriented Data Models
• Object-Relational Models

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History of Data Models
• Hierarchical Data Model:
• Initially implemented in a joint effort by IBM and North American
Rockwell around 1965. Resulted in the IMS family of systems.
• IBM’s IMS product had (and still has) a very large customer base
worldwide
• Hierarchical model was formalized based on the IMS system
• Other systems based on this model: System 2k (SAS inc.)

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Hierarchical Model
• Advantages:
• Simple to construct and operate
• Corresponds to a number of natural hierarchically organized
domains, e.g., organization (“org”) chart
• Language is simple:
• Uses constructs like GET, GET UNIQUE, GET NEXT, GET NEXT
WITHIN PARENT, etc.
• Disadvantages:
• Navigational and procedural nature of processing
• Database is visualized as a linear arrangement of records
• Little scope for "query optimization" 42
History of Data Models
• Network Model:
• The first network DBMS was implemented by Honeywell in 1964-
65 (IDS System).
• Adopted heavily due to the support by CODASYL (Conference on
Data Systems Languages) (CODASYL - DBTG report of 1971).
• Later implemented in a large variety of systems - IDMS (Cullinet -
now Computer Associates), DMS 1100 (Unisys), IMAGE (H.P.
(Hewlett-Packard)), VAX -DBMS (Digital Equipment Corp., next
COMPAQ, now H.P.).
• Representing objects and their relationships

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Example of Network Model
Schema

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Network Model
• Advantages:
• Network Model is able to model complex relationships and
represents semantics of add/delete on the relationships.
• Can handle most situations for modeling using record types and
relationship types.
• Language is navigational; uses constructs like FIND, FIND member,
FIND owner, FIND NEXT within set, GET, etc.
• Programmers can do optimal navigation through the database.

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Network Model
• Disadvantages:
• Navigational and procedural nature of processing
• Database contains a complex array of pointers that thread
through a set of records.
• Little scope for automated “query optimization”

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History of Data Models
• Relational Model:
• Proposed in 1970 by E.F. Codd (IBM), first commercial
system in 1981-82.
• Now in several commercial products (e.g. DB2, ORACLE, MS
SQL Server, SYBASE, INFORMIX).
• Several free open source implementations, e.g. MySQL,
PostgreSQL
• Currently most dominant for developing database
applications.
• SQL relational standards: SQL-89 (SQL1), SQL-92 (SQL2),
SQL-99, SQL3, …
• Chapters 5 through 11 describe this model in detail 47
History of Data Models
• Object-oriented Data Models:
• Several models have been proposed for implementing in a
database system.
• One set comprises models of persistent O-O Programming
Languages such as C++ (e.g., in OBJECTSTORE or VERSANT),
and Smalltalk (e.g., in GEMSTONE).
• Additionally, systems like O2, ORION (at MCC - then ITASCA),
IRIS (at H.P.- used in Open OODB).
• Object Database Standard: ODMG-93, ODMG-version 2.0,
ODMG-version 3.0.
• Chapters 20 and 21 describe this model.
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History of Data Models
• Object-Relational Models:
• Most Recent Trend. Started with Informix Universal Server.
• Relational systems incorporate concepts from object databases
leading to object-relational.
• Exemplified in the latest versions of Oracle-10i, DB2, and SQL
Server and other DBMSs.
• Standards included in SQL-99 and expected to be enhanced in
future SQL standards.
• Chapter 22 describes this model.

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