Database Structure

Database structure

What is the structure of a database?

 A database is an organised collection of data

 A database is made up of either one or multiple tables which are made up

of fields and records to organise how it stores data

 It allows easy storage, retrieval, and management of information

 A database is useful when working with large amounts of data

 A database can be stored on remote servers so multiple users can access it at the same time,
useful for online systems

Fields, records and tables

 A field is a single piece of data in a table (column)

car_id make model colour price

1 Peugeot 2008 Red 24950

2 Mazda MX5 Blue 17995

3 Citroen DS4 Black 21450

4 Ford Puma White 19500

 An example of a field in the cars table is 'make'

 A record is complete set of fields on a single entity in a table (row)

car_id make model colour price

1 Peugeot 2008 Red 24950

2 Mazda MX5 Blue 17995

3 Citroen DS4 Black 21450

4 Ford Puma White 19500

 An example of a record in the cars table is '2, Mazda, MX5, Blue, 17995'

 A table is a complete set of records about the same subject/topic in a database

car_id make model colour price

1 Peugeot 2008 Red 24950

2 Mazda MX5 Blue 17995

3 Citroen DS4 Black 21450

4 Ford Puma White 19500

Relational databases

 A relational database is one that organises data into multiple tables

 It uses keys to connect related data which:

o reduces data redundancy

o makes efficient use of storage

o is easier to maintain

Primary & foreign keys

 A primary key is a unique field that can be used to identify a record in a table

 order_id is the primary key for the orders table

 customer_id is the primary key for the customers table

 A foreign key is a field in a table that refers to the primary key in another table.
  A foreign key is used to link tables and create relationships

 In the orders table customer_id is a foreign key - it links an order back to the customer that
made the order in the customer table

Data Types & Validation

Data types
What is a data type?
 A data type is the type of data that can be held in a field and is defined when
designing a table in a database

 Examples of common datatypes are:

o Numerical/number - whole/decimal numbers

o Alphanumerical - contains letters & numbers

o Date/Time

o Boolean - true or false values

o Currency

 In the car table below, the following datatypes would be used:

o car_id: numerical

o make: alphanumerical

o model: alphanumerical

o colour: alphanumerical

o price: currency

cars

car_id make model colour price

1 Peugeot 2008 Red 24950
2 Mazda MX5 Blue 17995
3 Citroen DS4 Black 21450
4 Ford Puma White 19500
Validation
What is validation?
 Validation is used to check that an input from a user is acceptable and that it
matches the requirements of the database

 There are 5 main categories of validation which can be carried out

on fields and data types, these are:

o Length check

o Type check

o Range check

o Presence check

 There can be occasions where more than one type of validation will be used
on a field

 An example of this could be a password field which could have a length,

presence and type check on it
Length check
 Checks the length of an input

 An example is ensuring that a password is 8 or more characters in length

Type check
 Check the data type of a field

 An example is checking a user's age has been entered as an integer

Range check
 Ensures the data entered as a number falls within a particular range

 An example is checking a user's age has been entered and falls between the
digits of 0-100

Presence check
 Looks to see if any data has been entered in a field
  An example is checking that a user has entered a name when registering for a
website

Sorting & Searching

Sorting

What is sorting?

 Sorting is a crucial function in databases that helps organise and present data in a meaningful
way

Using a single criterion to sort data

 You can sort data based on a single criterion - such as by name, date, or numerical value

 For example, you might sort a list of customers in ascending order by their last names

 To sort the customer's table by LastName in either ascending or descending order:

o Open the table in 'Datasheet View'

o Click on the column header for the field to be sorted

o For example, a table of customers to be sorted by LastName, click on

the LastName column header

o Click on the "Sort Ascending" or "Sort Descending" button in the toolbar at the top of
the screen

Sorting a table of information using only one criterion

Using multiple criteria to sort data

  You can also sort data based on multiple criteria

 For instance, you might want to sort a list of customers first by LastName (ascending), and
within each LastName, by City (descending)

 To sort the customer's table first by City, and then by LastName within each city:

o Open the table in 'Datasheet View'

o Click on the 'Advanced' button in the Sort & Filter section above

o Select 'Advanced Filter/Sort'

o Add the first column to sort data by, by dragging in to the QBE grid and from the sort
row choose ascending or descending

o Repeat for second criteria

o Selecting 'Advanced' again and choose 'Apply Filter/Sort'

Sorting a table of information using more than one criterion

Ascending and descending order

 Ascending Order - Data is sorted from smallest to largest (e.g., from A to Z, or from 1 to 100)

 Descending Order - Data is sorted from largest to smallest (e.g., from Z to A, or from 100 to 1)

Searching

What is searching?
  Searching is the process of using keywords, phrases or criteria to find specific
information within a database

 Searching in databases is typically done using queries

 Queries can be based on a single criterion or multiple criteria

Using a single criterion to select subsets of data

 You can use a single criterion to select specific data

 For example, you might want to select all customers from a specific county

 E.g. to return all customers from Devon:

o Open the 'Query Design View'

o Add the table you want to query

o Drag the field you want to query to the QBE grid

o For instance, if you're looking for customers from a specific county, drag
the County field

o In the Criteria row under this field, type the value you're looking for (e.g., 'Devon')

Creating a search within a database using one criterion

Using multiple criteria to select subsets of data

 You can also use multiple criteria to select data

  For instance, you might want to select all customers from a specific city who have
also purchased in the last month

 E.g. to return all customers from London who purchased in the last 30 days:

o Follow the steps above to start a new query and add the City field with 'London' as the
criteria

o Drag another field you want to query to the QBE grid

o For example, if you're looking for customers who purchased in the last month, drag
the LastPurchaseDate field

o In the Criteria row under this field, type Date()-30

o Hit run

Using operators to perform searches

 AND - Returns true if both conditions are met

 OR - Returns true if at least one condition is met

 NOT - Returns true if the condition is not met

 LIKE - Returns true if the value matches a pattern (used with wildcards)

 >, <, =, >=, <=, <> - These are comparison operators, they return true if the comparison between
the values is correct

Using wildcards to perform searches

 Wildcards are used with the LIKE operator to search for patterns

 The most common wildcard characters are:

o % - Represents zero, one, or multiple characters

o _ - Represents a single character

o * - Represents all

 E.g. to return all customers whose names start with 'L':

o Start a new query and drag the field you want to query to the QBE grid

o For example, if you're looking for customers whose names start with 'L', drag
the LastName field

o In the Criteria row under this field, type L*

o Hit run
 Searching a database using a wildcard function

Outputs
Database outputs
What is a database output?
 A database output is often done through reports

 Reports can be formatted and customised to display data in a user-

friendly manner

 Reports should display all the required data and labels in full

 For example, if you're creating a sales report, it should include all relevant fields,
like product name, quantity sold, and total sales

Using appropriate headers and footers

 Report header

o This appears at the beginning of the report

o This is typically where you would put the report title and other introductory
information

 Report footer
 o This appears at the end of the report

o This is where you might put summary or conclusion information

 Page header

o Appears at the top of each page

o This might contain the page number and the date

 Page footer

o Appears at the bottom of each page

o This might also contain the page number and the date

Producing different output layouts

 You can control the display of data and labels in your report

 For example, you might choose a tabular format, where data is arranged in rows
and columns, or a columnar format, where each data field is listed vertically

Simple report layout with data in rows

 Simple report layout with data shown in columns
Aligning data and labels
 Data and labels should be aligned appropriately
  For example, numeric data is often right-aligned, and decimal points should be
aligned for easy comparison

Controlling the display format of numeric data

 You can control the number of decimal places displayed, the use of a currency
symbol, and the display of percentages

 For example, a total sales field might be displayed with two decimal places and a
currency symbol