Databases and Database Users

Dr. Ali Obaidi

 Definition
• A database is a collection of related data
• example:
– 1. collection of names, home address and telephone
numbers
– 2. collection of words to make paragraph in a page
• A database represents some aspect of the real world,
sometimes called the miniworld or the Universe of
Discourse (UoD).
• A database is a logically coherent collection of data
with some inherent meaning. A random assortment of
data cannot correctly be referred to as a database.
 Definition ….

• A database is designed, built, and populated with data

for a specific purpose. It has an intended group of users
and some preconceived applications in which these
users are interested.
• A database can be of any size and of varying complexity
• A database may be generated and maintained manually
or it may be computerized (set of application programs
or by RDBM).
 Database Management System
• Is a collection of programs that enables users to
create and maintain a database.
• The DBMS is a general-purpose software system that
facilitates the processes of defining, constructing, and
manipulating databases for various applications
• Defining: a database involves specifying the data
types, structures, and constraints for the data to be
stored in the database.
 DBMS …..
• Constructing: the database is the process of storing
the data itself on some storage medium that is
controlled by the DBMS.
• Manipulating: a database includes such functions as
querying the database to retrieve specific data, updating
the database to reflect changes in the miniworld, and
generating reports from the data.
• We will call the database and DBMS software together a
database system
 Example
• UNIVERSITY database for maintaining information
concerning students, courses, and grades in a
university environment
• define: file (records), data elements, data type ( for
each data element)
• construct: store data in the appropriate files (note that
records may be related between files)
• Manipulation: querying, updating
– informal queries and updates must be specified precisely in
the database system language before they can be
processed.
 DB Vs Programming with files
• Self-Describing Nature of a Database System
– single repository of data is maintained
– contains not only the database itself but also a complete definition
or description of the database structure and constraints (system
catalogue).
– information stored in the catalog is called meta-data
– catalog used by the DBMS and users.
– The DBMS software work equally well with any number of
database applications.
 DB Vs Programming with files
…..
• Insulation between Programs and Data, and Data Abstraction
– program-data independence
– The characteristic that allows program-data independence and
program-operation independence is called data abstraction
– A DBMS provides users with a conceptual representation of data that
does not include many of the details of how the data is stored or how
the operations are implemented. (data model )
– data model hides storage and implementation details that are not of
interest to most database users.
– in object-oriented and object-relational databases, abstraction is
carried one level further to include not only the data structure but
also the operations on the data
 Database Actors
• Database Administrators
– In a database environment, the primary resource is the database
itself and the secondary resource is the DBMS and related software
– authorizing access to the database
– coordinating and monitoring its use
– acquiring software and hardware resources as needed
• Database Designers
– identifying the data to be stored in the database
– choosing appropriate structures to represent and store this data
undertaken before the database is actually implemented and
populated with data
 Database Actors …..
– communicate with all prospective database users, in order to understand their
requirements
– develop a view of the database that meets the data and processing
requirements for each group of users
– These views are then analyzed and integrated with the views of other user
groups. The final database design must be capable of supporting the
requirements of all user groups
• End Users
– access to the database for querying, updating, and generating reports
– Casual end users:
– occasionally access the database
– need different information each time
– learn only a few facilities that they may use repeatedly.
 Database Actors …..

– use a sophisticated database query language to specify their requests

– typically middle- or high-level managers or other occasional browsers

• Naive or parametric end users

– constantly querying and updating the database, using standard types of queries
and updates called canned transactions that have been carefully programmed
and tested
– need to learn very little about the facilities provided by the DBMS
– Bank tellers check account balances and post withdrawals and deposits
– Reservation clerks for airlines, hotels, and car rental companies check availability
for a given request and make reservations
– Clerks at receiving stations for courier mail enter package identifications via bar
codes and descriptive information through buttons to update a central database of
received and in-transit packages
 Database Actors …..
• Sophisticated end users
– Engineers, scientists, business analysts, and others who thoroughly
familiarize themselves with the facilities of the DBMS so as to implement
their applications to meet their complex requirements
– Try to learn most of the DBMS facilities in order to achieve their complex
requirements
• Stand-alone users
– Maintain personal databases by using ready-made program packages that
provide easy-to-use menu- or graphics-based interfaces. An example is the
user of a tax package that stores a variety of personal financial data for tax
purposes
– Typically become very proficient in using a specific software package
 Database Actors …..

• System Analysts and Application Programmers

– Determine the requirements of end users, especially naive and parametric
end users, and develop specifications for canned transactions that meet
these requirements
– Application programmers implement these specifications as programs; then
they test, debug, document, and maintain these canned transactions
• Workers behind the Scene
– Typically do not use the database for their own purposes
– DBMS system designers and implementers
– design and implement the DBMS modules (for implementing the catalog,
query language, interface processors, data access, concurrency control,
recovery, and security. ) and interfaces as a software package
 Database Actors …..
• Tool developers
– Tools are optional packages that are often purchased separately
– include packages for database design, performance monitoring,
natural language or graphical interfaces, prototyping, simulation,
and test data generation.
• Operators and maintenance personnel
– system administration personnel who are responsible for the actual
running and maintenance of the hardware and software
environment for the database system
 Advantages of Using DBMS
• Controlling Redundancy
– Problems:
– there is the need to perform a single logical update (duplication of
effort)
– storage space is wasted when the same data is stored repeatedly
files that represent the same data may become inconsistent(typos)
– in DBMS there has the ability to control redundancy which
improve the performance of the query.
– the DBMS should have the capability to control this redundancy
so as to prohibit inconsistencies among the files
Advantages of Using DBMS …..
• Restricting Unauthorized Access
– users or user groups are given account numbers protected by
passwords, which they can use to gain access to the database
through security and authorization subsystem
• Providing Persistent Storage for Program Objects and Data
Structures
– Programming languages typically have complex data structures,
such as record types in PASCAL or class definitions in C++. The
values of program variables are discarded once a program
terminates, unless the programmer explicitly stores them in
permanent files, which often involves converting these complex
structures into a format suitable for file storage
Advantages of Using DBMS …..
– When the need arises to read this data once more, the programmer
must convert from the file format to the program variable
structure.
– Object-oriented database systems are compatible with
programming languages such as C++ and JAVA, and the DBMS
software automatically performs any necessary conversions
– impedance mismatch problem:the data structures provided by the
DBMS were incompatible with the programming language’s data
structures.
• Permitting Inferencing and Actions Using Rules
Advantages of Using DBMS …..
– deductive database systems:when database systems provide capabilities
for defining deduction rules for Inferencing new information from the
stored database facts
– there may be complex rules in the miniworld application for
determining when a student is on probation. (rules)
– traditional DBMS, an explicit procedural program code would have to
be written to support such applications
• Providing Multiple User Interfaces
– a DBMS provides a variety of user interfaces:query languages for casual
users; programming language interfaces for application programmers;
forms and command codes for parametric users; and menu-driven
interfaces and natural language interfaces for stand-alone users.
– Capabilities for providing World Wide Web access to a database
Advantages of Using DBMS …..
• Representing Complex Relationships Among Data
• Enforcing Integrity Constraints
– The simplest type involves specifying a data type for each data item
– A more complex type involves specifying that a record in one file
must be related to records in other files.
– Another type specifies uniqueness on data item values
– It is the database designers’ responsibility to identify integrity
constraints during database design.
• Providing Backup and Recovery
• provide facilities for recovering from hardware or software
failures.(The backup and recovery subsystem )
 Implications of the Database
Approach
• Potential for Enforcing Standards
– defined for names and formats of data elements, display formats,
report structures, terminology, etc..
• Reduced Application Development Time
– A prime selling feature of the database approach is that developing a
new application such as the retrieval of certain data from the
database for printing a new report takes very little time
– Development time using a DBMS is estimated to be one-sixth to
one-fourth of that for a traditional file system.
• Flexibility
– It may be necessary to change the structure of a database as
requirements change
 Implications of the Database
Approach…..
• Availability of Up-to-Date Information
• Economies of Scale
– The DBMS approach permits consolidation of data and
applications, thus reducing the amount of wasteful overlap
between activities of data-processing personnel in different
projects or departments.
 When Not to Use a DBMS
• overhead costs :
– High initial investment in hardware, software, and training.
– Generality that a DBMS provides for defining and processing data.
– Overhead for providing security, concurrency control, recovery, and
integrity functions.
– if the database designers and DBA do not properly design the
database
– if database systems applications are not implemented properly
– use regular files under the following circumstances:
• The database and applications are simple, well defined, and not expected to change.
• There are stringent real-time requirements for some programs that may not be met
because of DBMS overhead.
• Multiple-user access to data is not required