Scribd
Upload
50 views11 pages

3 Schema Architecture

Uploaded by

minu poulose
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
50 views11 pages

3 Schema Architecture

Uploaded by

minu poulose
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

3 SCHEMA ARCHITECTURE

 The goal of the three-schema architecture, is to separate the user


applications and the physical database.
 In this architecture, schemas can be defined at the following three levels:
 Internal Level
 Conceptual Level
 External Level
 It’s a tool with which the user can visualize the schema levels in a
database system.
 The internal level has an internal schema, which describes the physical
storage structure of the database.
 The internal schema uses a physical data model and describes the
complete details of data storage and access paths for the database.
 The conceptual level has a conceptual schema, which describes the structure of the whole
database for a community of users.

 The conceptual schema hides the details of physical storage structures and concentrates
on describing entities, data types, relationships, user operations, and constraints.

 A high-level / Conceptual data model can be used at this level.


 The external or view level includes a number of external schemas or user views.
 Each external schema describes the part of the database that a particular user
group is interested in and hides the rest of the database from that user group.
 A high-level data model or an implementation data model can be used at this
level.
 The three schemas are only descriptions of data; the only data that actually
exists is at the physical level.

 In a DBMS based on the three-schema architecture, each user group refers


only to its own external schema.

 Therefore the DBMS must transform a request specified on an external


schema into a request against the conceptual schema, and then into a request
on the internal schema for processing over the stored database.

 If the request is a database retrieval, the data extracted from the stored
database must be reformatted to match the user’s external view.
 Mappings: The processes of transforming requests and results between
levels are called mappings.
DATA INDEPENDENCE


Data independence is defined as the capacity to change the schema at one
level of a database system without having to change the schema at the next
higher level.

Two types of data independence are there:

Logical Data Independence

Physical Data Independence

Logical data independence is the capacity to change the conceptual
schema without having to change external schemas or application
programs.

Eg: expand the database (by adding a record type or data item), or to
reduce the database (by removing a record type or data item).

Application programs that reference the external schema constructs must
work as before, after the conceptual schema undergoes a logical
reorganization.

Changes to constraints can be applied also to the conceptual schema
without affecting the external schemas or application programs.

Physical data independence is the capacity to change the internal schema
without having to change the conceptual schema.

There won’t be any change in external schema as well.

Changes to the internal schema may be needed because some physical
files had to be reorganized.

You might also like