Introduction to Database

Systems
 Course Details
 Textbook
◦ Database Systems Concepts Design Applications by S K
Singh, latest edition 2011
 Reference
◦ Database System by Catherine Ricardo
◦ Data Management Systems by Raghu Ramakrishnan and
Johannes Gehrke
◦ Database Systems: Design, Implementation, and
Management By Carlos Coronel, Steven Morris, Peter
Rob, 10th edition 2012
◦ An Introduction to Database Systems By Date, 2006
◦ Introduction To ORACLE: SQL and PL/SQL, Student
Guide, Production 1.1, Volume 1.2.

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 Course Outline
(subject to minor changes)
 Basics: Introduction to Database Systems, The Entity Relationship Model,
The Relational Model, Relational Algebra and Calculus
 SQL: Queries, Programming, Triggers, Query By Example (QBE)
 Data Storage and Indexing: File Organization and Indexes, Tree Structured
Indexing, Hash Based Indexing
 Query Evaluation: External Sorting, Evaluation Of Relational Operators,
Introduction to Query Optimization, A Typical Relational Query Optimizer
 Database Design: Schema Refinement and Normal Forms, Physical
Database Design and Tuning, Security
 Transaction Management: Transaction Management Overview,
Concurrency Control, Crash Recovery
 Advanced topics: Parallel and Distributed Databases, Internet Databases,
Decision Support, Data Mining, Object Database Systems, Spatial Data
management, Deductive Databases

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What are Data?
 Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction
from which information and knowledge are derived.
 Data can exist in a variety of forms -- as numbers or text
on pieces of paper, as bits and bytes stored in electronic
memory, or as facts stored in a person's mind.
 Raw data refers to a collection of numbers, characters,
images or other outputs from devices that collect
information to convert physical quantities into symbols,
that are unprocessed.
 Usually, there are many facts to describe something of
interest to us. (For example, employee data to calculate
payroll check, send company greetings, inform family
in case of emergency
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 Data: Where can we find it?

Filing Cabinets

Spreadsheets Paper piles

Folders

And many more …

Memories
Lists
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What is File System?
 A file system is a method of storing and organizing
computer files and their data.
 Essentially, it organizes these files into a database for
the storage, organization, manipulation, and retrieval
by the computer's operating system.
 File systems are used on data storage devices such as
a hard disks or CD-ROMs to maintain the physical
location of the files.

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File Systems

 ASCII file
 Accounts separated by new lines
 Fields separated by #’s
 Different files: account types, branches etc.

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 File Systems

 What’s the balance in Homer Simpson’s account?

 A simple script
 Scan through the accounts file
 Look for the line containing “Homer Simpson”
 Print out the balance

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File Systems

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Advantages of File System
 Provides a useful historical perspective that how we
handle the data
 Helps in overall understanding of design complexity
of the overall system
 Understanding the problems and knowledge of
limitation in file based system helps in avoiding the
same problem when designing database system.

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Drawbacks of File System
 Data Redundancy
◦ Decentralized approach adopted
◦ Duplication of information in different files (For example,
cust_id data in CUSTOMER and SALES file)
◦ Wasteful (more storage space, extra time, more effort)
 Data Inconsistency
◦ Multiple file formats, duplication of information in different
files (e.g name in one file is 15 characters, while in other
file is 10 characters)
◦ Various copies of the same data may be different
◦ Results in maintenance overhead and storage costs
◦ Serious degradation in the quality of information and also
the accuracy 11
Drawbacks of File System
 Difficulty in Accessing Data
◦ Need to write a new program to carry out each new task
 Data Isolation
◦ Data scattered in various files - Difficult
 Program Data Dependence
◦ A change in file structure requires change in the file
description (physical structure, storage of the data files and
record) in each program to confirm the new file structure
◦ Difficult to locate all files affected by it
◦ Time consuming and subject to error when making changes

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Drawbacks of File System
 Poor data control
◦ Multiple names used by various departments
◦ Lead to different meanings of the data field in different
context, same meaning for different fields, leads to poor data
control, and also confusion
 Limited Data Sharing & Excessive Programming Effort
◦ Each application has its own private files
◦ Little opportunity to share data with other applications
◦ To obtain data from several incompatible files in separate
system will require a large programming effort
 Inadequate data manipulation capabilities
◦ No connection between data in different files, so data
manipulation capability is limited

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Drawbacks of File System

 Integrity Problems
◦ Integrity constraints (e.g. account balance > 0) become part
of program code
◦ Hard to add new constraints or change existing ones
 Atomicity Problems
◦ Failures may leave database in an inconsistent state with
partial updates carried out
◦ E.g. transfer of funds from one account to another should
either complete or not happen at all

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Drawbacks of File System
 Concurrent access by multiple users
◦ Concurrent accessed needed for performance
◦ Uncontrolled concurrent accesses can lead to
inconsistencies
 For example, two people reading a balance and updating
it at the same time
 Security Problems
◦ Access Control

Database
Databasesystems
systemsoffer
offersolutions
solutionsto
toall
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theabove
above
problems
problems

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What is a Database?
A database consists of an organized collection of data
for one or more multiple uses.
 An organized body of related information.
 A collection of logically related data stored together
that is designed to meet the information needs of the
organization

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Database Applications
 Databases play a critical role in almost all areas
◦ Banking: all transactions
◦ Airline: reservation, schedules
◦ Universities: registration, grades
◦ Sales: customers, products, purchases
◦ Manufacturing: production, inventory, orders, supply
chain
◦ Human resources: employee records, salaries, tax
deductions

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What is a Database?
A database can be of any size and of varying
complexity.
 A software system that facilitates the creation and
maintenance and use of an electronic database
◦ For example, the list of names and addresses of friends
◦ The book catalog of a large library may contain half a
million records
◦ A database of much greater size and complexity is
maintained to keep track of the tax information filed by
taxpayers.

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What is Database Management?
 Database management is an approach to provide
simplistic access to information stored in databases.

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What is a Database Management System?
A DBMS is a collection of software programs to
enable users to create, maintain and utilize a database.
 DBMS is a generalized software system for
manipulating databases
◦ Process of Defining (specifying the data types, structure and
constraint)
◦ Constructing (process of storing data on storage media)
◦ Manipulating (querying to retrieve specific data, updating to
reflect changes and generating reports from the data)

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Database Management System

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What is a DBMS?
 Functions of DBMS
◦ Insert records
◦ Delete records
◦ Update records
◦ Query records
◦ Add and Delete files from the database
 In short, DBMS comprises of two main parts
◦ Data Management in the database
◦ User Management associated with the database

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What is a DBMSs?
 Commercial DBMSs

Company Product
Oracle Oracle 8i, 9i, 10g,11i
IBM DB2, Universal Server (from System
R, System R*, Starburst) & Informix
Microsoft Access, SQL Server
Sybase Adaptive Server
Informix Dynamic Server
NCR Teradata
UC Brekeley’s INGRES,M PostgreSQL
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Advantages of DBMS
 Minimal Data Redundancy
◦ Centralized database and control of data
◦ Eliminates extra processing to trace the required data
◦ Storage requirement also reduced
◦ If duplicate data exists, DBMS is aware of it and ensure
multiple copies are consistent
 Program Data Independence
◦ Separation of data description from the application
programs
◦ Change in the data description does not affect the
application program that process the data

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Advantages of DBMS
 Efficient Data Access
◦ Utilize a sophisticated techniques to store and retrieve data
efficiently
 Improved Data Sharing
◦ Centralized repository of data belonging to entire
organization (For example, university data)
◦ Can be shared by all authorized users
 Improved Data Consistency
◦ DMS ensures that any change made to either of the two
entries in the database is automatically applied to the other
one as well, known as propagating updates

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Advantages of DBMS
 Improved Data Integrity
◦ Ensures that the data is accurate and consistent
◦ For example, months between the range 01 and 12, not
allowed to transfer money less than specific amount
 Improved Security
◦ Protection of database from unauthorized user
◦ Can define user name and passwords to authorize user, and
may be restricted for each type of access
 Increased Productivity of Application Development
◦ Provide many of the standard functions, such as forms and
report generators to automate some of the activities of the
database design
◦ Simplify the development of the database applications
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Advantages of DBMS
 Enforcement of Standards
 Economy of Scale
 Balance of Conflicting Requirements
 Improved Data Accessibility
 Improved Responsiveness
 Increased Concurrency
 Reduced Program Maintenance
 Improved Backup and Recovery Services

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Data Abstraction

Database
Database Systems
Systems provide
provide users
users with
with an
an abstract
abstract
view
view of
of data
data hiding
hiding certain
certain details
details of
of how
how data
data are
are
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storedand
andmaintained
maintained

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Data Abstraction
 Physical Level
◦ Describes how data is actually stored
 Logical Level
◦ Describes what data are stored in the database and what
relationships exist among those data
 View Level
◦ Describes only part of the entire database hiding details of
data types.
◦ Views can also hide information (e.g., salary) for security
purposes
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Level of Abstraction

Payroll Inventory Sales

Company database

Files on disks
Disadvantages of DBMS
 Increased Complexity
◦ Multi-user DBMS becomes an extremely complex piece of
software
◦ Necessary to understand the whole design to take advantage
of it
◦ Failure to understand, results in bad design decisions
 Requirement of New and Specialized Manpower
◦ Need to hire, train and retrain manpower on regular basis to
design and implement databases
 Large Size of DBMS
◦ Requires large amount of memory to run efficiently

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Disadvantages of DBMS
 Increased Installation & Management Cost
◦ Require trained manpower to install and operate DBMS,
also requires upgrade to the hardware, software and data
communication system
◦ Substantial training is required on ongoing basis to keep up
with new releases and upgrades
 Conversion Cost
◦ From legacy system to modern DBMS environment
◦ It includes cost of DBMS, hardware, cost of employing
specialists
 Need for Explicit Backup & Recovery
◦ Comprehensive procedure is required for the backup copies of
data and restoring a database when damage occurs
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Data Administrator
 Identified individual person in the organization who
has central repository of controlling data
 Jobof data administrator is to decide
◦ What data should be stored in the database, identify the entities
of the interest to the organization
◦ Establishing policies for maintaining and dealing with that data

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Database Administrator
 An individual or group of persons with an overview of
one or more databases who controls the design and use
of these databases
 Provides the necessary technical support for
implementing policy decisions of databases
 A DBA is the central controller of the database systems
who oversees and manages all the resources
 Responsible for authorizing access to the database, for
coordinating and monitoring its use and for acquiring
software and hardware resources as required

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Functions & Responsibilities of Database
Administrator
 Defining conceptual schema and database creation
 Storage structure and access-method definition
 Granting authorization to the users
 Physical organization modification
 Routine maintenance
 Job monitoring

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Database Users
 Users are differentiated by the way they expected to
interact with the system
 Application programmers
◦ Develop applications that interact with DBMS through
DML calls

 Sophisticated users
◦ Form requests in a database query language

 End users
◦ Invoke one of the existing application programs (e.g.,
print monthly sales report)
◦ Interact with applications through GUI
◦ E.g. People accessing database over the web, bank tellers,
clerical staff

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Information
 Information is processes, organized or summarized
data
 Data are processed to create the information, which is
meaningful to the recipient
 It helps in giving warning signals before something
starts going wrong
 It predicts the future with reasonable level of accuracy
and helps the organization to make the best decisions.
 Database may contain either data or information or
both.

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Metadata
 Data about the data
 It describes objects in the database and makes easier for
those objects to be accessed or manipulated
 It describes the database structure, constraints,
applications, authorization, size of data types and so on

Example:
Employee_Name , Character Type, 30 character size field,
Age, Integer Type, 8 bytes size

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System Catalog
 Repository of information describing the data in the
database
 System-created database that describes all database
objects, data dictionary information and user access
information
 It also describes table-related data such as table names,
table creator or owners, column names, data type, data
size, authorize users and so on
 It describes the structure of the primary database

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Data Item or Field
A data item is the smallest unit of data that has meaning to
its user
 Data items are the modules of the database
 A data item may be used to construct other, more complex
structures

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Records
A record is a collection of logically related fields or
data items.
 Data items are grouped together to form a record.
 Retrieved or updated using programs.

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Files
A file is a collection of related sequence of records
 Fixed-length records: Every record in the file has exactly
the same size
 Variable-length records: different records in the file has
different sizes.

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Data Dictionary
 Data Dictionary are mini database management
systems that manage metadata
 t is a repository of information about a database that
documents data elements of a database.
 The data dictionary is an integral part of the database
management systems (DBMSs) and stores metadata, or
information about the database, attribute names and
definitions for each table in the database.
 Data dictionaries aid the database administrator in the
management of a database, user view definitions as
well as their use.

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Structure of Data Dictionary

[Database Concepts, S K Singh]

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Data Dictionary
 Data Dictionary contain the following components
◦ Entities: Any item about which information is stored (record
describe an entity, and file describe an entity set)
◦ Attributes: property or characteristics of an entity
◦ Relationship: Associations that different entities related to
each other (For example, a student can take many subjects,
while many students take same subject)
◦ Keys: Data item for which a computer uses to identify a
record in a database system is referred to as key. In other
words, key is a single attribute or combination of attributes
of an entity set that is used to identify one or more instances
of the set.

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Transaction Management

AAtransaction
transactionisisaacollection
collectionof
ofoperations
operationsthat
thatperforms
performsaa
single
singlelogical
logicalfunction
functionininaadatabase
databaseapplication
application

Transfer of funds from Account A to Account B

B A

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Transaction Management

 Atomicity
◦ All-or-none (Both debit and credit or neither)
 Consistency
◦ Preserve the consistency of the database (A+B before =
A+B after)
 Isolation
◦ Transaction not to be influences by changes made by
other concurrently executing transactions
 Durability
◦ New values must persist despite system failures (e.g.,
power failures and operating system crashes)

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Transaction Management

 Each transaction is a unit of ACID(Atomicity,

Consistency, Isolation, Durability)
 Plays an important role in shaping many DBMS
capabilities, including concurrency control, back
up and recovery.

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References
 Chapter 1, Database Systems, S K Singh
 Chapter 1, Database System Concepts, Silberschatz, Korth, Sudarshan
 Chapter 1, Database Management Systems, by Ramakrishnan and
Gehrke
 Course material from:
◦ Introduction to database systems – Duke University
◦ Database Systems – MCS Fall 2009

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