Module 7a:Structuring and Storing Data

Relationship between attributes and entities

Each record in an entity occupies one row in its respective table

Reason Database offers increased information security

Various security features of databases ensure that individuals have only certain types of access to certain types of information

Information integrity

a measure of the quality of information

Relational Database Management System

allows users to create, read, update and delete data in a relational database

Data models

are logical data structures that detail the relationships among data elements using graphics or pictures

Integrity constraints

are rules that help insure the quality of information.

Attributes (Columns/Fields)

are the data elements associated with an entity

structured query language (SQL)

asks users to write lines of code to answer questions against a database.

Data Dictionary

compiles all of the metadata about the data elements in the data model.

Database Management System(DBMS)

creates, reads, updates and deletes data in database while controlling access and security.

Physical View of Information

deals with the physical storage of information on a storage device.

Business Rule

defines show a company performs certain aspects of its business and typically results in a yes/no or true/false answer.

Business-Critcal integrity constraints

enforce business rules vital to an organizations success and often require more insight and knowledge than relational integrity constraints.

Logical view of information

focuses on how individual users logically access information to meet their own particular business needs.

query-by-example (QBE) tool

helps users graphically design the answer to a question against a database.

Primary

is a field that uniquely identifies a given record in a table

Foreign Key

is a primary key of one table that appears as an attribute in another table and acts to provide a logical relationship between the two tables.

Record

is the collection of related data elements

Information redundancy

is the duplication of data, or the storage of the same data in multiple places.

Database

maintains information about various types of objects (inventory), event (transactions), people (employees), and places (warehouses).

Metadata

provides details about data

Relational integrity constraints

rules that enforce basic and fundamental information based constraints.

Entity

stores information about a person, place, thing, transaction, or event.

Relational Database Model

stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables.

Data Element (Data Field)

the smallest or basic unit of information

Business Advantages of a Relational Database

1.Increased flexibility 2.Increased Information integrity 3.Increased scalability and information 4.Increased information security 5.Reduced Information redundancy