Data hierarchy

Level 0 bit

Level 1 character

Level 2 field

Level 3 record

Level 4 table

Level 5 database

1. Bit – a single binary digit that is 0 or 1 is the smallest unit of data

2. Character- multiple related bits combined to form a character or

a byte

Four bits combine to form a nibble

Eight bits combine to form a byte

3. Field- multiple characters combine to form field

If we are processing student database then roll no address course

and so on are considered as fields.

4. Record- multiple fields combine to form a record.

That is record is a collection of related fields

5. Table- it can also be called as file

Multiple related records combine to form a table

For example collection of all records of all the students forms a

table.
 6. Database- multiple related tables are combined to form a
database

For example all the tables containing student data can be

considered as student database.

DBMS architecture

Physical Data Level

The physical schema describes details of how data is stored: files, indices, etc. on
the random access disk system.  It also typically describes the record layout of files
and type of files

Conceptual Data Level

Also referred to as the Logical level

Hides details of the physical level.

  In the relational model, the conceptual schema presents data as a set of
tables.

The DBMS maps data access between the conceptual to physical schemas
automatically.

 Physical schema can be changed without changing application:

 DBMS must change mapping from conceptual to physical.
 Referred to as physical data independence.

 External Data Level

In the relational model, the external schema also presents data as a set of
relations. An external schema specifies a view of the data in terms of the
conceptual level. It is tailored to the needs of a particular category of users.
Portions of stored data should not be seen by some users and begins to implement a
level of security and simplifies the view for these users

Data Abstraction in DBMS

DBMS

Database systems are made-up of complex data structures. To ease the user
interaction with database, the developers hide internal irrelevant details from users.
This process of hiding irrelevant details from user is called data abstraction.

We have three levels of abstraction:

Physical level: This is the lowest level of data abstraction. It describes how data is
actually stored in database. You can get the complex data structure details at this
level.

Logical level: This is the middle level of 3-level data abstraction architecture. It
describes what data is stored in database.

View level: Highest level of data abstraction. This level describes the user
interaction with database system.

Example: Let’s say we are storing customer information in a customer table. At

physical level these records can be described as blocks of storage (bytes,
gigabytes, terabytes etc.) in memory. These details are often hidden from the
programmers.

At the logical level these records can be described as fields and attributes along
with their data types, their relationship among each other can be logically
implemented. The programmers generally work at this level because they are
aware of such things about database systems.

At view level, user just interact with system with the help of GUI(graphical user
interface) and enter the details at the screen, they are not aware of how the data is
stored and what data is stored; such details are hidden from them.