Project Example

The StayHome case study an overview This case study describes a company called StayHome, which rents out videos to its member. The first branch of StayHome was established in 1982 in Seattle but the company now has grown and has many branches throughout the United States. The companys success is due to the first-class service it provides to its members and the wide and varied stock of videos available for rent. StayHome currently has about 2000 staff working in 100 branches. When a member of staff joins the company, the StayHome staff registration form is used. Each branch has a Manager and several Supervisors. The manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of a given branch and each Supervisor is responsible for supervising a group of staff. Each branch of StayHome has a stock of videos for hire. Each video is uniquely identified using a catalog number. However, in most cases, there are several copies of each video at a branch, and the individual copies are identified using the video number. Before renting a video, a customer must first join as a member of StayHome. When a customer joins, he or she is requested to complete StayHome member registration form. StayHome currently has about 100 000 members. A customer may choose to register at more than one branch; however, a new member registration form must be filled out on each occasion. Once registered, a member is free to rent videos, up to a maximum of 10 at any one time. When a member chooses to rent one or more videos, the StayHome video rental form is completed. As StayHome has grown, so have the difficulties in managing the increasing amount of data used and generated by the company. To ensure the continued success of the company, the Director of StayHome has urgently requested that a database system be built to help solve the increasing problems of data management. The StayHome case study database planning The first step in developing a database system is to define clearly the mission statement for the database project. The mission statement defines the major aims of the database system. Those driving the database project within the business (such as the Director and/or owner) normally define the mission statement. A mission statement helps to clarify the purpose of the database project and provides a clearer path towards the efficient and effective creation of the required database system. Once the mission statement is defined, the next activity involves identifying the mission objectives. Each mission objective should identify a particular task that the database must support. The

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assumption is that if the database supports the mission objectives then the mission statement should be met. The mission statement and objectives may be accompanied by additional information that specifies, in general terms, the work to be done, the resources with which to do it, and the money to pay for it all. Mission Statement for the StayHome database system The purpose of the StayHome database system is to collect, store, manage, and control access to the data that supports the video rentals business for our members, and to facilitate the corporation and sharing of information between branches. Mission Objectives for the StayHome database system To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on branches. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on staff. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on videos. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on members. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on video rentals. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on video suppliers. To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on orders to suppliers for videos. To perform searches on branches. To perform searches on branches. To perform searches on staff. To perform searches on video rentals. To perform searches on members. To perform searches on video suppliers. To perform searches on video orders. To track the status of video in stock. To track the status of video rentals. To track the status of video orders. To report on branches. To report on staff. To report on videos. To report on members. To report on video rentals. To report on video suppliers. To report on video orders. Create and check ER model

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Objective To build an ER model of the data requirements of the organization (or part of the organization) to be supported by the database. Each ER model comprises: entities, relationships, attributes and attributes domains, primary keys, integrity constraints.

Identify entities Objective To identify the required entities. The first step in building an ER model is to define the main objects that the users are interested in. these objects are the entities for the model. StayHome entities For the Branch user views of StayHome, you may identify the following entities: Branch Video Member Actor Staff VideoForRent RentalAgreement Director

As you identify entities, assign them names are meaningful and obvious to the users. Record the names and descriptions of entities in a data dictionary. Identify relationships

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Objective To identify the important relationships that exists between the entities. Having identified the entities, the next step is to identify all the relationships that exist between these entities. Typically, relationships are indicated by verbs or verbal expressions. For example: Branch Has Staff Branch IsAllocated VideoForRent VideoForRent IsPartOf RentalAgreement

StayHome relationships and connectivities Entity Branch Branch Staff Video VideoForRent Member Actor Director Relationship Has IsAllocated Enters Manages Supervises Is Features IsPartOf Requests Confirms Assigns Directs Connectivity 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: 1 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: M 1: M Entity Staff VideoForRent Registration Branch Staff VideoForRent Role RentalAgreeme nt RentalAgreeme nt Registration Role Video

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Use Entity-Relationship (ER) modeling Its often easier to visualize a complex system rather than read long textual descriptions of such a system. The use of Entity-Relationship (ER) diagrams helps you more easily to represent entities and how they relate to one another. You can represent the above entities and relationships in the ER diagram shown below.

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