Relational Databases

Chapter 4

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 Learning Objectives
• Explain the importance and advantages of databases, as well as the
difference between database and file-based legacy systems.

• Explain the difference between logical and physical views of a

database.

• Explain fundamental concepts of database systems such as DBMS,

schemas, the data dictionary, and DBMS languages.

• Describe what a relational database is and how it organizes data.

• Create a set of well-structured tables to properly store data in a

relational database.

• Perform simple queries using the Microsoft Access database.

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 What Is a Database?
• Efficiently and centrally coordinates information for a
related group of files
• A file is a related group of records
• A record is a related group of fields
• A field is a specific attribute of
interest for the entity (record)

Basic Elements of
Data Hierarchy

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 Databases and Files
Database Management System (DBMS)
• The program that manages and controls the data and the
interfaces between the data and the application programs
that use the data stored in the database.

Database System
• The database, the DBMS, and the application programs that
access the database through the DBMS.

Database Administrator (DBA)

• The person responsible for coordinating, controlling, and
managing the database.
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 Using Data Warehouses for
Business Intelligence
Data Warehouse
• One or more very large databases containing both detailed
and summarized data for a number of years that is used for
analysis rather than transaction processing.
• Measured in petabytes (1,000 terabytes or 1 million
gigabytes)

Transaction Processing Databases Data Warehouse

Minimize redundancy; Maximize query efficiency
Maximize efficiency

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 Using Data Warehouses for
Business Intelligence
Analyzing large amounts of data for strategic decision making is
often referred to as business intelligence (BI).
Online Analytical Processing
Data Mining
(OLAP)
• Using queries to investigate • Using sophisticated statistical
hypothesized relationships among analysis, including artificial
data. intelligence (AI) techniques to
• Example: A manager may analyze “discover” unhypothesized
supplier purchases for the last 3 relationships in the data.
years, followed by additional • Example: A credit card company
queries that “drill down” to lower uses data mining to identify usage
levels by grouping purchases by patterns indicative of fraud.
item number and by fiscal period.

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 Learning Check
Column A Column B
1. DBMS A. Analyzing large amounts of data for strategic decision making

2. Database System B. The person responsible for coordinating, controlling,

and managing the database.
3. DBA C. Using queries to investigate hypothesized relationships among data.

4. Data Warehouse D. The program that manages and controls the data and the
interfaces between the data and the application programs that
use the data stored in the database.

5. Business Intelligence E. One or more very large databases containing both

detailed and summarized that is used for analysis
6. OLAP F. Using sophisticated statistical analysis, including artificial
intelligence (AI) techniques to “discover” unhypothesized
relationships in the data.

7. Data Mining G. Efficiently and centrally coordinates information for

8. Database
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a related group of files
H. The database, the DBMS, and the application
programs that access the database through the DBMS.
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 Advantages of Databases
• Data is integrated and easy to share
• Minimize data redundancy
• Data is independent of the programs that use the
data
• Data is easily accessed for reporting and cross-
functional analysis

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 Relational Database
Relational Database
• It is a collective set of multiple data sets organized by
tables, records, and columns.
• It establishes a well-defined relationship between
database tables.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

• It is a standard user application that provides an easy
programming interface for database interaction.

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 Relational Database
One or more data or record characteristics relate to one or
many records to form functional dependencies/relationship:
• One to One: One table record relates to another record in
another table.
• One to Many/Many to One: One table record relates to
many records in another table.
• Many to Many: More than one table record relates to
more than one record in another table.

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 Learning Check
• Give an example of one-to-one relationship.
• Give an example of one-to-many/many-to-one relationship.

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