PT2520 - Week 1 Assignments

Homework Assignment 1

1. What are the basic components of a database? The end user data, metadata, and entities (primary and foreign keys).

2. What is a DBMS, and what are its functions? It stands for Data base Management Systems. It is a collection of programs that manages database structures and controls access to data. 3. What is the use of the primary key in a table? Can a table have more than one primary key? The primary key of a relational table uniquely identifies each record in the table. You can only have one primary key, but you can have multiple columns in your primary key.

4. Define a data model. It is a fairly simple representation, usually graphical, of real-world data structures. It is the blueprint for a successful database.

5. Define a relational database.
It is a database structured to recognize relations among stored items of information.

6. List the three components of a data model. Entity, attribute, and relationship are the main components.

True or False:

1. Data constitutes the building blocks of processing.

T F
2. The DBMS makes data management more efficient.

T F
3. The DBMS serves as an intermediary between the end user and the database.

T F
4. The structure of the contents of a database does not need to be designed carefully.

T F
5. Having fields stored in one location produces data redundancy.

T F

6. Relations are related to each other by sharing a common entity characteristic.

T F
7. An entity is a person, place, or thing about which data are to be collected and stored.

T F

8. There are five types of relationships that exist between entities.

T F
9. Business rules help you determine the relationships that exist between entities.

T F

Complete each sentence or statement.

1. “Raw” facts, such as a telephone number, a birth date, or a customer name, are also referred to as end user data_________________.

2. A logically connected or logically related set of one or more fields that describes a specific item is referred to as a(n) ___information______________.

3. A collection of related records is referred to as a(n) ___file_________________.

4. A set of one or more fields that describe a person, place, or thing is a(n) ____record________________

5. A poorly designed database can become a breeding ground for ____data redundancy________________, that is, unnecessarily duplicated data.

6. A(n) __entity__________________ is a person, place, or thing about which information is stored.

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Lab 1

Research (Use MS Word to document your research)

1. Research current RDBMS products on the Internet. Prepare a short report (1 page) describing the products you found and a short description of each. Include at least three RDBMS products, each from a different manufacturer. (Cite you sources).

MySQL – MySQL by Microsoft, is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), and ships with no GUI tools to administer MySQL databases or manage data contained within the databases. Users may use the included command line tools, or use MySQL "front-ends", desktop software and web applications that create and manage MySQL databases, build database structures, back up data, inspect status, and work with data records.The official set of MySQL front-end tools, MySQL Workbench is actively developed by Oracle, and is freely available for use. As part of LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP / Perl / Python), MySQL is a key a fast-growing open source enterprise software stack. More and more companies are being more aped