1.1 Introduction
A database-management system (DBMS) is a collection of interrelated data and a set of
programs to access those data. This is a collection of related data with an implicit
meaning and hence is a database. The collection of data, usually referred to as the
database, contains information relevant to an enterprise. The primary goal of a DBMS is
to provide a way to store and retrieve database information that is both convenient and
efficient. By data, we mean known facts that can be recorded and that have implicit
meaning. For example, consider the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of the
people you know. You may have recorded this data in an indexed address book, or you
may have stored it on a diskette, using a personal computer and software such as DBASE
IV or V, Microsoft ACCESS, or EXCEL. A datum – a unit of data – is a symbol or a set
of symbols which is used to represent something. This relationship between symbols and
what they represent is the essence of what we mean by information. Hence, information
is interpreted data – data supplied with semantics. Knowledge refers to the practical use
of information. While information can be transported, stored or shared without many
difficulties the same can not be said about knowledge. Knowledge necessarily involves a
personal experience. Referring back to the scientific experiment, a third person reading
the results will have information about it, while the person who conducted the experiment
personally will have knowledge about it.
Database systems are designed to manage large bodies of information. Management of
data involves both defining structures for storage of information and providing
mechanisms for the manipulation of information. In addition, the database system must
ensure the safety of the information stored, despite system crashes or attempts at
unauthorized access. If data are to be shared among several users, the system must avoid
possible anomalous results.
Because information is so important in most organizations, computer scientists have
developed a large body of concepts and techniques for managing data. These concepts
and technique form the focus of this book. This chapter briefly introduces the principles
of database systems.
2
,1.2 Data Processing Vs. Data Management Systems
Although Data Processing and Data Management Systems both refer to functions that
take raw data and transform it into usable information, the usage of the terms is very
different. Data Processing is the term generally used to describe what was done by large
mainframe computers from the late 1940's until the early 1980's (and which continues to
be done in most large organizations to a greater or lesser extent even today): large
volumes of raw transaction data fed into programs that update a master file, with fixed-
format reports written to paper.
The term Data Management Systems refers to an expansion of this concept, where the
raw data, previously copied manually from paper to punched cards, and later into data-
entry terminals, is now fed into the system from a variety of sources, including ATMs,
EFT, and direct customer entry through the Internet. The master file concept has been
largely displaced by database management systems, and static reporting replaced or
augmented by ad-hoc reporting and direct inquiry, including downloading of data by
customers. The ubiquity of the Internet and the Personal Computer have been the driving
force in the transformation of Data Processing to the more global concept of Data
Management Systems.
1.3 File Oriented Approach
The earliest business computer systems were used to process business records and
produce information. They were generally faster and more accurate than equivalent
manual systems. These systems stored groups of records in separate files, and so they
were called file processing systems. In a typical file processing systems, each
department has its own files, designed specifically for those applications. The department
itself working with the data processing staff, sets policies or standards for the format and
maintenance of its files.
Programs are dependent on the files and vice-versa; that is, when the physical format of
the file is changed, the program has also to be changed. Although the traditional file
oriented approach to information processing is still widely used, it does have some very
important disadvantages.
1.4 Database Oriented Approach to Data Management
3
,Consider part of a savings-bank enterprise that keeps information about all customers and
savings accounts. One way to keep the information on a computer is to store it in
operating system files. To allow users to manipulate the information, the system has a
number of application programs that manipulate the files, including
A program to debit or credit an account
A program to add a new account
A program to find the balance of an account
A program to generate monthly statements
System programmers wrote these application programs to meet the needs of the bank.
New application programs are added to the system as the need arises. For example,
suppose that the savings bank decides to offer checking accounts. As a result, the bank
creates new permanent files that contain information about all the checking accounts
maintained in the bank, and it may have to write new application programs to deal with
situations that do not arise in savings accounts, such as overdrafts. Thus, as time goes by,
the system acquires more files and more application programs.
This typical file-processing system is supported by a conventional operating system. The
system stores permanent records in various files, and it needs different application
programs to extract records from, and add records to, the appropriate files. Before
database management systems (DBMSs) came along, organizations usually stored
information in such systems.
Keeping organizational information in a file-processing system has a number of major
disadvantages:
Data redundancy and inconsistency.
Since different programmers create the files and application programs over a long
period, the various files are likely to have different formats and the programs may be
written in several programming languages. Moreover, the same information may be
duplicated in several places (files). For example, the address and telephone number of a
particular customer may appear in a file that consists of savings-account records and in a
file that consists of checking-account records. This redundancy leads to higher storage
and access cost. In addition, it may lead to data inconsistency; that is, the various copies
4
, of the same data may no longer agree. For example, a changed customer address may be
reflected in savings-account records but not elsewhere in the system.
Difficulty in accessing data.
Suppose that one of the bank officers needs to find out the names of all customers who
live within a particular postal-code area. The officer asks the data-processing department
to generate such a list. Because the designers of the original system did not anticipate this
request, there is no application program on hand to meet it. There is, however, an
application program to generate the list of all customers. The bank officer has now two
choices: either obtain the list of all customers and extract the needed information
manually or ask a system programmer to write the necessary application program. Both
alternatives are obviously unsatisfactory. Suppose that such a program is written, and
that, several days later, the same officer needs to trim that list to include only those
customers who have an account balance of $10,000 or more. As expected, a program to
generate such a list does not exist. Again, the officer has the preceding two options,
neither of which is satisfactory.
The point here is that conventional file-processing environments do not allow needed
data to be retrieved in a convenient and efficient manner. More responsive data-retrieval
systems are required for general use.
Data isolation. Because data are scattered in various files, and files may be in different
formats, writing new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data is difficult.
Integrity problems. The data values stored in the database must satisfy certain types of
consistency constraints. For example, the balance of a bank account may never fall
below a prescribed amount (say, $25). Developers enforce these constraints in the system
by adding appropriate code in the various application programs. However, when new
constraints are added, it is difficult to change the programs to enforce them. The problem
is compounded when constraints involve several data items from different files.
Atomicity problems. A computer system, like any other mechanical or electrical
device, is subject to failure. In many applications, it is crucial that, if a failure occurs, the
data be restored to the consistent state that existed prior to the failure. Consider a program
to transfer $50 from account A to account B. If a system failure occurs during the
execution of the program, it is possible that the $50 was removed from account A but was
5
A database-management system (DBMS) is a collection of interrelated data and a set of
programs to access those data. This is a collection of related data with an implicit
meaning and hence is a database. The collection of data, usually referred to as the
database, contains information relevant to an enterprise. The primary goal of a DBMS is
to provide a way to store and retrieve database information that is both convenient and
efficient. By data, we mean known facts that can be recorded and that have implicit
meaning. For example, consider the names, telephone numbers, and addresses of the
people you know. You may have recorded this data in an indexed address book, or you
may have stored it on a diskette, using a personal computer and software such as DBASE
IV or V, Microsoft ACCESS, or EXCEL. A datum – a unit of data – is a symbol or a set
of symbols which is used to represent something. This relationship between symbols and
what they represent is the essence of what we mean by information. Hence, information
is interpreted data – data supplied with semantics. Knowledge refers to the practical use
of information. While information can be transported, stored or shared without many
difficulties the same can not be said about knowledge. Knowledge necessarily involves a
personal experience. Referring back to the scientific experiment, a third person reading
the results will have information about it, while the person who conducted the experiment
personally will have knowledge about it.
Database systems are designed to manage large bodies of information. Management of
data involves both defining structures for storage of information and providing
mechanisms for the manipulation of information. In addition, the database system must
ensure the safety of the information stored, despite system crashes or attempts at
unauthorized access. If data are to be shared among several users, the system must avoid
possible anomalous results.
Because information is so important in most organizations, computer scientists have
developed a large body of concepts and techniques for managing data. These concepts
and technique form the focus of this book. This chapter briefly introduces the principles
of database systems.
2
,1.2 Data Processing Vs. Data Management Systems
Although Data Processing and Data Management Systems both refer to functions that
take raw data and transform it into usable information, the usage of the terms is very
different. Data Processing is the term generally used to describe what was done by large
mainframe computers from the late 1940's until the early 1980's (and which continues to
be done in most large organizations to a greater or lesser extent even today): large
volumes of raw transaction data fed into programs that update a master file, with fixed-
format reports written to paper.
The term Data Management Systems refers to an expansion of this concept, where the
raw data, previously copied manually from paper to punched cards, and later into data-
entry terminals, is now fed into the system from a variety of sources, including ATMs,
EFT, and direct customer entry through the Internet. The master file concept has been
largely displaced by database management systems, and static reporting replaced or
augmented by ad-hoc reporting and direct inquiry, including downloading of data by
customers. The ubiquity of the Internet and the Personal Computer have been the driving
force in the transformation of Data Processing to the more global concept of Data
Management Systems.
1.3 File Oriented Approach
The earliest business computer systems were used to process business records and
produce information. They were generally faster and more accurate than equivalent
manual systems. These systems stored groups of records in separate files, and so they
were called file processing systems. In a typical file processing systems, each
department has its own files, designed specifically for those applications. The department
itself working with the data processing staff, sets policies or standards for the format and
maintenance of its files.
Programs are dependent on the files and vice-versa; that is, when the physical format of
the file is changed, the program has also to be changed. Although the traditional file
oriented approach to information processing is still widely used, it does have some very
important disadvantages.
1.4 Database Oriented Approach to Data Management
3
,Consider part of a savings-bank enterprise that keeps information about all customers and
savings accounts. One way to keep the information on a computer is to store it in
operating system files. To allow users to manipulate the information, the system has a
number of application programs that manipulate the files, including
A program to debit or credit an account
A program to add a new account
A program to find the balance of an account
A program to generate monthly statements
System programmers wrote these application programs to meet the needs of the bank.
New application programs are added to the system as the need arises. For example,
suppose that the savings bank decides to offer checking accounts. As a result, the bank
creates new permanent files that contain information about all the checking accounts
maintained in the bank, and it may have to write new application programs to deal with
situations that do not arise in savings accounts, such as overdrafts. Thus, as time goes by,
the system acquires more files and more application programs.
This typical file-processing system is supported by a conventional operating system. The
system stores permanent records in various files, and it needs different application
programs to extract records from, and add records to, the appropriate files. Before
database management systems (DBMSs) came along, organizations usually stored
information in such systems.
Keeping organizational information in a file-processing system has a number of major
disadvantages:
Data redundancy and inconsistency.
Since different programmers create the files and application programs over a long
period, the various files are likely to have different formats and the programs may be
written in several programming languages. Moreover, the same information may be
duplicated in several places (files). For example, the address and telephone number of a
particular customer may appear in a file that consists of savings-account records and in a
file that consists of checking-account records. This redundancy leads to higher storage
and access cost. In addition, it may lead to data inconsistency; that is, the various copies
4
, of the same data may no longer agree. For example, a changed customer address may be
reflected in savings-account records but not elsewhere in the system.
Difficulty in accessing data.
Suppose that one of the bank officers needs to find out the names of all customers who
live within a particular postal-code area. The officer asks the data-processing department
to generate such a list. Because the designers of the original system did not anticipate this
request, there is no application program on hand to meet it. There is, however, an
application program to generate the list of all customers. The bank officer has now two
choices: either obtain the list of all customers and extract the needed information
manually or ask a system programmer to write the necessary application program. Both
alternatives are obviously unsatisfactory. Suppose that such a program is written, and
that, several days later, the same officer needs to trim that list to include only those
customers who have an account balance of $10,000 or more. As expected, a program to
generate such a list does not exist. Again, the officer has the preceding two options,
neither of which is satisfactory.
The point here is that conventional file-processing environments do not allow needed
data to be retrieved in a convenient and efficient manner. More responsive data-retrieval
systems are required for general use.
Data isolation. Because data are scattered in various files, and files may be in different
formats, writing new application programs to retrieve the appropriate data is difficult.
Integrity problems. The data values stored in the database must satisfy certain types of
consistency constraints. For example, the balance of a bank account may never fall
below a prescribed amount (say, $25). Developers enforce these constraints in the system
by adding appropriate code in the various application programs. However, when new
constraints are added, it is difficult to change the programs to enforce them. The problem
is compounded when constraints involve several data items from different files.
Atomicity problems. A computer system, like any other mechanical or electrical
device, is subject to failure. In many applications, it is crucial that, if a failure occurs, the
data be restored to the consistent state that existed prior to the failure. Consider a program
to transfer $50 from account A to account B. If a system failure occurs during the
execution of the program, it is possible that the $50 was removed from account A but was
5
