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CS6400 – EXAM 3 NEWEST 2026 ACTUAL EXAM
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Logical (or conceptual) level - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > how users
| | | | | | | | | |
interpret the relation schemas and the meaning of their
| | | | | | | | |
attributes
|
Implementation (or physical storage) level - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer >
| | | | | | | | |
how the tuples in a base relation are stored and updated
| | | | | | | | | |
Bottom-up design methodology - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > (also called
| | | | | | | | |
design by synthesis) considers the basic relationships among
| | | | | | | |
individual attributes as the starting point and uses those to
| | | | | | | | | |
construct relation schemas
| | |
Top-down design methodology - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > (also called
| | | | | | | | |
design by analysis) starts with a number of groupings of
| | | | | | | | | |
attributes into relations that exist together naturally
| | | | | | |
,2 || |P |a |g |e
|
Measures to determine the quality of relation schema design
| | | | | | | | | -
✔✔✔ Correct Answer > ■ Making sure that the semantics of the
| | | | | | | | | | |
attributes is clear in the schema
| | | | | |
■ Reducing the redundant information in tuples | | | | |
■ Reducing the NULL values in tuples | | | | |
■ Disallowing the possibility of generating spurious tuples | | | | | |
Semantics of a relation - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > refers to its
| | | | | | | | | | |
meaning resulting from the interpretation of attribute
| | | | | | |
|values in a tuple | | |
Update anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > can be classified into
| | | | | | | | | |
insertion anomalies, deletion anomalies, and modification
| | | | | |
anomalies
|
Insertion Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when users
| | | | | | | | |
attempt to store an attribute value in the system but they
| | | | | | | | | | |
cannot because the value of another unnecessary but
| | | | | | | |
|required attribute is not known | | | |
Deletion Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when a value
| | | | | | | | | |
for one attribute that users wish to keep is unexpectedly
| | | | | | | | | |
removed when a value for another attribute is deleted
| | | | | | | | |
,3 || |P |a |g |e
|
Modification Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when | | | | | | | |
changes to multiple instances of an entity (rows of a table) are
| | | | | | | | | | | |
needed to effect an update to a single value of an
| | | | | | | | | | |
attribute
|
Spurious tuples - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > Tuples generated by | | | | | | | | |
joining two relations on attributes that are not keys or foreign
| | | | | | | | | | |
keys on these relations.
| | | |
Waste of storage space - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > due to nulls and
| | | | | | | | | | | |
the difficulty of performing selections, aggregation operations,
| | | | | | |
and joins due to NULL values
| | | | | |
A functional dependency (A->B) - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer >
| | | | | | | |
occurs when the attribute A uniquely determines B. A =
| | | | | | | | | |
left-hand side, B=right-hand-side.
| | |
-is a property of the semantics or meaning of the attributes.
| | | | | | | | | |
FD or f.d. - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > abbreviation for functional
| | | | | | | | | |
dependency
|
Candidate Key - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > An attribute, or combination | | | | | | | | | |
of attributes, that uniquely identifies a row in a relation.
| | | | | | | | | |
, 4 || |P |a |g |e
|
Legal relation states (or legal extensions) of R - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer
| | | | | | | | | | |
> Relation extensions r(R) that satisfy the functional
| | | | | | |
dependency constraints
| |
FD cannot be inferred automatically - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > must be
| | | | | | | | | | |
defined explicitly by someone who knows the semantics of the
| | | | | | | | | |
attributes of R.
| | |
Diagrammatic notation - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > isplaying fds: Each FD | | | | | | | | | |
is displayed as a horizontal
| | | | |
Normalization of Data - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > a process of | | | | | | | | | |
analyzing the given relation schemas based on their fds and
| | | | | | | | | |
primary keys to achieve the desirable properties of (1)
| | | | | | | | |
minimizing redundancy and (2) minimizing the insertion,
| | | | | | | |
deletion, and update anomalies
| | | |
Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > A | | | | | | | | |
special type of third normal form (3NF) in which every
| | | | | | | | | |
determinant is a candidate key. A table in BCNF must be in
| | | | | | | | | | | |
3NF.
|
Normal form test - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > is decomposed into
| | | | | | | | | |
smaller relation schemas that contain a subset of the attributes
| | | | | | | | | |
and meet the test that was otherwise not met by the original
| | | | | | | | | | | |
relation.
|
|
CS6400 – EXAM 3 NEWEST 2026 ACTUAL EXAM
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
Logical (or conceptual) level - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > how users
| | | | | | | | | |
interpret the relation schemas and the meaning of their
| | | | | | | | |
attributes
|
Implementation (or physical storage) level - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer >
| | | | | | | | |
how the tuples in a base relation are stored and updated
| | | | | | | | | |
Bottom-up design methodology - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > (also called
| | | | | | | | |
design by synthesis) considers the basic relationships among
| | | | | | | |
individual attributes as the starting point and uses those to
| | | | | | | | | |
construct relation schemas
| | |
Top-down design methodology - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > (also called
| | | | | | | | |
design by analysis) starts with a number of groupings of
| | | | | | | | | |
attributes into relations that exist together naturally
| | | | | | |
,2 || |P |a |g |e
|
Measures to determine the quality of relation schema design
| | | | | | | | | -
✔✔✔ Correct Answer > ■ Making sure that the semantics of the
| | | | | | | | | | |
attributes is clear in the schema
| | | | | |
■ Reducing the redundant information in tuples | | | | |
■ Reducing the NULL values in tuples | | | | |
■ Disallowing the possibility of generating spurious tuples | | | | | |
Semantics of a relation - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > refers to its
| | | | | | | | | | |
meaning resulting from the interpretation of attribute
| | | | | | |
|values in a tuple | | |
Update anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > can be classified into
| | | | | | | | | |
insertion anomalies, deletion anomalies, and modification
| | | | | |
anomalies
|
Insertion Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when users
| | | | | | | | |
attempt to store an attribute value in the system but they
| | | | | | | | | | |
cannot because the value of another unnecessary but
| | | | | | | |
|required attribute is not known | | | |
Deletion Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when a value
| | | | | | | | | |
for one attribute that users wish to keep is unexpectedly
| | | | | | | | | |
removed when a value for another attribute is deleted
| | | | | | | | |
,3 || |P |a |g |e
|
Modification Anomalies - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > occur when | | | | | | | |
changes to multiple instances of an entity (rows of a table) are
| | | | | | | | | | | |
needed to effect an update to a single value of an
| | | | | | | | | | |
attribute
|
Spurious tuples - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > Tuples generated by | | | | | | | | |
joining two relations on attributes that are not keys or foreign
| | | | | | | | | | |
keys on these relations.
| | | |
Waste of storage space - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > due to nulls and
| | | | | | | | | | | |
the difficulty of performing selections, aggregation operations,
| | | | | | |
and joins due to NULL values
| | | | | |
A functional dependency (A->B) - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer >
| | | | | | | |
occurs when the attribute A uniquely determines B. A =
| | | | | | | | | |
left-hand side, B=right-hand-side.
| | |
-is a property of the semantics or meaning of the attributes.
| | | | | | | | | |
FD or f.d. - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > abbreviation for functional
| | | | | | | | | |
dependency
|
Candidate Key - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > An attribute, or combination | | | | | | | | | |
of attributes, that uniquely identifies a row in a relation.
| | | | | | | | | |
, 4 || |P |a |g |e
|
Legal relation states (or legal extensions) of R - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer
| | | | | | | | | | |
> Relation extensions r(R) that satisfy the functional
| | | | | | |
dependency constraints
| |
FD cannot be inferred automatically - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > must be
| | | | | | | | | | |
defined explicitly by someone who knows the semantics of the
| | | | | | | | | |
attributes of R.
| | |
Diagrammatic notation - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > isplaying fds: Each FD | | | | | | | | | |
is displayed as a horizontal
| | | | |
Normalization of Data - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > a process of | | | | | | | | | |
analyzing the given relation schemas based on their fds and
| | | | | | | | | |
primary keys to achieve the desirable properties of (1)
| | | | | | | | |
minimizing redundancy and (2) minimizing the insertion,
| | | | | | | |
deletion, and update anomalies
| | | |
Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > A | | | | | | | | |
special type of third normal form (3NF) in which every
| | | | | | | | | |
determinant is a candidate key. A table in BCNF must be in
| | | | | | | | | | | |
3NF.
|
Normal form test - ✔✔✔ Correct Answer > is decomposed into
| | | | | | | | | |
smaller relation schemas that contain a subset of the attributes
| | | | | | | | | |
and meet the test that was otherwise not met by the original
| | | | | | | | | | | |
relation.
|
