1.

Discuss each of the following terms:

a. data - Data are raw, unprocessed facts about a thing. They have little meaning unless
organized.
b. field A field is a group of characters with a specific meaning, used to store data
c. record A connected set of fields. A record containes fields used to describe a specific
person, place, thing or event.
d. File A collection of related records. A file may contain records for all students enrolled
at a university, for example.
2. What is data redundancy and which characteristics of the file system can lead to it?
Data redundancy occurs when the same data are store in multiple locations. It can lead to
data inconsistency, where different and conflicting versions of the data appear in different
places. It can also cause data anomalies, as a change event may require more than one
change to the data.
3. It is said that some file systems lack data independence. Discuss.
All programs that access a file system will need to be changed if any characteristics of the
file systems data changes. This is referred to as data dependence.
4. What is a DBMS, and what are its functions?
A database management system is a collection of programs that manages the database
structure and controls access to the information stored in a database. Consistent organization
and controlled access allows the information in a database to be shared among many users
and applications.
5. How does the hierarchical database structure address the problem of data redundancy?
Each segment of the database (the child segment) has only one parent. The child segment
will automatically inherit the characteristics of only one parent, which helps promote data
integrity.
6. What do each of the following acronyms represent, and how is each related to the birth of the
network database model?
a. CODASYL - Conference on Data Systems Languages This group formed to address
the lack of database standards.
b. SPARC- Standards Planning and Requirements Committee the part of ANSI which,
in 1975, augmented database standards to conform to the DTBG standard.
c. ANSI American National Standards Institute Governing body which controls the
definition of engineering standards.
d. DBTG Database Task Group created by CODASYL to develop a database standard.

7. What three languages were adopted by the DTBG to standardize the basic network database
model and why was such standardization important to users and designers?
The three standard language components are: 1. the network schema. 2. The subschema, and
3. a data management language. As envisioned, this standardization would allow users and
designers to easily shift between applications that shared the same schema.
8. What is data independence and why is it important?
Data independence is the ability of to make changes to data characteristics without have to
make changes to the programs that access the data. Its important because of the savings in
time and potential errors caused by reducing modifications to data access software.
9. Describe the basic features of the relational database model and discuss their importance to
the end user and the designer.
1. Structural independence changes to the database structure do not affect the ability to
access the data.
2. Improved conceptual simplicity compared to the hierarchical and network models.
3. Because of both structural and data independence the relation database model is relatively
easier to design and manage.
4. Ad hoc query capability allows for very flexible access to data.
5. Very powerful DBMS (RDBMS) makes it possible to hide the systems complexity from
users and designers.
10. Explain how the entity relationship (E-R) model helped produce a more structured relational
database design environment.
The introduction of the E-R data model gave relational database designers their first effective
modeling tool. Its graphical nature allows easy examination of database structures.
11. Use the scenario described by A customer can make many payments but each payment is
made by only one customer as the basis for an entity relationship diagram (ERD)
presentation.
1
Customer

M
Pays

Payment

12. What are connectivities and what role do they play in database design?
Connectivities is the term in E-R modeling used to describe the relationship between entities.
In general these are: 1 to 1, 1 to many and many-to-many.
13. Why is an object said to have greater semantic content than an entity?
Objects contain information about the relationship between the facts within the object.
Entities do not have this information, so objects have greater meaning than entities.

14. What is the difference between and object and a class in the object-oriented data model
(OODM)?

Classes are groups of objects that share attributes and behaviors. An object is a member of a
class with other related objects.
15. How would you model question 11 with an OODM?
PAYMENT
PAY_DATE
PAY_TOTAL
CUSTOMER
PAYMENT

1
M

16. What is an ERDM and what role does it play in the modern (production) database
environment?
The extended relational data model incorporates many features of object oriented modeling
into the relational database structure. The emergence of ERDM has allowed the use of OO
development tools in relational database development.
17. Compare the file system with the five database systems discussed in this chapter in terms of
data and structural independence.

18. Explain the difference between data and information.

Data are raw facts about a thing. Information is data that has been processed. In other words,
data is the raw material that is converted into information throug processing.