Database Ass

1. THE HIERARCHICAL DATA MODEL.
Hierarchical Model in DBMS

Hierarchical Model :
This is one of the oldest models in a data model which was developed by IBM,
in the 1950s. In a hierarchical model, data are viewed as a collection of tables,
or we can say segments that form a hierarchical relation. In this, the data is
organized into a tree-like structure where each record consists of one parent
record and many children. Even if the segments are connected as a chain-like
structure by logical associations, then the instant structure can be a fan
structure with multiple branches. We call the illogical associations as
directional associations.
In the hierarchical model, segments pointed to by the logical association are

called the child segment and the other segment is called the parent
segment. If there is a segment without a parent is then that will be called
the root and the segment which has no children are called the leaves. The
main disadvantage of the hierarchical model is that it can have one-to-one
and one-to-many relationships between the nodes.
Applications of hierarchical model :
 Hierarchical models are generally used as semantic models in practice

as many real-world occurrences of events are hierarchical in nature
like biological structures, political, or social structures.
 Hierarchical models are also commonly used as physical models
because of the inherent hierarchical structure of the disk storage
system like tracks, cylinders, etc. There are various examples such as
Information Management System (IMS) by IBM, NOMAD by NCSS,
etc.
Advantages of the hierarchical model :
 As the database is based on this architecture the relationships between

various layers are logically simple so, it has a very simple hierarchical
database structure.
 It has data sharing as all data are held in a common database data and
therefore sharing of data becomes practical.
 It offers data security and this model was the first database model that
offered data security.
 There’s also data integrity as it is based on the parent-child relationship
and also there’s always a link between the parents and the child
segments.
Disadvantages of the hierarchical model :
 Even though this model is conceptually simple and easy to design at the
same time it is quite complex to implement.
 This model also lacks flexibility as the changes in the new tables or
segments often yield very complex system management tasks. Here,
a deletion of one segment can lead to the involuntary deletion of all
segments under it.
 It has no standards as the implementation of this model does not
provide any specific standard.
 It is also limited as many of the common relationships do not
conform to the 1 to N format as required by the hierarchical
model.
2. NETWORK MODEL
Network Model in DBMS
Network Model :
This model was formalized by the Database Task group in the 1960s. This
model is the generalization of the hierarchical model. This model can consist
of multiple parent segments and these segments are grouped as levels but
there exists a logical association between the segments belonging to any
level. Mostly, there exists a many-to-many logical association between any of
the two segments. We called graphs the logical associations between the
segments. Therefore, this model replaces the hierarchical tree with a graph-
like structure, and with that, there can more general connections among
different nodes. It can have M: N relations i.e, many-to-many which allows a
record to have more than one parent segment.
Here, a relationship is called a set, and each set is made up of at least 2 types
of record which are given below:
 Anowner record that is the same as of parent in the hierarchical model.

 A member record that is the same as of child in the hierarchical model.
Advantages of Network Model :
 This model is very simple and easy to design like the hierarchical data
model.
 This model is capable of handling multiple types of relationships which
can help in modeling real-life applications, for example, 1: 1, 1: M, M:
N relationships.
 In
this model, we can access the data easily, and also there is a chance
that the application can access the owner’s and the member’s records
within a set.
 This network does not allow a member to exist without an owner which
leads to the concept of Data integrity.
 Like a hierarchical model, this model also does not have any database
standard,
Disadvantages of Network Model :
 The
schema or the structure of this database is very complex in nature
as all the records are maintained by the use of pointers.
 There’s an existence of operational anomalies as there is a use of
pointers for navigation which further leads to complex implementation.
 The design or the structure of this model is not user-friendly.
 This model does not have any scope of automated query optimization.
 This model fails in achieving structural independence even though the
network database model is capable of achieving data independence.
3. SEMI STRUCTURE DATA MODEL.
Semi-structured data[1] is a form of structured data that does not obey the
tabular structure of data models associated with relational databases or
other forms of data tables, but nonetheless contains tags or other markers to
separate semantic elements and enforce hierarchies of records and fields
within the data. Therefore, it is also known as self-describing structure.
In semi-structured data, the entities belonging to the same class may have
different attributes even though they are grouped together, and the
attributes' order is not important.
Semi-structured data are increasingly occurring since the advent of
the Internet where full-text documents and databases are not the only forms
of data anymore, and different applications need a medium for exchanging
information. In object-oriented databases, one often finds semi-structured
data.
The semi-structured model is a database model where there is no
separation between the data and the schema, and the amount of structure
used depends on the purpose.
The advantages of this model are the following:
 It can represent the information of some data sources that cannot be

constrained by schema.
 It provides a flexible format for data exchange between different types of
databases.
 It can be helpful to view structured data as semi-structured (for browsing
purposes).
 The schema can easily be changed.
 The data transfer format may be portable.
The primary trade-off being made in using a semi-structured database
model is that queries cannot be made as efficiently as in a more constrained
structure, such as in the relational model. Typically the records in a semi-
structured database are stored with unique IDs that are referenced with
pointers to their location on disk. This makes navigational or path-based
queries quite efficient, but for doing searches over many records (as is
typical in SQL), it is not as efficient because it has to seek around the disk
following pointers.

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1. THE HIERARCHICAL DATA MODEL.

Hierarchical Model in DBMS

In the hierarchical model, segments pointed to by the logical association are

Applications of hierarchical model :

 Hierarchical models are generally used as semantic models in practice

 As the database is based on this architecture the relationships between

 Anowner record that is the same as of parent in the hierarchical model.

 It can represent the information of some data sources that cannot be

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