INTRODUCTION

Data and Information

The raw facts and figures is called data. The facts may be related to any person, place,
activity or things. The examples of data are marks scored by the students, numbers of
items sold, employee names, product names, addresses, tax codes, registration etc.
Information is the processed or organized form of data. If data is not correct, the
information obtained by processing such data may not be correct. For example,
marks obtained by students and their roll
numbers is the data, while the report card/sheet is the information.
Similarly the temperature recorded is data which can be processed to find out the
maximum or minimum temperature of day and night.

Databases and DBMS

A database is a collection of logically related data items stored in an organised
manner. The information being
stored in a database can be added, modified, deleted or displayed according to the
requirements of the user. for example the phone book can be considered a simple
database which contains Name and Mobile number in an orderly manner
The software that is used to create, update and retrieve data is known as database
management system (DBMS). It facilitates planning and maintenance of the
database for the user. Some of the common examples of DBMS are MS Access,
Open Office or LibreOffice base, Oracle, MySQL.

Advantages of Database
1)Organised Storage : The data in the database is stored in an organised
manner, so that retrieval of the required data is fast and accurate.
2)Data Analysis : A database helps in analysis of data based on certain criteria.
3)Reduces Data Redundancy : Database reduces data redundancy (duplication of
data)
4)Sharing of Data : In a database, the users of the database can share the
data among themselves.
5)Data Integrity : Data integrity means that the data is accurate and consistent in the
database.
6)Data Security : Database provides data security as only authorized users are
allowed to access the database and their identity are authenticated by using a
username and password.
7)Privacy : The privacy rule in a database states that only the authorized users
can access a database according to its privacy constraints.
8)Backup and Recovery : Database Management System automatically takes care
of backup and recovery.
Data Models
A structure of database that describes the manner in which data will be stored
and retrieved is known as data model.
A data model consists of components for describing the data, relationships among
them and the constraints
that hold data.

Types of Data Models

1.Hierarchical Data Model
In this model the data is organized into a tree like structure. The data is stored in
the form of records. All these records are linked to each other at various levels,
thereby forming a hierarchy. For example

2.Network Data Model

This model is used to represent the many-to-many relationship among the database
constraints. In other words we can say that in this model, multiple records are linked

to same master file.

3.Relational Data Model
This data model is based on the principle of setting relationships between two or
more tables of the same database. It is the most commonly used database model.
The Relational Database Model was proposed in 1970 by E. F. Codd. The data
elements are stored in different tables and are related through the use of common
fields. So relations are set between tables based on common fields. That is why this
model is termed as relational database model.

Relational Database Terminology

Entity: It is a real world object about which information is to be stored in a database.
Each entity is a collection of attributes associated with it. for example roll number,
name, admission number, etc., are attributes associated with the entity student.
These attributes are represented in the form of columns.
Table: A table is a collection of logically related records. It is organised as a set of
columns, and can have any number of rows.
Field or Columns or attributes : A field is the smallest entity in the database.
Fields are presented as columns within a table. A field holds the data values of one
type of data for several persons. For example, in the Employee table the field “Emp
Name” will hold the names of employees of an organisation.
Record or Row or Tuple – The data values for all the fields related to a person or
object is called a record. It is
presented as rows within a table.
Primary Key : A primary key or simply a key is a field that uniquely identifies
each and every record in a table.
Foreign key : The foreign key identifies a column or set of columns in one
(referencing) table that refers to a column or set of columns in another (referenced)
table.

NOTE : In Student Registration Table, ‘Enrolment_Number’ is the primary key and

in the Student Marks Table, ‘Roll_Number’ is the primary key, whereas
‘Enrollment_Number’ is the foreign key.
 Composite Primary Key : When primary key constraint is applied on one or more
columns then it is known as Composite Primary Key.
Relational Database : A relational database is a collection of related tables.
Data Values : Data values are the raw data represented in numeric, character or
alphanumeric form. Examples of data values are ‘Abhinav Bindra’, ‘26’ ‘shooting’,
“Chandigarh”, “10-12-2018”, etc. NOTE: A collection of fields make a record, a
collection of records make a table and a collection of tables make a database.

Objects of an RDBMS
An object in a database is a structure or a feature that is used to store, represent or
retrieve data. In fact a database is a collection of these objects given below
Table : – A table is the basic unit of any DBMS. The data is first stored in tables in
row and column format.
Forms : – A form is a feature of a database using which we can enter data in a table
in an easy and user friendly manner. The data entered through the forms is stored in
tables.
Queries : – A query is used to retrieve the desired information from the database. In
simple terms, it is a question asked from the database.
Reports : – A report is the formatted result of queries which contains data required
for decision- making and analysis.
RELATIONSHIP
A relationship in a database is the connection between tables in a database.
The three main types of relationships are:
One-to-one
Each item in one table only appears once in the other table. For example, each employee has one
company car.
One-to-many
One item in one table can be related to multiple items in another table. For example, a purchase order can
have multiple products.
Many-to-many
One or more items in one table can be related to one or more items in another table. For example, an order
can have multiple products, and a product can appear on multiple orders
 Referential Integrity (very important)
Referential Integrity is a data quality concept that ensures the accuracy and consistency of
relationships between tables in a database. According to the principle of referential integrity, no unmatched
foreign key values should exist in the database.

LibreOffice Base gives us following four options to choose from to maintain referential
integrity in such cases:
• No action – This is the default option. This option states that a user should not be allowed to update
or delete any record in the master table if any related record exists in the transaction table.
• Update cascade – This option allows the user to delete or update the referenced field but along with it all the
related records in any of the transaction tables will also be deleted or updated.
• Set NULL – This option assigns NULL value to all the related fields if the master record is deleted or
updated.
• Set default – This option assigns any fixed default value to all the related fields if the master record is
deleted or updated.

SUMMARY
1. The raw facts constitutes data.
2. Information is the processed or organised form of data.
3. A database is a collection of logically related data items stored in an organised manner.
4. The software that is used to create, update and retrieve data is known as database management
system (DBMS).
5. Some of the common examples of DBMS are MS Access, Open Office or LibreOffice Base, Oracle,
Ingress, MySQL.
6. Data Model is the structure of database and it describes the manner in which data will be
stored and retrieved.
7. There are different data models, such as hierarchical data model, network data model and
relational data model.
8. In Hierarchical Data Model, the data is organised into a tree like structure. The data is stored in
the form of linked records.
9. In Network Data model, multiple records are linked to same master file.
10. The Relational data model is based on the principle of setting relationships between two or
more tables of the same database.
11. Entity is a real world object about which information is to be stored in a database.
12. The details associated with the entity are called attributes.
13. A table is a collection of logically related records. It is organised as a set of columns, and can
have any number of rows.
14. A field is the smallest entity in the database. These are individual record characteristics
and are presented as columns within a table.
15. Data values are the raw data represented in numeric, character or alphanumeric form.
16. The data values for all the fields related to a person or object is called a record. It is presented
as rows within a table.
17. A primary key is a field that uniquely identifies a row in a table.
18. This foreign key helps to build a relation between two or more tables in a database.
19. All the field values that are eligible to be the primary key are the candidate keys for that table.
20. Out of the candidate keys, one or two are made as primary keys. The others are the alternate keys.
21. An object in a database is a structure or a feature that is used to store, represent or retrieve
data. The various objects in a database are tables, forms, reports and queries.
22. A form is a feature of a database using which we can enter data in a table in an easy and user
friendly manner.
23. A query is used to retrieve the desired information from the database.
24. The output of a query may be displayed in the form of reports.