JR.

JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

1. What is database?
A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some
inherent meaning, representing some aspect of real world and
which is designed, built and populated with data for a specific
purpose.

2. What is DBMS?
It is a collection of programs that enables user to create and
maintain a database. In other words it is general-purpose
software that provides the users with the processes of defining,
constructing and manipulating the database for various
applications.

3. What is a Database system?

The database and DBMS software together is called as Database
system.

4. Advantages of DBMS?
• Redundancy is controlled.
• Unauthorised access is restricted.
• Providing multiple user interfaces.
• Enforcing integrity constraints.
• Providing backup and recovery.

5. Disadvantage in File Processing System?

• Data redundancy & inconsistency.
• Difficult in accessing data.
• Data isolation.
• Data integrity.
• Concurrent access is not possible.
• Security Problems.

6. Describe the three levels of data abstraction?

The are three levels of abstraction:
• Physical level: The lowest level of abstraction describes how
data are stored.
• Logical level: The next higher level of abstraction, describes
what data are stored in database and what relationship among
those data.
• View level: The highest level of abstraction describes only
part of entire database.

7. Define the "integrity rules"

There are two Integrity rules.
• Entity Integrity: States that “Primary key cannot have NULL
value”
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

• Referential Integrity: States that “Foreign Key can be either a

NULL value or should be Primary Key value of other relation.

8. What is extension and intension?

Extension -
It is the number of tuples present in a table at any instance. This
is time dependent.
Intension -
It is a constant value that gives the name, structure of table and
the constraints laid on it.

9. What is System R? What are its two major subsystems?

System R was designed and developed over a period of 1974-79
at IBM San Jose Research Center. It is a prototype and its purpose
was to demonstrate that it is possible to build a Relational
System that can be used in a real life environment to solve real
life problems, with performance at least comparable to that of
existing system.

Its two subsystems are

• Research Storage
• System Relational Data System.

10. How is the data structure of System R different from the

relational structure?

Unlike Relational systems in System R

• Domains are not supported
• Enforcement of candidate key uniqueness is optional
• Enforcement of entity integrity is optional
• Referential integrity is not enforced

11. What is Data Independence?

Data independence means that “the application is independent
of the storage structure and access strategy of data”. In other
words, The ability to modify the schema definition in one level
should not affect the schema definition in the next higher level.
Two types of Data Independence:
• Physical Data Independence: Modification in physical level
should not affect the logical level.
• Logical Data Independence: Modification in logical level
should affect the view level.
NOTE: Logical Data Independence is more difficult to achieve
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

12. What is a view? How it is related to data independence?

A view may be thought of as a virtual table, that is, a table that
does not really exist in its own right but is instead derived from
one or more underlying base table. In other words, there is no
stored file that direct represents the view instead a definition of
view is stored in data dictionary.
Growth and restructuring of base tables is not reflected in views.
Thus the view can insulate users from the effects of restructuring
and growth in the database. Hence accounts for logical data
independence.

13. What is Data Model?

A collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data
relationships data semantics and constraints.

14. What is E-R model?

This data model is based on real world that consists of basic
objects called entities and of relationship among these objects.
Entities are described in a database by a set of attributes.

15. What is Object Oriented model?

This model is based on collection of objects. An object contains
values stored in instance variables with in the object. An object
also contains bodies of code that operate on the object. These
bodies of code are called methods. Objects that contain same
types of values and the same methods are grouped together into
classes.

16. What is an Entity?

It is a 'thing' in the real world with an independent existence.

17. What is an Entity type?

It is a collection (set) of entities that have same attributes.

18. What is an Entity set?

It is a collection of all entities of particular entity type in the
database.

19. What is an Extension of entity type?

The collections of entities of a particular entity type are grouped
together into an entity set.

20. What is Weak Entity set?

An entity set may not have sufficient attributes to form a primary
key, and its primary key compromises of its partial key and
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

primary key of its parent entity, then it is said to be Weak Entity

set.

21. What is an attribute?

It is a particular property, which describes the entity.

22. What is a Relation Schema and a Relation?

A relation Schema denoted by R(A1, A2, …, An) is made up of the
relation name R and the list of attributes Ai that it contains. A
relation is defined as a set of tuples. Let r be the relation which
contains set tuples (t1, t2, t3, ..., tn). Each tuple is an ordered list
of n-values t=(v1,v2, ..., vn).

23. What is degree of a Relation?

It is the number of attribute of its relation schema.

24. What is Relationship?

It is an association among two or more entities.

25. What is Relationship set?

The collection (or set) of similar relationships.

26. What is Relationship type?

Relationship type defines a set of associations or a relationship
set among a given set of entity types.

27. What is degree of Relationship type?

It is the number of entity type participating.

25. What is DDL (Data Definition Language)?

A data base schema is specifies by a set of definitions expressed
by a special language called DDL.

26. What is VDL (View Definition Language)?

It specifies user views and their mappings to the conceptual
schema.

27. What is SDL (Storage Definition Language)?

This language is to specify the internal schema. This language
may specify the mapping between two schemas.

28. What is Data Storage - Definition Language?

The storage structures and access methods used by database
system are specified by a set of definition in a special type of
DDL called data storage-definition language.
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

29. What is DML (Data Manipulation Language)?

This language that enable user to access or manipulate data as
organised by appropriate data model.
• Procedural DML or Low level: DML requires a user to specify
what data are needed and how to get those data.
• Non-Procedural DML or High level: DML requires a user to
specify what data are needed without specifying how to get
those data.

31. What is DML Compiler?

It translates DML statements in a query language into low-level
instruction that the query evaluation engine can understand.

32. What is Query evaluation engine?

It executes low-level instruction generated by compiler.

33. What is DDL Interpreter?

It interprets DDL statements and record them in tables
containing metadata.

34. What is Record-at-a-time?

The Low level or Procedural DML can specify and retrieve each
record from a set of records. This retrieve of a record is said to be
Record-at-a-time.

35. What is Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented?

The High level or Non-procedural DML can specify and retrieve
many records in a single DML statement. This retrieve of a record
is said to be Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented.

36. What is Relational Algebra?

It is procedural query language. It consists of a set of operations
that take one or two relations as input and produce a new
relation.

37. What is Relational Calculus?

It is an applied predicate calculus specifically tailored for
relational databases proposed by E.F. Codd. E.g. of languages
based on it are DSL ALPHA, QUEL.

38. How does Tuple-oriented relational calculus differ from

domain-oriented relational calculus
The tuple-oriented calculus uses a tuple variables i.e., variable
whose only permitted values are tuples of that relation. E.g.
QUEL
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

The domain-oriented calculus has domain variables i.e., variables

that range over the underlying domains instead of over relation.
E.g. ILL, DEDUCE.

39. What is normalization?

It is a process of analysing the given relation schemas based on
their Functional Dependencies (FDs) and primary key to achieve
the properties

• Minimizing redundancy
• Minimizing insertion, deletion and update anomalies.

40. What is Functional Dependency?

A Functional dependency is denoted by X Y between two sets
of attributes X and Y that are subsets of R specifies a constraint
on the possible tuple that can form a relation state r of R. The
constraint is for any two tuples t1 and t2 in r if t1[X] = t2[X] then
they have t1[Y] = t2[Y]. This means the value of X component of
a tuple uniquely determines the value of component Y.

41. When is a functional dependency F said to be minimal?

• Every dependency in F has a single attribute for its right hand

side.
• We cannot replace any dependency X A in F with a
dependency Y A where Y is a proper subset of X and still have a
set of dependency that is equivalent to F.
• We cannot remove any dependency from F and still have set
of dependency that is equivalent to F.

42. What is Multivalued dependency?

Multivalued dependency denoted by X Y specified on relation
schema R, where X and Y are both subsets of R, specifies the
following constraint on any relation r of R: if two tuples t1 and t2
exist in r such that t1[X] = t2[X] then t3 and t4 should also exist
in r with the following properties

• t3

= t4[X] = t1[X] = t2[X]

• t3[Y] = t1[Y] and t4[Y] = t2[Y]
• t3[Z] = t2[Z] and t4[Z] = t1[Z]
where [Z = (R-(X U Y)) ]
 JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5

43. What is Lossless join property?

It guarantees that the spurious tuple generation does not occur
with respect to relation schemas after decomposition.

44. What is 1 NF (Normal Form)?

The domain of attribute must include only atomic (simple,
indivisible) values.

45. What is Fully Functional dependency?

It is based on concept of full functional dependency. A functional
dependency X Y is full functional dependency if removal of
any attribute A from X means that the dependency does not hold
any more.

46. What is 2NF?

A relation schema R is in 2NF if it is in 1NF and every non-prime
attribute A in R is fully functionally dependent on primary key.

47. What is 3NF?

A relation schema R is in 3NF if it is in 2NF and for every FD X A
either of the following is true
• X is a Super-key of R.
• A is a prime attribute of R.
In other words, if every non prime attribute is non-transitively
dependent on primary key.

48. What is BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form)?

A relation schema R is in BCNF if it is in 3NF and satisfies an
additional constraint that for every FD X A, X must be a
candidate key.

49. What is 4NF?

A relation schema R is said to be in 4NF if for every Multivalued
dependency X Y that holds over R, one of following is
true
• X is subset or equal to (or) XY = R.
• X is a super key.

50. What is 5NF?

A Relation schema R is said to be 5NF if for every join
dependency {R1, R2, ..., Rn} that holds R, one the following is
true
• Ri = R for some i.
• The join dependency is implied by the set of FD, over R in
which the left side is key of R.
JR.JEYAGANESH, II MCA, University Of Madras, Chennai-5