IBDP CS Database Chapter – A2

The relational database

model
DBMS
DBMS stands for "Database Management System." In short, a DBMS is
a database program.
A database management system (DBMS) is software for creating and
managing databases. The DBMS provides users and programmers with
a systematic way to create, retrieve, update and manage data.
RDBMS
Short for relational database management system and pronounced as separate
letters, a type of database management system (RDBMS) that stores data in
the form of related tables. Relational databases are powerful because they
require few assumptions about how data is related or how it will be extracted
from the database. As a result, the same database can be viewed in many
different ways.

An important feature of relational systems is that a single database can be

spread across several tables. This differs from flat-file databases, in which a
database is self-contained in a single table.
The main differences between DBMS and RDBMS are given below:
DBMS RDBMS
DBMS applications store data as file. RDBMS applications store data in a tabular form.
In DBMS, data is generally stored in either a hierarchical form In RDBMS, the tables have an identifier called primary key and the
or a navigational form. data values are stored in the form of tables.
Normalization is not present in DBMS. Normalization is present in RDBMS.
DBMS does not apply any security with regards to data RDBMS defines the integrity constraint for the purpose of ACID
manipulation. (Atomocity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability) property.
DBMS uses file system to store data, so there will be no in RDBMS, data values are stored in the form of tables, so
relation between the tables. a relationship between these data values will be stored in the form of
a table as well.

DBMS has to provide some uniform methods to access the RDBMS system supports a tabular structure of the data and a
stored information. relationship between them to access the stored information.
DBMS does not support distributed database. RDBMS supports distributed database.
DBMS is meant to be for small organization and deal with RDBMS is designed to handle large amount of data. it
small data. it supports single user. supports multiple users.
Examples of DBMS are file systems, xml etc. Example of RDBMS are mysql, postgre, sql server, oracle etc.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
1. Data Dictionary Management
 Data Dictionary is where the DBMS stores definitions of the data elements and
their relationships (metadata).
 The DBMS uses this function to look up the required data component structures
and relationships. When programs access data in a database they are basically
going through the DBMS.
 This function removes structural and data dependency and
provides the user with data abstraction. This makes things a
lot easier on the end user. The Data Dictionary is often
hidden from the user and is used by Database
Administrators and Programmers.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
2. Data Storage Management
 This particular function is used for the storage of
data and any related data entry forms or screen
definitions, report definitions, data validation
rules, procedural code, and structures that can
handle video and picture formats.

 Users do not need to know how data is stored or

manipulated.

 Also involved with this structure is a term called

performance tuning that relates to a database’s
efficiency in relation to storage and access
speed.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
3. Data Transformation and Presentation
 This function exists to transform any data entered into required data
structures.
 By using the data transformation and presentation function the DBMS
can determine the difference between logical and physical data
formats.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
4. Security Management
 This is one of the most important functions in the DBMS. Security
management sets rules that determine specific users that are allowed to
access the database.
 Users are given a username and password or sometimes through
biometric authentication (such as a fingerprint or retina scan) but these
types of authentication tend to be more costly.
 This function also sets restraints on what
specific data any user can see or manage.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
5. Multiuser Access Control
 Data integrity and data consistency are the
basis of this function.
 Multiuser access control is a very useful tool
in a DBMS, it enables multiple users to access
the database simultaneously without affecting
the integrity of the database
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
6. Backup and Recovery Management
 Backup and recovery is brought to mind whenever there is potential
outside threats to a database.
 For example if there is a power outage,
recovery management is how long it takes
to recover the database after the outage.
 Backup management refers to the data
safety and integrity; for example backing
up all your mp3 files on a disk.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
7. Data Integrity Management
 The DBMS enforces these rules to reduce data redundancy
 When data is stored in more than one place unnecessarily, and
maximizing data consistency, making sure database is returning
correct/ same answer each time for same question asked.
 Functions and Tools of a DBMS
8. Database Access Languages and Application Programming
Interfaces
 A query language is a nonprocedural language.
 An example of this is SQL (structured query language).
 SQL is the most common query language supported by the majority of
DBMS vendors.
 The use of this language makes it easy for user to specify what they want
done without the headache of explaining how to specifically do it.
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
9. Database Communication Interfaces
 This refers to how a DBMS can accept different end user requests
through different network environments.
 An example of this can be easily related to the internet.
 A DBMS can provide access to the database using the Internet through
Web Browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape).
Functions and Tools of a DBMS
10. Transaction Management
 This refers to how a DBMS must supply a method that will guarantee
that all the updates in a given transaction are made or not.
 All transactions must follow what is called the ACID properties.
How a DBMS can be used to promote data security?
Features involve:
 Data Validation
 data validation is the process of ensuring that a program operates on clean, correct and
useful data. It uses routines, often called "validation rules" that check for correctness,
meaningfulness, and security of data that are input to the system.
 Access Rights
 The permissions that are granted to a user, or to an application, to read, write and erase files in
the computer. Access rights can be tied to a particular client or server, to folders within that
machine or to specific programs and data files. See access control list and privilege.
• Data Locking.
 A database lock is used to “lock” some data in a database so that only one database user/session
may update that particular data. So, database locks exist to prevent two or more database users
from updating the same exact piece of data at the same exact time.
Database Schema
• A database schema is the skeleton structure
that represents the logical view of the entire
database. It defines how the data is organized
and how the relations among them are
associated. It formulates all the constraints that
are to be applied on the data.
• A database schema defines its entities and the
relationship among them. It contains a
descriptive detail of the database, which can
be depicted by means of schema diagrams. It’s
the database designers who design the schema
to help programmers understand the database
and make it useful.
The characteristics of the three levels of the schema
 The logical architecture describes how data in the database is perceived by users.
 It is not concerned with how the data is handled and processed by the DBMS, but only with
how it looks.
 The method of data storage on the underlying file system is not revealed, and the users can
manipulate the data without worrying about where it is located or how it is actually stored.
This results in the database having different levels of abstraction.
It divides the system into three levels of abstraction : the internal or physical level, the
conceptual level, and the external or view level.
1. The External Level or View Level
2. The Logical Level or Conceptual Level
3. The Internal or Physical Level
The External or View Level:
The external or view level is the highest level of abstraction of database. It
provides a window on the conceptual view, which allows the user to see
only the data of interest to them.
The user can be either an application program or an end user. There can be
many external views as any number of external schema can be defined and
they can overlap each other.
It consist of the definition of logical records and relationships in the
external view. It also contains the method of deriving the objects such as
entities, attributes and relationships in the external view from the
conceptual view.
The Conceptual Level or Global Level:
The conceptual level presents a logical view of the entire database as a
unified whole.
It allows the user to bring all the data in the database together and see it in a
consistent manner. Hence , there is only one conceptual schema per
database.
The first stage in the design of a database is to define the conceptual view,
and a DBMS provides a data definition language for this purpose. it
describes all the records and relationships included in the database.
The data definition language used to create the conceptual level must not
specify any physical storage considerations that should be handled by the
physical level. It does not provide any storage or access details, but defines
the information content only.
The Internal or Physical Level:
The collection of files permanently stored on secondary storage devices
is known as the physical database.
The physical or internal level is the one closest to the physical storage,
and it provide a low level description of the physical database, and an
interface between the operating system’s file system and the record
structures used in higher level of abstraction.
It is at this level that record types and methods of storage are defined, as
well as how stored fields are represented, what physical sequence the
stored records are in, and what other physical structures exist.