UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St. Grace Park East, Caloocan City

THE DATABASE ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Submitted to:

Prof. Ronald Gomez

Submitted by:

Acogido, Neil Angeli

Gregorio, Juvelyn
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Definitions 3

Conventional File Processing 4

The Database Approach 5

The Database Approach vs. Traditional File System 7

Cost and Risk of the Database Approach 8

Components of Database Management System 9

Four Types of Database Management Systems 12

Systems Development Life Cycle 14

Prototyping and Agile-development approaches 19

Roles of an individual in Databases 21

The Three Schemas 25

2
Definitions

 Data- A “given fact; a number, a statement or a picture. Stored representations of

meaningful objects and events. Meaningful facts, text graphics, images, sound,

video segments. A collection of individual responses from a marketing research

(1) Structured: numbers, text dates

(2) Unstructured: images, video, documents

 Database- organized collection of logically data.

 Information- data that have meaning within a context. Data processed to increase

knowledge in the person using the data.

 Metadata- data that describes the properties and context of user data. Data that

describes data.

 Database System- collection of electronic data.  Central repository of shared

data. Stored in a standardized, convenient form. Requires a Database

Management System (DBMS)

3
CONVENTIONAL FILE PROCESSING

Limitation of File Processing

 Program- Data Dependence- All programs maintain metadata for each file they

use.

 Duplication of Data- Different systems/ programs have separate copies of the

same data.

 Limited Data Sharing – No centralized control of data.

 Lengthy Development times- Programmers must design their own file formats.

 Excessive Program Maintenance- 80% of information systems budget.

Problems with Data Dependency

 Non-standard file formats, lack of coordination and central control.

 Each application programmer must maintain his/ her own data

 Each application program needs to include code for the metadata of each file. .

 Each application program must have its own processing routines for reading,

inserting, updating, and deleting data.

Problems with Data Redundancy

 duplicate data, data changes in one file could cause inconsistencies

 Waste of space to have duplicate data.

 Causes more maintenance headaches.

4
  Compromises in data integrity

THE DATABASE APPROACH

Requires Database Management System that is used to create, maintain and

provide controlled access to user databases. Central repository of shared data. Data is

managed by a controlling agent. Stored in a standardized, convenient form.

Database Management System

A database management system manages data resources like an operating

system manages hardware resources.

5
Elements of Database Approach

 Data Models- Graphical diagram capturing the nature and relationship of data.

 Rational Databases- database technology involving table representing entities

and primary representing relationships.

 Entities- Noun from describing person, place, object, event, or concept.

 Relationships- one-to-may, many-to-many, one-to-one.

Advantages of the Database Approach

Program-data independence
Planned data redundancy
Improved data consistency
Improved data sharing
Program-data independence
Planned data redundancy
Improved data consistency
Improved data sharing
 Program- data independence

 Planned data redundancy

 Improved data consistency

6
  Improved data sharing

 Increased application development productivity

 Enforcement of standard

 Improved data quality

 Improved data accessibility and responsiveness

 Reduced program maintenance

 Improved decision support

Database Approach vs. Traditional File System

7
Costs and Risk of the

Database Approach

8
 New, specialized personnel

Frequently, organizations that adopt the database approach need to hire or

train individuals to design and implement databases. This personnel increase seems

to be expensive, but an organization should not minimize the need for these

specialized skills. Installing such a system may also require upgrades to the

hardware and data communications systems in the organization.  

 Installation and management costs complexity

A multi-user database management system is large and complex software

that has a high initial cost. It requires trained personnel to install and operate, and

also has annual maintenance costs.

 Conversion costs

The term “legacy systems” is used to refer to older applications in an

organization that are based on file processing. The cost of converting these older

systems to modern database technology may seem prohibitive to an organization.

 Need for explicit backup and recovery

A shared database must be accurate and available at all times. This raises

the need to have backup copies of data for restoring a database when damage

occurs.   A modern database management system normally automates recovery

tasks. 

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  Organizational conflict

A database requires an agreement on data definitions and ownership as well

as responsibilities for accurate data maintenance. 

Components of Database Management System

DBMS have several components, each performing very significant tasks in the

database management system environment. Below is a list of components within the

database and its environment.

 Software

This is the set of programs used to control and manage the overall database.

This includes the DBMS software itself, the Operating System, the network

software being used to share the data among users, and the application

programs used to access data in the DBMS.

 Hardware

Consists of a set of physical electronic devices such as computers, I/O devices,

storage devices, etc., this provides the interface between computers and the real

world systems.

 Data

DBMS exists to collect, store, process and access data, the most important

component. The database contains both the actual or operational data and the

metadata.

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 Procedures

These are the instructions and rules that assist on how to use the DBMS, and in

designing and running the database, using documented procedures, to guide the

users that operate and manage it.

 Database Access Language

This is used to access the data to and from the database, to enter new data,

update existing data, or retrieve required data from databases. The user writes a

set of appropriate commands in a database access language, submits these to

the DBMS, which then processes the data and generates and displays a set of

results into a user readable form.

 Query Processor

This transforms the user queries into a series of low level instructions. This reads

the online user’s query and translates it into an efficient series of operations in a

form capable of being sent to the run time data manager for execution.

 Data Manager

Also called the cache manger, this is responsible for handling of data in the

database, providing a recovery to the system that allows it to recover the data

after a failure.

 Database Engine

The core service for storing, processing, and securing data, this provides

controlled access and rapid transaction processing to address the requirements

of the most demanding data consuming applications. It is often used to create

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 relational databases for online transaction processing or online analytical

processing data.

 Data Dictionary

This is a reserved space within a database used to store information about the

database itself. A data dictionary is a set of read-only table and views, containing

the different information about the data used in the enterprise to ensure that

database representation of the data follow one standard as defined in the

dictionary.

 Report Writer

Also referred to as the report generator, it is a program that extracts information

from one or more files and presents the information in a specified format. Most

report writers allow the user to select records that meet certain conditions and to

display selected fields in rows and columns, or also format the data into different

charts.

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Four Types of Database Management Systems

 Relational Database Management System

A relational database (RDB) is a collective set of multiple data sets

organized by tables, records and columns. RDBs establish a well-defined

relationship between database tables. Tables communicate and share

information, which facilitates data searchability, organization and reporting. RDBs

use Structured Query Language (SQL), which is a standard user application that

provides an easy programming interface for database interaction. RDB is derived

from the mathematical function concept of mapping data sets and was developed

by Edgar F. Codd.

RDBs organize data in different ways. Each table is known as a relation,

which contains one or more data category columns. Each table record (or row)

contains a unique data instance defined for a corresponding column category.

One or more data or record characteristics relate to one or many records to form

functional dependencies. These are classified as follows:

 One to One: One table record relates to another record in another

table.

 One to Many: One table record relates to many records in another

table.

 Many to One: More than one table record relates to another table

record.

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  Many to Many: More than one table record relates to more than one

record in another table.

RDB performs "select", "project" and "join" database operations, where

select is used for data retrieval, project identifies data attributes, and join

combines relations.

RDBs have many other advantages, including:

 Easy extendability, as new data may be added without modifying

existing records. This is also known as scalability.

 New technology performance, power and flexibility with multiple

data requirement capabilities.

 Data security, which is critical when data sharing is based on

privacy. For example, management may share certain data

privileges and access and block employees from other data, such

as confidential salary or benefit information.

These relations form functional dependencies within the database. Some

common examples of relational databases include MySQL, Microsoft SQL

Server, and Oracle.

 Hierarchical Database Systems

Hierarchical database model resembles a tree structure, similar to a folder

architecture in your computer system. The relationships between records are

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 pre-defined in a one to one manner, between 'parent and child' nodes. They

require the user to pass a hierarchy in order to access needed data. Due to

limitations, such databases may be confined to specific uses.

 Network Database Systems

Network database models also have a hierarchical structure. However,

instead of using a single-parent tree hierarchy, this model supports many to

many relationships, as child tables can have more than one parent.

 Object-Oriented Database Systems

In object-oriented databases, the information is represented as objects,

with different types of relationships possible between two or more objects. Such

databases use an object-oriented programming language for development.

Systems Development Life Cycle

The SDLC is a complete set of steps that a team of information systems

professionals, including database designers and programmers, follow in an

organization to specify, develop, maintain, and replace information systems.

According to Gillis (2019), the systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a

conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages

involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility

study through maintenance of the completed application. Gillis (2019) added, that

SDLC can be applied to technical and non-technical systems. That in most use

cases, a system is an IT technology such as hardware and software. Project and

15
 program managers typically take part in SDLC, along with system and software

engineers, development teams and end-users.

 PLANNING—ENTERPRISE MODELING

The database development process begins with a review of the

enterprise modeling components that were developed during the

information systems planning process. During this step, analysts review

current databases and information systems; analyze the nature of the

business area that is the subject of the development project; and describe,

in general terms, the data needed for each information system under

16
 consideration for development. They determine what data are already

available in existing databases and what new data will need to be added

to support the proposed new project. Only selected projects move into the

next phase based on the projected value of each project to the

organization.

 PLANNING—CONCEPTUAL DATA MODELING

For an information systems project that is initiated, the overall data

requirements of the proposed information system must be analyzed. This

is done in two stages. First, during the Planning phase, the analyst

develops a diagram similar to Figure 1-3a, as well as other

documentation, to outline the scope of data involved in this particular

development project without consideration of what databases already

exist. Only high-level categories of data (entities) and major relationships

are included at this point. This step in the SDLC is critical for improving the

chances of a successful development process. The better the definition of

the specific needs of the organization, the closer the conceptual model

should come to meeting the needs of the organization, and the less

recycling back through the SDLC should be needed.

 ANALYSIS—CONCEPTUAL DATA MODELING

During the Analysis phase of the SDLC, the analyst produces a

detailed data model that identifies all the organizational data that must be

managed for this information system. Every data attribute is defined, all

categories of data are listed, every business relationship between data

17
 entities is represented, and every rule that dictates the integrity of the data

is specified. It is also during the Analysis phase that the conceptual data

model is checked for consistency with other types of models developed to

explain other dimensions of the target information system, such as

processing steps, rules for handling data, and the timing of events.

 DESIGN—LOGICAL DATABASE DESIGN

Logical database design approaches database development from

two perspectives. First, the conceptual schema must be transformed into a

logical schema, which describes the data in terms of the data

management technology that will be used to implement the database. For

example, if relational technology will be used, the conceptual data model

is transformed and represented using elements of the relational model,

which include tables, columns, rows, primary keys, foreign keys, and

constraints.

 DESIGN—PHYSICAL DATABASE DESIGN AND DEFINITION

A physical schema is a set of specifications that describe how data

from a logical schema are stored in a computer’s secondary memory by a

specific database management system. There is one physical schema for

each logical schema. Physical database design requires knowledge of the

specific DBMS that will be used to implement the database. In physical

database design and definition, an analyst decides on the organization of

physical records, the choice of file organizations, the use of indexes, and

so on.

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 IMPLEMENTATION—DATABASE IMPLEMENTATION

In database implementation, a designer write, tests, and installs the

programs/scripts that access, create, or modify the database. The

designer might do this using standard programming languages or in

special database processing languages or use special purpose

nonprocedural languages to produce stylized reports and displays,

possibly including graphs. Also, during implementation, the designer will

finalize all database documentation, train users, and put procedures into

place for the ongoing support of the information system (and database)

users. The last step is to load data from existing information sources (files

and databases from legacy applications plus new data now needed).

Loading is often done by first unloading data from existing files and

databases into a neutral format (such as binary or text files) and then

loading these data into the new database. Finally, the database and its

associated applications are put into production for data maintenance and

retrieval by the actual users. During production, the database should be

periodically backed up and recovered in case of contamination or

destruction.

 MAINTENANCE—DATABASE MAINTENANCE

The database evolves during database maintenance. In this step, the

designer adds, deletes, or changes characteristics of the structure of a database in

19
 order to meet changing business conditions, to correct errors in database design, or

to improve the processing speed of database applications. The designer might also

need to rebuild a database if it becomes contaminated or destroyed due to a

program or computer system malfunction. This is typically the longest step of

database development, because it lasts throughout the life of the database and its

associated applications. Each time the database evolves, view it as an abbreviated

database development process in which conceptual data modeling, logical and

physical database design, and database implementation occur to deal with proposed

changes.

Prototyping and Agile-development approaches

 Prototyping

i. It is an information-gathering technique useful for supplementing the

traditional SDLC; however, both agile methods and human–computer

interaction share roots in prototyping. When systems analysts use

prototyping, they are seeking user reactions, suggestions, innovations,

and revision plans to make improvements to the prototype, and thereby

modify system plans with a minimum of expense and disruption. The four

major guidelines for developing a prototype are to (1) work in manageable

modules, (2) build the prototype rapidly, (3) modify the prototype, and (4)

stress the user interface.

ii. Although prototyping is not always necessary or desirable, it should be

noted that there are three main, interrelated advantages to using it: (1) the

potential for changing the system early in its development, (2) the

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 opportunity to stop development on a system that is not working, and (3)

the possibility of developing a system that more closely addresses users’

needs and expectations. Users have a distinct role to play in the

prototyping process and systems analysts must work systematically to

elicit and evaluate users’ reactions to the prototype.

iii. One particular use of prototyping is rapid application development (RAD).

It is an object-oriented approach with three phases: requirements

planning, the RAD design workshop, and implementation.

 Agile modeling

i. It is a software development approach that defines an overall plan

quickly, develops and releases software quickly, and then continuously

revises software to add additional features. The values of the agile

approach that are shared by the customer as well as the development

team are communication, simplicity, feedback, and courage. Agile

activities include coding, testing, listening, and designing. Resources

available include time, cost, quality, and scope.

ii. Agile core practices distinguish agile methods, including a type of agile

method called extreme programming (XP), from other systems

development processes. The four core practices of the agile approach

are (1) short releases, (2) 40-hour workweek, (3) onsite customer, and

(4) pair programming. The agile development process includes

choosing a task that is directly related to a customer-desired feature

based on user stories, choosing a programming partner, selecting and

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 writing appropriate test cases, writing the code, running the test cases,

debugging it until all test cases run, implementing it with the existing

design, and integrating it into what currently exists.

Roles of an individual in Databases

 Data Administrators

The database and the DBMS are corporate resources that must be

managed like any other resource. The Data Administrator (DA) is responsible for

defining data elements, data names and their relationship with the database.

They are also known as Data Analyst.

 Database Administrators (DBA)

A Database Administrator (DBA) is an IT professional who works on

creating, maintaining, querying, and tuning the database of the organization.

They are also responsible for maintaining data security and integrity. A DBA has

many responsibilities. A good performing database is in the hands of DBA.

DBA Responsibilities

 The life cycle of database starts from designing,

implementing to administration of it. A database for any kind

of requirement needs to be designed perfectly so that it

should work without any issues.

 Once all the design is complete, it needs to be installed.

Once this step is complete, users start using the database.

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 The database grows as the data grows in the database.

When the database becomes huge, its performance comes

down.

 Also accessing the data from the database becomes

challenge. These administration and maintenance of

database is taken care by database Administrator – DBA.

 Installing and upgrading the DBMS Servers

DBA is responsible for installing a new DBMS server

for the new projects. He is also responsible for upgrading

these servers as there are new versions comes in the

market or requirement.

 Design and implementation

He should be able to decide proper memory

management, file organizations, error handling, log

maintenance for the database.

 Performance Tuning

Since database is huge and it will have lots of tables,

data, constraints and indices, there will be variations in the

performance from time to time. It is responsibility of the DBA

to tune the database performance.

 Backup & Recovery

Proper backup and recovery programs needs to be

developed by DBA and has to be maintained him. This is

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 one of the main responsibilities of DBA. Data should be

backed up regularly so that if there is any crash, it should be

recovered without much effort and data loss.

 Documentation

DBA should basically maintain all his installation,

backup, recovery, security methods. He should keep various

reports about database performance.

 Security

DBA is responsible for creating various database

users and roles, and giving them different levels of access

rights.

 Database Designers

 Logical Database Designers

The logical database designer is concerned with identifying the

data (that is, the entities and attributes), the relationships between the

data, and the constraints on the data that is to be stored in the database.

The logical database designer must have a thorough and complete

understanding of the organization’s data and any constraints on this data.

 Physical Database Designers

The physical database designer decides how the logical database

design is to be physically realized.

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  mapping the logical database design into a set of tables and

integrity constraints.

 selecting specific storage structures and access methods for

the data to achieve good performance.

 Application Developers

Once the database has been implemented, the application programs that

provide the required functionality for the end-users must be implemented. This is

the responsibility of the application developers.

They are the developers who interact with the database by means of DML

queries. These DML queries are written in the application programs like C, C++,

JAVA, Pascal etc.

 End Users

The end-users are the ‘clients’ for the database, which has been designed

and implemented, and is being maintained to serve their information needs.

 Sophisticated Users

The sophisticated end-user is familiar with the structure of the

database and the facilities offered by the DBMS.

 Naive Users

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 These are the users who use the existing application to interact with

the database. For example, online library system, ticket booking systems,

ATMs etc

The three schemas

 Internal Level/Schema

The internal schema defines the physical storage structure of the

database. The internal schema is a very low-level representation of the entire

database. It contains multiple occurrences of multiple types of internal record. In

the ANSI term, it is also called “stored record’.

Facts about Internal schema:

 The internal schema is the lowest level of data abstraction

26
  It helps you to keeps information about the actual representation of

the entire database. Like the actual storage of the data on the disk

in the form of records

 The internal view tells us what data is stored in the database and

how

 It never deals with the physical devices. Instead, internal schema

views a physical device as a collection of physical pages

 Conceptual Schema/Level

The conceptual schema describes the Database structure of the whole

database for the community of users. This schema hides information about the

physical storage structures and focuses on describing data types, entities,

relationships, etc.

This logical level comes between the user level and physical storage view.

However, there is only single conceptual view of a single database.

Facts about Conceptual schema:

 Defines all database entities, their attributes, and their relationships

 Security and integrity information

 In the conceptual level, the data available to a user must be

contained in or derivable from the physical level

 External Schema/Level

27
 An external schema describes the part of the database which specific user

is interested in. It hides the unrelated details of the database from the user.

There may be “n” number of external views for each database.

Each external view is defined using an external schema, which consists of

definitions of various types of external record of that specific view.

An external view is just the content of the database as it is seen by some

specific particular user. For example, a user from the sales department will see

only sales related data.

Facts about external schema:

 An external level is only related to the data which is viewed by

specific end users.

 This level includes some external schemas.

 External schema level is nearest to the user

 The external schema describes the segment of the database which

is needed for a certain user group and hides the remaining details

from the database from the specific user group

 Goal of 3 level/schema of Database

Objectives of using Three Schema Architecture:

 Every user should be able to access the same data but able

to see a customized view of the data.

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  The user need not to deal directly with physical database

storage detail.

 The DBA should be able to change the database storage

structure without disturbing the user’s views

 The internal structure of the database should remain

unaffected when changes made to the physical aspects of

storage.

 Advantages Database Schema

 You can manage data independent of the physical storage

 Faster Migration to new graphical environments

 DBMS Architecture allows you to make changes on the presentation level

without affecting the other two layers

 As each tier is separate, it is possible to use different sets of developers

 It is more secure as the client doesn’t have direct access to the database

business logic

 In case of the failure of the one-tier no data loss as you are always secure

by accessing the other tier

 Disadvantages Database Schema

 Complete DB Schema is a complex structure which is difficult to

understand for every one

 Difficult to set up and maintain

 The physical separation of the tiers can affect the performance of the

Database

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Data models: Graphical diagram
capturing the nature and
relationship of data
Rational databases: database
technology involving table
representing entities and primary
representing relationships
Entities: Noun form describing
person, place, object, event, or
concept
Relationships: one-to-many, many-
to-many, one-to-one
Data models: Graphical diagram
capturing the nature and
relationship of data

32
Rational databases: database
technology involving table
representing entities and primary
representing relationships
Entities: Noun form describing
person, place, object, event, or
concept
Relationships: one-to-many, many-
to-many, one-to-one
Data models: Graphical diagram
capturing the nature and
relationship of data
Rational databases: database
technology involving table
representing entities and primary
representing relationships

33
Entities: Noun form describing
person, place, object, event, or
concept
Relationships: one-to-many, many-
to-many, one-to-one
Data models: Graphical diagram
capturing the nature and
relationship of data
Rational databases: database
technology involving table
representing entities and primary
representing relationships
Entities: Noun form describing
person, place, object, event, or
concept
Relationships: one-to-many, many-
to-many, one-to-o
34