DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
USING LIBREOFFICE BASE
INTRODUCTION TO DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Data and Information
The raw facts constitutes data.
Information is the processed or organized form of data. If data is not correct or accurate, the information obtained by
processing such data may not be correct.
Databases and DBMS
A database is a collection of logically 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.
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.
A database is a collection of logically 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. 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.
Advantages of Databases:-
Hierarchical Data Model:- In this model the data is organized into a tree like structure. The data is stored in the form of
records. A record is a collection of fields and its data values. All these records are linked to each other at various levels,
thereby forming a hierarchy.
Network Data Model:- In this model, multiple records are linked to same master file. It is also considered as an inverted
tree where master is present in the bottom of the tree and the branches contain information linked to the master.
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.
Relational Database Model:- The Relational Database Model was proposed in 1970 by E. F. Codd.
Relational database model is the most common type of database model. The data elements are stored in different tables
made up of rows and columns. The data in different tables 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
Let us get familiar with some of the common terms used in RDBMS:-
Entity:- Entity is a real world object about which information is to be stored in a database.The details associated with the
entity are called attributes.
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. A collection of fields make a record, a
collection of records make a table and a collection of tables make a database. Fields are individual record characteristics
and are presented as columns within a table. Data values are stored in a database as fields. A field holds the data values of
one type of data for several persons.
Data Values:- Data values are the raw data represented in numeric, character or alphanumeric form.
Record or Row - 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. A record holds the data values of all the fields for a single person or object in a table.
Primary Key:- A primary key or simply a key is a field that uniquely identifies a row in a table. The key identifier can be the
value of a single column or of multiple columns. The primary key is a unique identifier for the table. The column or
combinations of columns that form the primary key have unique values. At any time, no two rows in the table can neither
have same values for the primary key nor can data value for such field be left blank.
Relational Database A relational database is a collection of related tables.
Foreign Key:- if a field or a combination of fields of one table can be used to uniquely identify records of another table, then
that particular field is known as the foreign key. This foreign key helps to build a relation between two tables. This foreign
key can be used to set a relation between two tables.
a) Candidate Key - All the field values that are eligible to be the primary key are the candidate keys for that table.
Such fields can neither be left blank nor can have duplicate values.
b) Alternate Key-Out of the candidate keys, one or two are made as primary keys. The others are the alternate keys.
