Any ramblings and blog posts associated with the UNISA ICT 2622 tag should be considered study notes for my lectures…
Objectives of Chapter 13
Describe the differences and similarities between relational and object-oriented database management systems Design relational database schema based on an entity-relationship diagram Design an object database schema based on a class diagram Describe the different architectural models for distributed databases Key Words & Definitions database (DB) – an integrated collection of stored data that is centrally managed and controlled database management system (DBMS) – system software that manages and controls access to a database physical data store – the storage area used by a database management system to store the raw bits and bytes of a database schema – a description of the structure, content, and access controls of a physical data store or database relational database management system (RDBMS) – a database management system that stores data in tables table – a two-dimensional data structure containing columns; also called a relation row – the portion of a table containing data that describes one entity, relationship, or object; also called tuple or record field – a column of a relational database table; also called an attribute field value – the data value stored in a single cell of a relational database table; also called an attribute value or data element key – a field that contains a value that is unique within each row of a relational database table primary key – a key used to uniquely identify a row of relational database table foreign key – a field value stored in one relational database table that also exists as a primary key value in another relational database table referential integrity – a consistent relational database state in which every foreign key value also exists as a primary key value normalization – a technique that ensures relational database schema quality by minimizing data redundancy first normal form (1NF) – a relational database table structure that has no repeating fields or groups of fields functional dependency – a one-to-one correspondence between two field values second normal form (2NF) – a relational database table structure in which every non-key field is functionally dependent on the primary key third normal form (3NF) – a relational database table structure in which no non-key field is functionally dependent on any other non-key fields object database management system (ODBMS) – a database management system that stores data as objects or class instances Object Definition Language (ODL) – a standard object database description language promulgated by the Object Database Management Group Transient Class – a class that doesn’t need to store any attribute values between instantiations or method invocations Persistent Class – A class that must store one or more attribute values between instantiations or method invocations Object Identifier – a physical storage address or a reference that can be converted to a physical storage address at run time Navigation – the process of accessing an object by extracting its object identifier from another (related) object Multivalued Attribute – An attribute that contains zero or more instances of the same data type hybrid object relational DBMS – a relational database management system used to store object attributes and relationships; also called hybrid DBMS data type – the storage format and allowable content of a program variable or database field primitive data type – a storage format directly implemented by computer hardware or a programming language complex data type – a data type not directly supported by computer hardware or a programming language; also called user-defined data type database synchronization – the process of ensuring consistency among two or more database copies Databases & Database Management Systems A database is an integrated collection of stored data that is centrally managed and controlled. A database is managed by a database management system (DBMS).
A database consists of two related information stores…
The physical data store – contains raw bits and bytes of data The schema – contains descriptive information about the data store including… access & content controls, relationships among data elements and details of data store organization. A DBMS has 4 key components…
A application program interface A query interface An administrative interface Underlying set of of data access programs and subroutines Databases and DBMS provide several important data ac cess and management capabilities including the following…
Simultaneous access by many users and application programs Access to data without writing application programs Application of uniform and consistent access and content controls There are 4 main database models…
Hierarchical – old and rare Network – old and rare Relational – current and popular Object-oriented – new and growing in popularity Relational Databases A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system that stores data in tables (also called relations).
The following terminology applies to relational databases…
table – a two-dimensional data structure containing columns; also called a relation row – the portion of a table containing data that describes one entity, relationship, or object; also called tuple or record field – a column of a relational database table; also called an attribute field value – the data value stored in a single cell of a relational database table; also called an attribute value or data element
Each table in a relational database must have a unique key. A key is a field that contains a value that is unique within each row of a relational database table. If only one key is is unique, then that key is also called the primary key. Keys are critical for relational database design as they are needed to establish the relationship between data.
Designing Relational Databases Relational database design begins with either an ERD or class diagram. To create a relational database schema from an ERD, follow these steps…
Create a table for each entity type Choose a primary key for each table Add a foreign key to represent one-to-many relationships Create new tables to represent many-to-many relationships Define referential integrity constraints Evaluate schema quality and make necessary improvements Choose appropriate data types and value restrictions for each field. Evaluating Schema Quality A high quality data model has the following features…
Uniqueness of table rows and primary keys Lack of redundant data Ease of implementing future data model changes Database Normalization Normalization is a formal technique that ensures relational database schema quality by minimizing data redundancy. Normalization is based on a concept called functional dependency and on a series of normal forms…
first normal form (1NF) – a relational database table structure that has no repeating fields or groups of fields second normal form (2NF) – a relational database table structure in which every non-key field is functionally dependent on the primary key third normal form (3NF) – a relational database table structure in which no non-key field is functionally dependent on any other non-key fields
Object Oriented Databases Object database management systems (ODBMSs) are a direct extension of OO design and programming paradigm. ODBMS are designed specifically to store objects and to interface with object-oriented programming languages.
To create an object database schema from a class diagram, follow these steps….
Determine which classes require persistent storage Determine persistent classes Represent relationships among persistent classes Choose appropriate data types and value restrictions for each field Representing Classes There are two main types of classes…
Transient Classes – temporary (i.e. Windows and Buttons) Persistent Classes – permanent (i.e. User Objects and Business Objects) Representing Relationships Each object store within a ODBMS is automatically assigned a unique object identifier. An ODBMS represents relationships by storing the identifier of one object within related objects. The relationships include…
One-to-Many Relationships Many-to-Many Relationships The set of object identifier attributes can also be called a multivalued attribute which is an attribute that contains zero or more instances of the same data type. These are commonly support in ODBMS but not RDBMS as they violate first normal form.
Key Attributes Key attributes are not required in an object database because referential integrity is implemented with object identifiers. Key attributes are however useful in object databases for a number of purposes including guaranteeing unique object content and providing a means of querying database contents.
Hybrid Object-Relational Database Design hybrid object relational DBMS is a relational database management system used to store object attributes and relationships; also called hybrid DBMS
The hybrid DBMS approach is currently the most widely employed approach for persistent object storage. Designing a hybrid database is essentially two design problems in one.
Designer must develop a complete relational database schema Develop set of classes to represent the relational database contents within OO programs Following are the most important mismatches between the relational and OO views of stored data…
Class methods cannot be directly stored or automatically executed within RDBMS ODBMSs can represent a wider range of relationship types from RDBMSs, including classification hierarchies and whole part aggregations. Relationships in an RDBMS can only be represented using referential integrity. ODBMSs can represent a wider range of data types than RDBMS. New classes can be defined to store application specific data. There is also considerable overlap between ODBMS & RDBMS including…
Grouping of data items into entities or classes Defining one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships among entities or classes Data Types A data type defines the storage format and allowable content of a program variable or database field.
Primitive data type is a storage format directly implemented by computer hardware or a programming language. (i.e. bool, integer, etc)
Complex data type is a data type not directly supported by computer hardware or a programming language; also called user-defined data type. It is built up using primitive data types.
With RDBMS the designer needs to define each data type. ODBMS have similar primitive data types to RDBMS however since ODBMS are storing class information, one could consider that as a complex data type already.
Distributed Databases There are several types of distributed database designs including…
Single database server Replicated database servers Partitioned database servers Federated database servers Each design has its benefits and draw backs, however generally they get more complicated to create and support from top down on the list.
