What is a Database?

A database is a collection of related data elements. The three basic elements of a database are as
follows:

Tables
Columns
Rows

Tables, also referred to as entities, represent the basic elements of information you are interested in
tracking. For example, a typical business services customers, fills orders, and produces invoices. A
typical database representing a business would have customers, orders, and invoices tables.
Columns, also referred to as fields, represent the attributes of a table. Consider the customers table
of a business. It attributes such as first name, last name, address, city, state, ZIP Code, phone
number, and so on would be appropriate to store.
Rows, also referred to as records, represent the actual data. Whereas fields describe what data is
stored, the rows of a table are where the actual data is stored.

Typical Database Management Systems Used Today

Many popular database management systems (DBMSs) are in use today. Among the most popular are
these:
Microsoft Access
Microsoft SQL Server
MSDE (Microsoft Data Engine)
Oracle
IBM DB2

Microsoft Access is one of two primary database offerings from Microsoft. Access is a network/desktop-
based database. Although feature rich, Access is limited by both the amount of data it can store and the
number of users it can service simultaneously. Currently, the maximum size an Access database can be
is 2 billion bytes (2 gigabytes).

On the other end of the database scale are products such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2.
These types of database management systems are capable of trillions of bytes (terabytes) of data.

Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. It is a
software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software
applications.

Microsoft SQL Server Data Engine (MSDE, also Microsoft Data Engine or Microsoft Desktop
Engine) is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft.

Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle RDBMS or simply as Oracle) is an object-relational
database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation.

DB2 is a family of relational database management system (RDBMS) products from IBM that serve a
number of different operating system platforms.

Key Database Terminology

Database
A database was described as a collection of related data elements. More precisely, a database is a
collection of related data tables or entities.

Tables and Entities
A table represents a thing about an organization. Tables also are referred to as entities. If you want to
track or store information about something, chances are it is a good candidate for being defined as a
table. One of the first steps in building a database involves defining the tables that constitute that
database.

Fields, Columns, and Attributes
Fields are also known as columns and attributes. A good way to think of fields is to think of them as
descriptors of tables. For example, how would you describe a customer entity? Good examples of fields
include first name, last name, city, state, ZIP Code, phone number, and so on.

Normalization
When creating a database, defining tables and fields is not enough. The optimal number of tables and the
optimal construction of tables are determined through a process called normalization. The process of
normalization entails creating numerous smaller tables as opposed to a smaller number of monolithic
tables. One of the primary goals of normalization is to reduce data redundancy.

Rows and Records
Each table in a database contains zero or more rows. Rows are also referred to as records. For example,
say every customer for a company has a distinct record in the table that holds customer data. Therefore,
each order for a specific customer comprises one record in the table that holds order data.

Primary Key
An expression that uniquely identifies a record from all other records is called a primary key.

Database-Related Careers

Database Administrator
A database administrator (DBA) is often the gatekeeper of data in an organization. Normally, all requests
for data structure changes, new stored procedures, and so on are filtered through a DBA. The DBA
ensures that an organizations databases are properly maintained and perform optimally.

Database Applications Programmer
To develop a database application for a business, you must first understand the business. This is wholly
different from developing a utility that can deal with a specific aspect of a business. Database applications
tend to deal with an entire business or an entire segment of a business.
It has been said that a database application is never finished because a business never stops changing.

Database Analyst
Somebody who understands the business and the data related to a business. A key position in the mix is
that of a database analyst. Database analysts are key players in the design of a database.

An Introduction to Microsoft Access

Access, part of Microsofts Office suite, is a full-featured desktop database product. In addition to
being full featured, Access is very easy to use.
Access also provides the ability to write Web pages, macros, and module code.
It provides an easy and versatile way of performing task involving managing the databases such
as adding, editing, deleting, searching for, and organizing records, as well as generating reports.
It is a computer application used to create and manage computer-based databases on desktop
computers and/or on connected computers (a network). Microsoft Access can be used for
personal information management (PIM), in a small business to organize and manage all data, or
in an enterprise to communicate with servers.

Features and Functions of MS Access
Microsoft generally likes to incorporate as many features as possible into its products like the MS
Access. MS Access contains the following elements:
a relational database systemthat supports two industry standard query languages:
Structured Query Language (SQL) and Query By Example (QBE);
a full-featured procedural programming languageessentially a subset of Visual Basic,
a simplified procedural macro language unique to Access;
a rapid application development environment complete with visual form and report
development tools;
a sprinkling of objected-oriented extensions; and,
variouswizards and builders to make development easier.

MS Access Database File Defined

An MS Access database file is a set or collection of MS Access database objects such as
tables, queries, forms, reports, and modules. It is used to store related information of a certain subject
or topic arranged in a particular manner for ease and speed of retrieval.

Examples of Database Applications:

Personal Application
Music Collection database
Household Inventory

Application for small business operations
Patient Records
Time and Billing System

Departmental Application
Personnel Information System
Client Information System

Corporation-wide Applications
Travel Agency System
Hotel Information System
Trading and Distribution System

Designing the Database

Before using MS Access to actually build the tables, and other objects that will make up the
database, it is important to take time to design the database. A good database design is the keystone to
creating a database that does what the user wants to do effectively, accurately, and efficiently.

1. Determine the purpose of the database
The first step in designing an MS Access database is to determine the purpose of the database
and how it is to be used. The user needs to know what information is needed from the database.
From that, determine what subjects to store facts about (the tables) and what facts to store about
each subject (the fields in the tables).

2. Determine the tables needed
Determining the tables can be the trickiest step in the database design process. Thats because
the results from the database the reports to be printed, the forms to be used, the questions that
need to be answered do not necessarily provide clues about the structure of the tables the
produce them.
A table should not contain duplicate information, and information should not be duplicated
between tables.
Each table should contain information about one subject.

3. Determine the fields needed
Each table contains information about the same subject, and each field in a table contains
individuals about the tables subject. For example, a customer table may include company name,
address, city, state, and phone number fields.

4. Identify fields with unique values
In order for MS Access to connect information stored in separate tables for example, to connect
a customer with all the customers orders each table in the database must include a field or set
of fields that uniquely identifies each individual record in the table. Such a field or set of fields is
called a primary key.

5. Determine the relationships between tables
Now that the user has divided the information into tables and identified primary key fields, the
user needs a way to tell MS Access how to bring related information back together again in
meaningful ways. To do this, define relationships between tables.

6. Refine the design
After designing the tables, fields, and relationships, it is time to study the design and detect any
flaws that might remain. It is easier to change the database design now, rather than after filling
out the tables with data.

7. Enter data and create other database objects

If satisfied with the table structures, then its time to go ahead and add all the existing data to the
tables. Create any queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules that are necessary.



Getting Started with MS Access

Parts of the MS Access Screen




Figure 1: Microsoft Access Screen


Control-menu icon gives the user commands that control the appearance of the MS Access window.
Title Bar shows the name of the active application.
Menu Bar contains commands, organized in menus, for working with MS Access.
Database Toolbar contains icons that serve as shortcuts for accessing commands.
Control Buttons allows the user to minimize, maximize, restore, and close the MS Access window.
Status bar provides information about the current state of what the user is viewing in the window and
any other contextual information.
Database window displays the contents of an open MS Access database.
Database window toolbar - Provides options for opening objects, deletes selected object, and changes
how Access displays icons in your database.
Object bar buttons to create tables, queries, forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules.
Group bar it is used to group various database objects together within a group. It would allow you to
put specific tables, queries, forms, reports together in one grouping, so that you could see them all at one
time without switching between the object buttons.

The Database Window

The database window is a window that appears upon opening an MS Access database. It
contains tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules tabs that the user can click to display a list
of all objects of that type in the database.

The parts of the MS Access database window and their uses are:
Control-menu icon gives the user commands that control the appearance of the
database window
Title bar shows the name of the database
Control buttons allows the user to minimize, maximize, restore and close the
database window
Object tabs organize the MS Access database objects
0bject list lists all existing database objects
Command buttons allows the user to open or create database objects

Control-menu icon Title Bar Menu Bar Database Toolbar Control Buttons
Status Bar
Database Window
Database
Window
Toolbar
Object Bar
Group Bar
To change the appearance of the objects in the object list, click one of the following buttons on
the database toolbar: Large Icons, Small Icons, List, and Details.

The Databases Relationships

The three types of relationships you will encounter as you work with databases are as follows:

One-to-One A record in the parent table is related to one and only one record in the child table.
One-to-Many A record in the parent table is related to zero or more records in the child table.
Many-to-Many Multiple records in the parent table are related to multiple records in the child
table. These types of relationships are actually broken down into multiple one-to-many
relationships.

What Does It Mean to Normalize a Database?

Database normalization can best be characterized as the process of organizing adatabase.

The goal of normalization is to reduce problems with data consistency by reducingredundancy.