Question 1

a. Based on the above phases the activities can be arranged into an orderly manner for the
creation of database for ABC services and repairs.

_7_ Normalize the conceptual model.

_3_ Obtain a general description of company operations.

_9_ Load the database.

_4_ Create a description of each system process.

_11 Test the system.

_6_ Draw a dataflow diagram and system flow charts.

_5_ Create a conceptual model, using ER diagrams.

_10 Create the application programs.

_2_ Interview the mechanics.

_8_ Create the file (table) structures.

_1_ Interview the shop manager.

B. The modules refer to the various blocks into which the whole database would be divided. The
modules would be self functioning blocks that cater to various departments of the shop and
together they form the data management system for the company.

The various modules may be included would be:

1. Inventory Management – This module would form the database model for addressing the
inventory of the shop. Any items inventory information would be acquired by the database for
the better management of the products.

2. Human resource – This module would hold the information related to all the mechanics,
manager and other employees that are working for the company.

3. Customer Management – This module would hold the information about the customer like
his name, purchase item, price, previous services & purchases etc.

4. Payroll – The payroll would have the information about all the employees and their salaries.
Modules of ABC Company shown in the form of diagram

C. A data dictionary acts as a repository of metadata. The metadata itself is data about data.
Thus, all the elements in a data model have their definition in the data dictionary.

• The data dictionary would be a resource for the designer, developers and later on for data
operators (employee of ABC services) who can look upon the meaning of any element
that has been used in the data dictionary.
• A data dictionary will help in the development user interfaces like menus and forms and
can be used in rapid application development.
• The dictionary contains information about all the business rules as well as the
components that have been utilized in developing the information system for the
company. Hence, it will be helpful in providing the documentation for future reference.

D. A modular approach towards the database of the company would provide an effective solution
that would solve the ABC business owner’s problems without adding much strain on the capital
funding by the owner.

The modular approach would allow a room for future expansion into the database system.

Suppose the ABC Company decided to integrate all its service stations for better growth
opportunities. Now with a modular database system, all the stations would be integrated with a
single database system, which would provide better services.

The customer’s past records of services or transactions made at any one store would be available
across all the stations thanks to the integrated database.

E. For providing the best growth opportunities with a single database system, the best way to
develop the conceptual database would be in a centralized database and with a top down
approach.

F. The reports that should be generated by the system are:

 1. Payroll Slip – The payroll slip would be generated monthly and would keep attendance
record of all the employees of the company’s station. This would help in deciding the
salary to be paid to the employee for that month. Any bonuses or increments may also be
applied to that report. Human Resource department will manage these reports.
2. Invoice report – This report would contain the details of all the services and products
that had been provided by the company, department wise along with the sales and
revenue statistics.
3. Customer report – This report would be generated monthly and would have the details
of all the existing customers. The report can contain the list of their previous purchases,
the account balance any debt details etc. This report will be useful to keep track of
customer requirements.
4. Inventory report – The inventory report would be generated monthly and would keep
record of any purchases of parts or services made on behalf of the company. Inventory
Management department will manage these reports.

Question 2

System Development Life Cycle

a. System Development Life Cycle or SDLC is a development and managing cycle that is
followed for the creation, testing and implementation of systems that are ready to be deployed in
the workplace or problem set environments.

The System Development Life Cycle takes care of the system from the earliest stage in which it
is introduced to the stage it is put into the problem area. The System Development Life Cycle has
become the guiding framework which the system developers follow to deliver an efficient
product.

There are six phases of System Development Life Cycle. These are system planning, system
analysis, system design, system development, system implementation and system maintenance.

The various phases that would constitute the SDLC are:

1. System Planning – This phase would have the initial study of the problem domain and
subsequent feasibility study.

2. System Analysis – The analysis would be of the client’s demands, problems with existing
system and the designing of the logical system.

3. System Design – The system would now be put into blueprints and a detailed study with
application of business rules would be done.

4. Implemnation – The created information system would be loaded into the manufacturing
plant and would be tested for errors, debugged and perfected.
5. Maintenance – The created system would now be evaluated for any new changes that may be
necessary and upgraded. Feedback would also be taken from the users for any changes required
by them.

b. Database Development Life Cycle

b. Database Development Life Cycle or DBLC is a development and managing cycle that is
followed for the creation, testing and implementation of databases that are created for the
problem set environments. The information systems are based on the databases and are used in
the SDLC. Hence, the cycle of DBLC also carries out in conjunction with SDLC.

There are six phases of Database Development Life Cycle. These are initial study, system
analysis, database design, database implementation and loading, database testing and evaluation,
operation and database maintenance and evaluation.

The various phases of the DBLC are:

1. Initial Study – In this phase the situation would be analyzed by inspecting the problem area.
Constraints, business rules, scopes and boundaries for the database would be defined.

2. Design – In this phase, the conceptual design, logical design and physical design would be
created.

3. Implementation and loading – In this phase the DBMS would be installed and necessary
databases would be created based on the designs.

4. Testing and Evaluation – The database would be tested and evaluated for any possible error
and fine tuned.

5. Operation – The database would be put into action.

6. Maintenance and Evaluation – The created database would now be evaluated for any new
changes that may be necessary and upgraded. Feedback would also be taken from the users for
any changes required by them.

Question 3

 Similarities that occur between the information system of small manufacturing plant and
an information system of large data warehouse

A larger warehousing operation for which an information system is to be developed is similar to

the information system of manufacturing plants that produces nuts and bolts in the sense that
both would require the use of SDLC and DBLC for the creation, implementation and
manipulation of the information system.
System analysis and system development are parts of the SDLC or System Development Life
Cycle.

SDLC is a development and managing cycle that is followed for the creation, testing and
implementation of systems that are ready to be deployed in the workplace or problem set
environments.

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 Step 2 of 4

Database Development Life Cycle or DBLC is a development and managing cycle that is
followed for the creation, testing and implementation of databases that are created for the
problem set environments.

The information systems are based on the databases and are used in the SDLC. Hence the cycle
of DBLC also carries out in conjunction with SDLC.

The Database Development Life Cycle takes care of the database from the earliest stage in which
it is introduced to the stage it is put into the problem area for managing the information system.

The Database Development Life Cycle has become the guiding framework which the developers
follow to deliver an efficient database and information system.

Comment
 Step 3 of 4

Differences that occur between the information system of small manufacturing plant and
an information system of large data warehouse

The difference can appear in the manner in which these approaches are followed, for instance the
initial study in the DBLC of data warehouse may be carried out by different regional teams that
are located at discrete locations to serve several offices of the warehousing operation.

Also instead of a centralized database approach as followed in the information system of

manufacturing plants that produces nuts and bolts, the database may made a decentralized
system to cater to various regional locations.

The decentralized database design approach is suitable in places which have large volumes of
information to be stored and have remote and global needs for distributed repositories for the fast
retrieval of information as in this case of warehousing operation. These databases are complex
and time-consuming to develop and need to be developed by large team of experienced
developers unlike the centralized databases.

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 Step 4 of 4
For example, the warehousing operation with offices around the globe would require an
information system that contains all the department related information of the global offices at all
the locations. So if a database is created, then it should be decentralized database because the
information to be managed is large and distributed.

Also a decentralized database design would allow the management of the organization to better
manage the information.

Question 4

Using the same procedures and concepts employed in Problem 1, how would you create an
information system for the Tiny College example in Chapter 4?

Step-by-step solution

1. Step 1 of 6

The various steps that need to be performed for the creation of database for Tiny College
are analogous to the steps of the DBLC or Database Development Life Cycle.

Database Development Life Cycle or DBLC is a development and managing cycle that is
followed for the creation, testing and implementation of databases that are created for the
problem set environments.

The information systems are based on the databases and are used in the SDLC. Hence the
cycle of DBLC also carries out in conjunction with SDLC.

The Database Development Life Cycle takes care of the database from the earliest stage
in which it is introduced to the stage it is put into the problem area for managing the
information system.

The Database Development Life Cycle has become the guiding framework which the
developers follow to deliver an efficient database and information system.

There are six phases of Database Development Life Cycle. These are initial study, system
analysis, database design, database implementation and loading, database testing and
evaluation, operation and database maintenance and evaluation

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2. Step 2 of 6

Based on the above phases the activities can be arranged into an orderly manner for the
creation of database for Tiny College.

Step1:
 Interview the administrators of Tiny College and ask all the necessary questions to
develop a fully robust information system.

Step 2:

Interview the faculty members of various departments and develop a department wise
(modular) model.

Step 3: Obtain a general description of Tiny College’s operations.

Step 4: Create a description of each system process of Tiny College.

Step 5: Create a conceptual model, using ER diagrams.

Step 6: Draw a dataflow diagram and system flow charts depicting various modules of
the information system.

Step 7: Normalize the conceptual model and reduce or eliminate the inconsistencies and
redundancies.

Step 8: Create the file (table) structures for the various modules.

Step 9: Load the database for Tiny College.

Step 10: Create the application programs to be used by the end users.

Step 11: Test the created system.

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3. Step 3 of 6

Modules:

The modules refer to the various blocks into which the whole database would be divided.
The modules would be self functioning blocks that cater to various departments of the
college and together they form the data management system for the whole college.

The various modules may be included would be:

1. Student management – This module would form the database model for addressing
the students of the college. Any student’s information like his name, age, roll number,
fees details, courses etc. would be acquired by the database for the better management of
the college.
 2. Human resource – This module would hold the information related to all the faculties,
administrative and non administrative employees that are working for Tiny College.

3. Course Management – This module would hold the information about the courses
offered by the college like the name of the course, concerned faculty,deadline for
registration, number of students registered for the course etc. Thus this module would act
as a course roaster.

4. Payroll – The payroll would have the information about all the employeesof the
college (faculties, administrative and non-administrative) and their salaries.

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4. Step 4 of 6

Modules of Tiny College shown in the form of diagram

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5. Step 5 of 6

Data dictionary:

A data dictionary acts as a repository of metadata. The metadata itself is data about data.
Thus, all the elements in a data model have their definition in the data dictionary.

• The data dictionary would be a resource for the designer, developers and later on for
data operators of the Tiny College information system who can look upon the meaning of
any element that have been used in the data dictionary.

• The dictionary contains information about all the business rules as well as the
components that have been utilized in developing the information system for the college.
Hence, it will be helpful in providing the documentation for future reference.
 Comment

6. Step 6 of 6

Design approach:

For providing the best growth opportunities with a single database system the best way to
develop the conceptual database for the college would be in a centralized database and
with a top down approach.

Reports:

The reports that should be generated by the system are:

1. Student report – This report would contain all the records of the students, their name,
age, phone number, fees details, course etc. Administrative staff in Student Management
department will manage these reports.

2. Course report – This report would contain the details of all courses that had been
offered by the college, concerned faculty, deadline for registration, number of students
registered for the course. Course Management department will manage these reports.

3. Payroll Slip – The payroll slip would be generated monthly and would keep
attendance record of all the faculties, administrative and non-administrative employees
that are working for Tiny College. This would help in deciding the salary to be paid to the
employee for that month. Human Resource department will manage these reports.

4. Exam report – This report will be managed by the faculty members and by academic
staff containing information like which syllabus should be included in the exams and
when to conduct exams.