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CSC 200 > Chapter 12--databases > Flashcards

Chapter 12--databases Flashcards

0
Q

Name 3 popular information systems.

A

Electronic spreadsheets, database management systems, and e-commerce.

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1
Q

Define “information system”.

A

Software that helps the user organize and analyze data.

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2
Q

Define “spreadsheet”.

A

A program that allows the user to organize and analyze data using a grid of cells.

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3
Q

Define “cell”, as it relates to a a spreadsheet.

A

An element of a spreadsheet that can contain data or a formula.

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4
Q

Define “spreadsheet function”.

A

A computation provided by the spreadsheet software that can be incorporated into formulas.

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5
Q

Define “range”, in the context of a spreadsheet.

A

A range of contiguous cells specified by the endpoints.

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6
Q

Define “circular reference”.

A

A set of formulas that rely, erroneously, on each other to compute their results.

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7
Q

What award did Daniel Bricklin win, and what did he win it for doing?

A

The Grace Murray Hopper award, by the ACM, for VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet program.

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8
Q

Define “what-if analysis”.

A

Modifying spreadsheet values that represent assumptions to see how changes in those assumptions affect the related data in the spreadsheet.

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9
Q

Define “database”.

A

A structured set of data

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10
Q

Define “database management system”.

A

A combination of software and data made up of the physical database, the database engine, and the database schema.

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11
Q

Define “query”.

A

A request to retrieve data from a database.

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12
Q

Define “schema”.

A

A specification of the logical structure of data in a database.

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13
Q

Define “relational model”.

A

A database type/model in which data and the relationships among them are organized into tables. This is the most popular database format.

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14
Q

Table–define.

A

A collection of database records.

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15
Q

Define record/object/entity. They mean the same thing.

A

A collection of related fields that make up a single database entry.

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16
Q

Define “field/attribute”.

A

A single value in a database record.

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17
Q

What is a “key”, also known as a “key field”?

A

One or more fields of a database record that uniquely identifies it among all other records in a table.

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18
Q

Define “SQL”, and tell what it stands for.

A

Structured Query Language is a comprehensive relational database language for data management and queries

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19
Q

Is SQL case-sensitive?

A

No

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20
Q

Define “entity-relationship modeling”.

A

A popular technique for designing relational databases.

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21
Q

Define “ER diagram”.

A

A graphical representation of an ER model. It captures the important record types, attributes, and relationships in a graphical form.

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22
Q

Define “cardinality constraint”, and give all the possible types.

A

The number of relationships that may exist at one time among entities in an ER diagram. One-to-one, one-to-many, and many to many are the three possible types.

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23
Q

Define “e-commerce”.

A

The process of buying and selling products and services using the World Wide Web.

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24
Q

True/false–a cell in a spreadsheet can only contain raw data.

A

False. It could also contain a formula or the result of a formula instead

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25
Q

True/false–a spreadsheet should be set up so that changes to the data are automatically reflected in any cells affected by that data.

A

True. That’s the main point of an electronic spreadsheet, to automate as much as you can.

26
Q

True/false–a spreadsheet function is a program the user writes to compute a value.

A

True.

27
Q

True/false–a range of cells can be specified that go horizontally or vertically, but not both.

A

False.

28
Q

True/false–a circular reference in a spreadsheet is a useful and powerful tool.

A

False. A good spreadsheet will actually tell you immediately if you create a circular reference

29
Q

True/false–a spreadsheet is useful for performing what-if analysis.

A

True.

30
Q

True/false–what-if analysis can only affect one value in a spreadsheet.

A

False.

31
Q

True/false–a database engine is software that supports access to the database contents.

A

True.

32
Q

True/false–the physical database represents the logical structure of the data in a database.

A

False. That’s actually the database schema that does that.

33
Q

True/false–A query is a request to a database for information.

A

True. Specifically, it’s a request for the contents of one particular cell/field.

34
Q

True/false–the results of a query can be structured in many ways

A

True

35
Q

True/false–the hierarchical model is the most popular database management model today.

A

False. The relational model is the most popular.

36
Q

True/false–a database table is a collection of records, and a record is a collection of fields.

A

True

37
Q

True/false–the values in the key fields of a database uniquely identify a record among all all the records in a table.

A

True.

38
Q

True/false–A database engine often interacts with a particular language for accessing and modifying the database.

A

True

39
Q

True/false–An entity-relationship diagram (ER diagram) represents primary database elements in a graphical form.

A

True.

40
Q

True/false–the cardinality of a relationship puts restrictions on the number of relationships that can exist at one time.

A

True

41
Q

True/false–E-commerce is the process of keeping financial records, such as accounts payable, online.

A

False

42
Q

Fill in the blank–a spreadsheet is ________ in that it responds to changes in the data by immediately updating all affected values.

A

Dynamic

43
Q

Fill in the blank–a spreadsheet formula may operate on a ______ of cells, such as E3..E25.

A

Range

44
Q

Fill in the blank–the database _____ is the specification of the logical structure of the database.

A

Schema

45
Q

Fill in the blank–a ______ reference occurs when the results of one formula is ultimately based on another formula, and vice-versa.

A

Circular

46
Q

Fill in the blank–a _____ contains a single data value.

A

Cell or field

47
Q

Compare a database with a database management system.

A

A database management system includes the physical database, the schema of that database, and the database engine. The database is just the database itself, not including the engine or the schema, although people might also consider the schema as being part of the definition of database.

48
Q

What is a database schema?

A

The specification of the logical structure of the elements in a database.

49
Q

Describe the general organization of a relational database.

A

It contains tables, which contain records/entities/objects, which consist of fields/cells/attributes. The fields can contain formulas in some cases, which define the relationship of some other fields to each other, usually mathematically. Some field/fields in an individual record/entity/object contain a unique identifier for that record. These are called “key fields”.

50
Q

How are relationships represented in a relationship database?

A

With an entity-relationship diagram (ER diagram)

51
Q

How are entities and relationships represented in an ER diagram?

A

Graphically, usually with specific shapes representing the entity types, and lines between those shapes representing their relationships to each other.

52
Q

What were some of the web-based technologies that allowed e-commerce to become viable?

A

HTML (hypertext markup language), Internet browsers like Mosaic and Netscape navigator, electronic shopping carts

53
Q

What is the SQL command that sums a series of values?

A

SUM(range) or SUM(val1, val2,…)

54
Q

What is the SQL command that counts the number of cells that contain values?

A

count(val1, …) or count(range)

55
Q

What is the SQL command that gives the largest value from a specified set of values?

A

Max

56
Q

What is the SQL command that gives the sine of the specified angle?

A

sin

57
Q

What is the SQL command that gives Pi?

A

pi

58
Q

What is the SQL command that gives the standard deviation from the specified set of values?

A

stdev

59
Q

What is the SQL command that gives today’s date?

A

today

60
Q

What is the SQL command that that gives the leftmost character from the specified text?

A

left(text, num_chars)

61
Q

What are the SQL commands that that return true or false?>

A

If(text, true_val, false_val)

62
Q

What is the SQL command that that returns true is the specified value refers to an empty cell?

A

isblank(value)

CSC 200 (12 decks)

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