Chapter 5

Question 1

Database

Answer 1

A persistent organised store of data.

Question 2

Persistent Storage

Answer 2

Non-volatile storage on a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk.

Question 3

Data Duplication/Data Redundancy

Answer 3

Where the same data is stored more than once, unnecessarily.

Question 4

Data Inconsistency

Answer 4

Where different versions of the same data have different values because duplicateversions have been stored and updated differently.

Question 5

Program-Data Independence

Answer 5

Where the applications that use a shared database are separated from the actual data by a database management system. Changes can be made to one application without it affecting another.

Question 6

DBMS

Answer 6

Stands for Database Management System, the system that separates theapplications from the data and provides features that allow database systems to becreated, interrogated and maintained.

Question 7

Views

Answer 7

A feature of a DBMS that provides each application or user with specific accessrights and views of the database.

Question 8

Flat File Database

Answer 8

A persistent organised store of data where data is stored in a single file organised into fields and records.

Question 9

Relational Database

Answer 9

A persistent organised store of data where data is stored as a collection of related tables to minimise data redundancy.

Question 10

Entity

Answer 10

A category of, for example, person (e.g. student, customer), object (e.g. classroom, stock item) or event (e.g. holiday booking, TV program) about which data is stored in a database, and which corresponds to a table in the relational database.

Question 11

Table

Answer 11

A collection of data organised into records and fi elds within a relational database. A table represents a real world entity.

Question 12

Record

Answer 12

Data stored about one instance of an entity: for example, one particular person or object

Question 13

Field

Answer 13

One specific data item being stored such as surname or date.

Question 14

Primary Key

Answer 14

A field in a table that uniquely identifies a record.

Question 15

Foreign Key

Answer 15

A field in one table that is the primary key in another table and is used to create a relationship between those two tables.

Question 16

Relationship

Answer 16

The logical connection created between two tables using a primary and foreignkey pair. It allows related data about a record to be accessed from another table. A relationship between two tables can be one-to-one, one-to-many or many-tomany.

Question 17

Form

Answer 17

Input. An interactive window used for data entry that usually includes validationroutines, and uses controls such as combo boxes and radio buttons. Data input is usually saved to a database.

Question 18

Validation

Answer 18

A check made by the computer to make sure the data is sensible.

Question 19

Verification

Answer 19

A check to ensure that data has been input correctly. Sometimes this is done byprompting the user to read the data they have input and confirm it is correct. Other times the data has to be entered twice and one version is compared againstthe other to make sure it is the same.

Question 20

Query

Answer 20

A feature of a DBMS that allows the database to be interrogated. It selectsrecords from the database based on specifi ed criteria.

Question 21

Database Report

Answer 21

Output. A snapshot in time of the data from a database that can be printed. Data is formatted on a page and may be sorted or grouped. It may include totals.

Question 22

Database Module

Answer 22

Section of code within a DBMS that allows the user interface to be tailored.