Databases Flashcards
What are end-user requirements?
a document that details what the client wants to be able to do with the database
Who is the end-user?
The person, people or business who will use the completed database
What are the functional requirements?
used to describe what the database will do and the types of operations it should be able to perform.
What is the requirements specification?
A legally binding document composed of the end-user and functional requirements that usually forms the basis pf a contract between the client and developer.
What is a database?
A structured collection of similar information which you can search through
What is a database package or database management system?
A program that is used for organising data on a computer system
What is a file?
A collection of structured data on a particular topic
What is a record?
a collection of structured data on a particular person or thing made up of one or more fields.
What is a field?
an area of a record that contains an individual piece of data
What is a flat file database?
A database that is contained in a single table
What are the problems with a flat file database?
Data is often duplicated and wastes storage and memory and the database can be inconsistent
What is a relational database?
A database that contains links between between tables
What is an entity?
any object we want to store information about. Usually a person, thing, event or location.
What is an attribute?
an individual data element in an entity
What is a primary key?
a field that has unique value that can be used to identify a record. It cannot be empty.
What is a foreign key?
a field in a table that links to the primary key in a related table.
What are the three types of relationships?
one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many
What is a data dictionary?
a table that contains all the elements to be present in the database once it is implemented.
What should a data dictionary include?
the entity name, attribute name, primary key and foreign key
What are the data types?
text, number, date, time and Boolean.
What is the validation column for?
To check that an item of data is sensible and allowed
What are some examples of validation checks?
presence check, restricted choice, field length and range
What is a presence check?
A check to be sure that a field is not empty.
What is a restricted choice?
a list of options to choose from to limited the answers to only pre-approved ones.
