Final Exam Prep Flashcards
What is stored representations of objects and events that have meaning and importance in the user’s environment?
Data
What is data that have been processed in such a way as to increase the knowledge of the person who uses the data?
Information
What is data that describes the properties or characteristics of end-user data and the context of those data?
Metadata
Why were computer based file processing systems developed?
To store, manipulate, and retrieve large files of data.
What are some disadvantages associated with file processing?
- Program-data dependence
- Duplication of data
- Limited data sharing
- Lengthy development times
- Excessive Program Maintenance
What are graphical systems used to capture the nature and relationships among data?
Data model
What is an applicaiton program (or set or related programs) that is used to perform a series of database activities (create, read, update, and delete) on behalf of database users.
Database application
What is a person, a place, an object, an event, or a concept in the user environment about which the organization wishes to maintain data?
An entity
What is a database that represents data as a collection of tables in which all data relationships are represented by common values in related tables?
Relational Database
What is a software system that is used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to user databases?
Database Management System (DBMS)
What are advantages of the Database approach?
- Program-data independence
- Planned data redundancy
- Improved data consistency
- Improved data sharing
- Increased productivity of application development
- Enforcement of standards
- Improved data quality
- Improved data accessibility and responsiveness
- Reduced program maintenance
- Improved decision support
What is the seperation of data descriptions from the application programs that use the data?
Data independence
What are software tools that provide automated support for creating data models?
Data modeling and design tools?
What are the components of the database environment?
- Data modeling and desing tools
- Repository
- DBMS
- Database
- Application programs
- User interface
- Data and database administrators
- System developers
- End users
What is a centralized knowledge base of all data definitions, data relationships, screen and report formats, and other system components?
Repository
What is the first step in database development, in which the scope and general contents of organizational databases are specified?
Enterprise data modeling
What is the traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems?
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
What are the parts of the SDLC?
- Planning - Enterprise modeling
- Planning - Conceptual data modeling
- Analysis - Conceptual Data Modeling
- Design - Logical database design
- Design - Physical database design and definition
- Implementation - Database implementation
What is the purpose of the SDLC?
To develop a preliminary understanding of a business situation and how information systems might help solve a problem or make an oppurtunity possible.
What is a detailed, technology-independent specification of the overall structure of organizational data?
Conceptual schema
What is the representation of a database for a particular data management technology?
Logical schema
What are specifications for how data from a logical schema are stored in a computer’s secondary memory by a DBMS?
Physical schema
What is an iterative process of systems development in which requirements are converted to a working system that is continually revised through close work between analysts and users?
Prototyping
What is an approach to database and software development that emphasizes “individuals and interactions over process and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and response to change over following a plan.”?
Agile software development
What is a planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end?
Project
What is a business management system that integrates all functions of the enterprise, such as manufacturing, sales, finance, marketing, inventory, accounting, and human resources?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
What systems are software applications that provide the data necessary for the enterprise to examine and manage it’s activities?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
What is an integrated decision support database whose content is derived from the various operational databases?
Data warehouse
What is a logical representation of the data for an organization or for a business area, using entities for categories of data and relationships for associations between entities.
Entity-Relationship Model (E-R Model)
What is a graphical representation of an entity-relationship model?
Entity-Relationship diagram (ERD)
What are the cardinalities in an ERD?
- Two lines across the relationship line = Mandatory one relationship
- One line with a Forked end = Mandatory many relationship
- One circle with one line = Optional one relationship
- One circle with forked end = Optional many relationship
What is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business. It is intended to assert business structure or to control or influence the behavior of the business.
Business rules
What are the characteristics of a good business rule?
- Declarative
- Precise
- Atomic
- Consistent
- Expressible
- Distinct
- Business-oriented
What is a word or phrase that has a specific meaning for the business?
Term
What is an association between two or more terms?
Fact
What is a person, place, an object, an event, or a concept in the user environment about which the organization wishes to maintain data?
Entity
What is a collection of entities that share common properties or characteristics?
Entity type
What is a single occurence of an entity type?
Entity instance
What is an entity that exists independently of other entity types?
Strong entity type
What is an entity type whose existence depends on some other entity type?
Weak entity type
What is the entity type on which teh weak entity type depends?
Identifying owner
What is the relationship between a weak entity type and its owner?
Identifying relationship
What is a property or characteristic of an entity or relationship type that is of interest to the organization?
Attribute