Vocab. Ch. 4-6 Flashcards
view
An application program’s or an individual user’s picture of the database. An individual can use a view to create reports, charts, and other objects using database data.
CREATE VIEW
The SQL command used to create a view. Example: CREATE VIEW Games AS SELECT ItemNum, Description, OnHand, Price FROM Item WHERE Category='GME'
defining query
The SELECT command that creates the view and indicates what to include in the view.
queries on views
The DBMS will not except a query on a view. Instead, it merges the query with the query that defines the view to form the query that is actually executed.
CREATE VIEW Games (INum, IDesc, OnHd, Price) AS
SELECT ItemNum, Description, OnHand, Price
FROM Item
WHERE Category=’GME’
Creates a view and changes the field names to INum, IDesc, OnHd, Price
row-and-column subset view
A view that consists of a subset of the rows and columns in some individual table.
Advantages of views
1) Provide data independence. The data base can change without the need to change the view, as long as the change is compatible with the requirements of the view.
2) Each user can have their own view.
3) Views should contain only the fields needed by the user, simplifying the interface. In addition, it provides security for the data.
Indexes
The main mechanism for increasing the efficiency with which data is retrieved from the database within relational model systems. They are very much like indexes in a book, indexes typically contain two fields, one contains the attribute and the other contains the number of the record(s) where it can be found.
index key
The field or combination of fields on which the index is built.
index pros & cons
Pros - Makes certain types of retrials more efficient.
Cons - The index takes up space on a storage device.
- The DBMS must update the index whenever corresponding data in the database is updated.
automatic index creation
Access automatically generates an index for each primary key.
CREATE INDEX
The SQL command for creating an index.
single-field index
Also called a single-column index, an index whose key is a single field.
multiple-field index
Also called a multiple-column index, an index whose key is a more than one key field.
DROP INDEX
The SQL command used to drop (delete) and index that is no longer necessary.
security
The prevention of unauthorized access to the database.
security mechanisms
There are two security mechanisms in SQL systems.
1) Views provide a certain amount of security.
2) The GRANT statement is the main mechanism for providing access to a database.
GRANT
The basic idea of the GRANT statement is that different types of privileges can be granted to users and, if necessary, later revoked. The privileges include such things as the right to select, insert, update, and delete table data.
REVOKED
The SQL command used to revoke a users privileges.
Integrity Rules
A relational DBMS must enforce two important integrity rules:
1) entity integrity
2) referential integrity
Entity Integrity
The primary key should never be allowed to have a null value.
Referential Integrity
The rule that if table A contains a foreign key that matches the primary key of table B, the values of this foreign key must match the value of the primary key for some row in table B or be null. (Enforce Referential Integrity)
Casecade Delete Related Records
A check box which ensures that the deletion of a record also deletes any records that relate to it.
Casecade Update Related Fields
A check box which ensures that changes made to the primary key of a record are also made in the related field record.
Legal-Values Integrity
A third type of integrity, it is the property that states that no record can exist in the database with a value in the field other than one of the legal values.
CHECK
The SQL clause used to enforce legal-values integrity.
ALTER TABLE
The SQL command used to change a table’s structure.
DROP TABLE
The SQL command to delete a table that is no longer needed.
system catalog
or the 'catalog', is where information about tables in the database is kept and it is maintained automatically by the DBMS. Also contains tables: 1) Systables 2) Syscolumns 3) Sysindexes 4) Sysviews.
Systables
Information about the tables known to SQL
Syscolumns
Information about the columns or fields within these tables.
Sysindexes
Information about the indexes that are defined on these tables.
Sysviews
Information about the views that have been created.
Documenter
A tool in Access which allows you to print detailed documentation about any table, query, report, form, or other object in the database.
client
In a client/server system, the client is a computer that is connected to a network and has access through the server to the database.
server
In a client/server system, the server is the computer where the database resides.
stored procedure
A place on the server where queries that are run often are stored to improve overall performance.
trigger
An action that occurs automatically in response to an associated database operation such as and INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE or command
data macro
What Access uses to offer the functionality of triggers. They enable you to add logic to table events such as adding, changing, or deleting data.
arguments
Additional information required by actions in order for the action to be completed.
pattern match
Selects records with a value for the designated field that matches the pattern of a simple condition value.
like comparison operator
Selects records by matching field values to a specific pattern that includes one or more of these wildcard characters: asterisk (*), question mark (?), and number symbol (#).
asterisk (*)
Wildcard - Represents any string of characters.
question mark (?)
Wildcard - Represents any single character.
number symbol (#)
Wildcard - Represents any single digit.
& (ampersand) operator
A concatenation operator that joins text expressions.
concatenation
Refers to joining two or more text fields or characters encapsulated in quotes.
IIF function
(Immediate If) - Assigns one value to a calculated field or control if a conditions is true, and a second value if the condition is false. It has three parts:
1) a condition that is true or false,
2) the result when the condition is true, and
3) the result when the condition is false.
parameter query
Displays a dialog box that prompts the user to enter one or more criteria values when the query is run.
crosstab query
Use the aggregate functions (Avg, Count, First, Last, Max, Min, StDev, Sum, Var) to perform arithmetic operations on selected records. It can also display one additional aggregate function value that summarizes the set of values in each row. It uses one or more fields for the row headings on the left and one field for the column headings at the top.
find duplicates query
A select query that finds duplicate records in a table or query. (Use Query Wizard)
find unmatched query
A select query that finds all records in a table or query that have no related records in a second table or query. (Use Query Wizard)
top values property
Lets you limit the number of records in the query results.
property propagation
The capability to update field properties in objects automatically when you modify a table field property.
object dependency
Exists between two objects when a change to the properties of data in one object affects the properties of data in the other object.
field validation rule
Verifies a field value by comparing it to a constant or to a set of constants.