Class Schedule
21 Aug | intro
23 Aug | clients
28 Aug | servers
30 Aug | networks
04 Sep | basics lab
06 Sep | structural layer
11 Sep | presentational layer
18 Sep | working with layers
20 Sep | behavior layer
25 Sep | images & design
27 Sep | website lab
02 Oct | object layers
02 Oct | graphics
09 Oct | document markup lab
11 Oct | spreadsheets, formulas & functions
16 Oct | thoughts about data display
18 Oct | Fall Break
23 Oct | database tools
25 Oct | spreadsheets lab
30 Oct | relational databases |
Access- a RDBMS |
create a database |
next session
01 Nov | tables
06 Nov | relationships
08 Nov | input & output
13 Nov | SQL
15 Nov | complex queries
20 Nov | databases lab
22 Nov | Thanksgiving
27 Nov | presentation design
29 Nov | presentation delivery
04 Dec | presentation lab
13 Dec | 0800-1100 | final in class presentation
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A relational database is one in which you can store information in different tables,
each containing different information that relates to information in the other tables
a database is a collection of related data
a database management system (or DBMS) is a system designed for two main purposes
a flat file database is one where all the data is contained in a single table, such as in Excel
a relational database is one in which you can store information in different tables, each containing different information that relates to information in the other tables
an entity-relationship model (ERM) is an abstract and conceptual representation of data. Entity-relationship modeling is a database modeling method, used to produce a type of conceptual schema or semantic data model of a system, often a relational database, and its requirements in a top-down fashion. Diagrams created by this process are called entity-relationship diagrams (or ER diagrams)
One has choices in how to model the elements in a database. One of the standard textbooks on the topic (Elmasri, R., & Navathe, S. (2011). Fundamentals of database systems. Boston: Addison-Wesley.) offers a view of the several methods.
The purpose of a database is to store information about certain types of objects.
To make the distinctions clear, we will use a color schema in which we use
terms relevant to entity relationship models
and their correlates in Access
and, when appropriate, their correlates in Excel
In database language, objects are entities;
in Access, entities are records
in Excel, entities are rows
type | ⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ | ⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓ |
ERModel entity set | composed of entities | which have attributes |
Access tables | composed of records | which have fields |
Excel worksheets | composed of rows | which have column cells |
is an abstract definition of something
an entity (like a textbook for INLS161) is a concrete example of that description
in Access, an entity is a record
is composed of attributes
in Access, attributes are fields
attributes/fields include information we want in the database
attributes/fields help to uniquely identify individual entities within a class
attributes/fields can describe relationships between entities in different classes
is the list of given entities/records within a given entity class that are currently in the database/table
in Access, an entity set is a table
is a set of attributes/fields that uniquely identifies an entity/a record
is a copy of the Primary Key of one entity class/table that appears as an attribute/field in another entity class/table and helps define the relationship between entities/records in the two entity classes/tables
these keys link together the related entity sets/tables in a relational database