Adam Boyer
04 April 2008
MIS 204
Chap 10
1. A database analyst focuses on the meaning and usages of data. The database
analyst decides on the placement of fields, defines data relationships, and
identifies access privileges. A database administrator requires a more technical
view of data. The database administrator creates and maintains the data
dictionary, manages database security, monitors database performance, and
checks backup and recovery procedures.
2. To access data in a web database, you fill in a form or enter search text on a web
page, which is the front end to the database. A web database usually resides on a
data server, which is a computer that stores and provides access to a database. A
type of program that manages the sending and receiving of data between the front
end and database is a common gateway interface script.
3. A relational database stores data in tables that consist of rows and columns.
Developers refer to a file as a relation, a record as a tuple, and a field as an
attribute. Users refer to a file as a table, a record as a row, and a field as a column.
The relationship is a connection within the data in a relational database. Object-
oriented database stores data in objects. An object is an item that contains data as
well as the actions that read or process data. Applications appropriate for an
object-oriented database include a multimedia database and a web database.
Multidimensional database stores data dimensions. The multiple dimensions,
sometime know as a hypercube, allow users to access and analyze any view of the
databases data. An application that uses multidimensional databases is a data
warehouse, which is huge database that stores and manages the data required to
analyze historical and current transactions.
4. DBMS’s perform most of the same common functions such as: data dictionary,
query language, query by example, report generator, backup, log, and recovery
utility.
5. In file processing systems have each department or area within an organization
has its own set a data files. Two major weaknesses of file processing systems are
redundant data and isolated data. Database approach many programs and users
share the data in a database. The database approach reduces data redundancy
improves data integrity, shares data, permits easier access, and reduces
development time. A database can be more complex than a file processing system
because of special training and more computer memory, storage and processing
power is needed. Data in databases is also more vulnerable than data in file
processing systems.
6. A bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can process. Eight bits grouped
together form a byte, and each byte represents a single character. A field is a
