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CORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
INSTITIÚID TEICNEOLAÍOCHTA CHORCAÍ
Semester 2 Examinations 2008/
Module Title: Database Design & Programming
Module Code: SOFT 7002
School: Computing
Programme Title: Bachelor of Science in Computing in Information Technology Support - Award
Programme Code: KITSE_7_Y KITSU_7_Y
External Examiner(s): Mr. Ken Carroll Internal Examiner(s): Mr. James John McEnery
Instructions: Answer question 1 and any two other questions.
Duration: 2 Hours
Sitting: Summer 2009
Requirements for this examination:
Note to Candidates: Please check the Programme Title and the Module Title to ensure that you have received the correct examination paper. If in doubt please contact an Invigilator.
Q1. A national newspaper acquires hundreds of photographs per week. Once used in the latest issue, the newspaper company archive the photographs for future use. They use the table below to categorise each of the photographs so that they can be easily found. We assume that each photograph must contain a minimum of one person. Each person photographed is categorised with a genre (sport, political etc.) so that they can be easily found for particular sections of the newspaper. Each photograph is credited to an individual photographer. PhotoNo PhotoDescription PersonId PersonInPhoto PersonGenre PhotographerID PhotographerName PotographerLocation 001 Ireland vs France 001 002 003
Mary O’Donovan Sarah Murphy John Ford
Sport Sport Sport
001 Douglas Reynolds Cork
002 Horse racing 004 003 005 003
Alex O’Leary John Ford Joe Ryan Anne O’Sullivan
Political Sport Celebrity Celebrity
002 Albert Hyde Dublin
003 Film premier 005 Joe Ryan Celebrity 001 Douglas Reynolds Cork
(a) Normalisation (i) Convert this table into a relation named Photo in first normal form (1NF). (ii) Update anomalies are a problem associated with 1NF. Using the Photo relation you developed in part (i), explain what is meant by insertion, deletion and modification anomalies. (iii) Define a full set of functional dependencies and identify a primary key for the relation Photo. (iv) Develop a set of third normal form (3NF) relations from the Photo relation. For each step, state normal form and identify both foreign and primary keys. (25 Marks)
(b) Entity Relationship Modelling (i) Draw a single ER diagram to represent the set of 3NF relations developed in part (a). (ii) In terms of ER modelling, explain what is meant by the degree of a relationship and multiplicity. (iii) In terms of EER modelling, explain what is meant by the process of specialization and the process of generalization. (15 Marks)
Q3. (a) Briefly describe the following approaches to data management : (i) File-based approach (ii) Database approach (8 Marks) (b) With regard to the data management approaches listed in part (a), outline any advantages and/or disadvantages of using one approach over the other. (12 Marks) (c) Two important roles in the database environment include the Data Administrator (DA) and Database Administrator (DBA). Describe both roles, highlighting any difference between the two. (10 Marks)
Q4. (a) In terms of the ANSI-SPARC three-level DBMS architecture, briefly explain what is meant by logical data independence and physical data independence. (10 Marks) (b) With the aid of diagrams, describe the following multi-user DBMS architectures: (i) Teleprocessing (ii) File-server (iii) Client-server (12 Marks) (c) Outline the functions of a Data Definition Language (DDL) and a Data Manipulation Language (DML). (8 Marks)
