INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DATABASE (MICROSOFT ACCESS)

DATABASE Large size

A database is a large collection of data in a computer file. The data is You can store thousands of records in a database, and still find the
held in a structured form so it is easy to find the information you ones you want.
need.
Multiple views
A database is typically made up of one or more tables.
You can produce many different useful outputs from a database, in
TABLE different orders, with different records or fields.

A table is made up of rows and columns. The rows of the table are AD HOC QUERY
database records. Each record stores all the information about a
particular item or person (called an entity). An entity is anything you This is a latin phrase that literally means ‘for this’. It is used
want to store information about. nowadays to mean ‘for just this once’ or ‘one time only’. In database
work an ad hoc query is a new unplanned query, that might only be
The columns of the table are database fields. Each field stores a asked once.
single item of information (called an attribute). An entity has
attributes. These are the facts you know about the entity. Use the
term attribute when referring to facts about the entity. DATABASE DESIGN PRINCIPLES

RECORD Database design must take into account a number of principles, for
example:
A record stores all the information about a single entity. Here are  There must be a way to identify every record in the
some key facts about records: database, so that the user can find information.
 In a typical database table a record is shown as a single row  Data must be stored in a standard way throughout the
of the table. database.
 Every record in a table has the same fields in the same  Each item of data should be stored once only.
order.
 A record is sometimes called a tuple. To help identify and find every record in the database, a key is used.

FIELD USE OF IDENTIFYING KEYS

A field stores a single piece of information, also called an attribute. There must be some way to distinguish each record from all the other
 In a typical database table, a field is shown as a single records in the database. Fields such as Name or Date of birth are not
column of the table. always unique. For example a school might have more than one
 Every field has a name. The field appears at the top of the student with the same name. For this reason it is necessary to have a
column. key field which is different for every record in the database.
 Every field has a size. This shows how much information
can be stored in that field. Primary key
 Every field has a data type. Most database tables include primary key field which stores a unique
value. The primary key is often a code number which identifies each
KEY FIELDS entity in the database. In a school, students might have a student
number which appears on a school card that they carry. The primary
Every record in the database must have an attribute that is unique. key is usually the first field in the table.
That is so you can tell that record apart from all the other records in
the database. This field is called the primary key. Alternate key
If there are other fields as well as the primary key field which could
The primary key is often a code number which identifies each entity be used for the same purpose, those are called alternate key fields.
in the database. In a school, students might have a code number
which appears on a school id that they have. Composite key
Sometimes a database designer decides to do without a primary key
REASONS DATABASES ARE USEFUL and uses a composite key instead. A composite key is made by
taking values from more than one field to find a unique way of
Standardization identifying each record.

Every record in a database has the same structure. This means the Candidate key
database user knows what information is held, and in what form. Together, all these keys: primary keys, composite keys and alternate
keys of the database are called candidate keys. They are all possible
Fast retrieval ways of identifying the records in the database.

The way the information is organized makes it easy for the computer
to find items of data in the database.
Secondary key TABLE STRUCTURES
As well as the candidate keys, a database designer might define a
secondary key. This is a field that is not necessarily unique for each Before you create a table in your database, it would be wise for you
record in the database, but is very useful when you need to find a to plan what you want it to contain. You need to think about the field
record. It might be used to sort or reorder the database. names, field types and field sizes. Such a plan is called the table
structure. For example, if you want to create a table called Personal
Foreign key Details that stores the name, address, date of birth, age, gender,
Foreign keys are keys that are used to link together different tables in average mark, passed and fees rate of students, you might create a
a relational database table structure like the one below.

Database Objects and their meanings FIELD NAME FIELD TYPE FIELD SIZE
First Name Text 20
Last Name Text 20
OBJECT DESCRIPTION Date Of Birth Date/Time Pre-Set Field Size
A collection of related data about a subject (person, Age Number Long Integer
Table place or thing) Gender Text 10
Average Mark Number Long Integer
A method used to enter, view or print the information in
Passed Yes/No Pre-Set Field Size
Form a table other than as rows and columns Fees Rate Currency Pre-Set Field Size
A means of storing and answering questions about
Query information in a database
A customized printout or hard copy of the information Notice that you have to split the name into First and Last name fields.
Report in a table or in the response to a query That is because you want to sort the records on last name only, which
A series of instructions that can be saved and used over would not be possible if the whole name is stored as one field. Fields
Macro and over again like date of birth, passed, fees rate and currency do not need a field
Programs written in Visual Basic to customize and size as their field sizes are pre-set.
Modules further automate your database

CREATING TABLES