DATA TYPES

SECTION V

DATABASE: Types of data

KEY FIELD
(no other record can have
the same item
Id number
18759
36729
51734
51736

Name
Noah Amu
Razia Mukadam
Shan Faizar
Ahmad Makhtar

Sex
M
F
F
M

5 FIELDS
(columns)

20 ITEMS
(each piece of
data)
Form
4AD
3JU
6YD
3JU

Tutor
Ms Arif
Mr Ali
Ms Syed
Mr Ali

4 RECORD
(rows)

DATA TYPES
Yes/No
Logical
Boolean
Id number
18759
36729
51734
51736

Name
Noah Amu
Razia Mukadam
Shan Faizar
Ahmad Makhtar

Numeric:
Integer
real

Gender
M
F
F
M

Form
4AD
3JU
6YD
3JU

Tutor
Ms Arif
Mr Ali
Ms Syed
Mr Ali

Birthday
15/8/2000
6/9/2001
13/2/1999
11/4/2001

Date
Text/Alphanumeric

Share
$9000
$8600
$9800
$7800

Currency

DATA Verifaction and validation

techniques
When data is input to a computer system, it is
important to make sure that no errors are made.
There are two types of checking that should be done
on data input to a system:

Data Verification
Data Validation

VERIFICATION
Is checking to make sure that what was input to the
system was what was meant to be input.
READ THROUGH
or
VISUAL CHECK
This is the checking
for errors by
comparing entered
data on the screen
with the data in the
original document

DOUBLE
ENTRY
Have two people key the
data in, then the
computer can compare
the two inputs and if they
are not the same it can
ask for data to be keyed
in again.

VALIDATION CHECKS
Examples of different validation checks:

RELATIONAL DATABASES
Consist of a number of separate tables which are related (this is
done using the primary key).
Tables can also contain foreign keys that relate tables in the
database to one another. A foreign key in one table is a primary
key in another.
It is possible to combine data from different tables to produce a
report which contains the required information.
In relational database is faster data retrieval (recuperacin de
datos).
Is easy to expansion the database by adding extra data or new
tables.
If data is changed in only one table, all other references to this data
will then also be up date. This is called data integrity.
On the contrary, if a database is represented as a single table is
called a FLAT Database

Sequential, serial or direct file

When the records in a database are in order of the key, is called a sequential file
because the records are in sequence. Records are often stored in order of the key,
either numerically or alphabetically, because this creates a file that is a lot easier to
use and find things in.

If the file is in no particular order, or just in the order that the records were input
(chronological order), it is called a serial file. Serial file are not very useful because
they make it so difficult to find any information. They are kept when the file is not
going to be used immediately. For example, a record of all the transactions that take
place in a shop will kept as a serial file until the end of the day, when it may be
converted to a sequential file in alphabetical order of items that were bought.
An alternative to converting a serial file to a sequential file is to create an index and
allow the records to be kept randomly on the surface of a disk. Any record can be
found without having to look through all of them, simply by going to the index and
looking up the key in the index to find the location of the record. This is called a direct
access file and it is used in the files where it is not possible to predict the order in
which the records will be needed, such as the product records for the checkout in the
supermarket.

DATABASE MAINTENANCE

Updates or amend: When a piece of information

or item in one record is needed to be changed.
Insertions: When a new record will need to be
inserted.
Deletions: When a record would need to be taken
out of the file.