CS10610 - DATABASES

Module Identifier

CS10610

Module Title

DATABASES

Academic Year

2005/2006

Co-ordinator

Mr Nigel W Hardy

Semester

Semester 1

Other staff

Mr Nigel W Hardy

Co-Requisite

Successful completion of an approved course on simple computer use and local facilities.

Mutually Exclusive

Not available to students who have database experience at A level or equivalent.

Course delivery

Lecture

22 lectures

Practical

10 x 2 hours

Other

Workshop. up to 11 x 1 hour

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Exam	1.5 Hours A1	50%
Semester Assessment	A2 Continuous Assessment: One piece of assessed coursework (practical assignment)	50%
Semester Assessment	A3 Practical Exercise: Regular worksheets with up to 10% penalty for non-completion of coursework element
Supplementary Exam	The resit assessment will, at the examining boards discretion, consist of an assignment to be carried out during the long vacation and/or a 1.5 hr written exam.

Further details

http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/CS10610

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

set up and interrogate a single-table database (A1, A2, A3);
produce well-designed forms and reports from it (A2, A3);
explain the reasons for using a multi-table database (A1);
recognise the problems leading to modification anomalies and be able to address simple examples of them using the relational model and normalisation (A1, A2, A3);
design simple multi-table databases (A1, A2, A3);
construct and use a simple multi-table database (A2, A3).

Brief description

On successful completion of this module, students will be familiar with the ideas used in database packages for personal computers and be able to design and construct a database using such a package to store and retrieve information of the type they will encounter in their studies.

Aims

This module provides an introduction to the use of a relational database management system so that:

students will be able to design, construct and use simple databases from (appropriate) material they encounter elsewhere in their studies;
students will gain an appreciation of the ideas that lie behind the relational database paradigm

The philosophy of the course will be to provide students with a tool and with techniques that they can use elsewhere in their studies. The practicals will be based on the microcomputer package Microsoft Access, and will develop problem solving and database design and implementation skills.

Content

1. Introduction - 2 Lectures
The idea of a database, Database Management System and Database Application; a simple and a more complex example; records; fields; objects.

2. Tables and forms - 4 Lectures, 2 Practicals
The views of a table; field data types, properties; validation; primary keys and indexes; Access form wizards; varieties of form available; the views of a form; controls; tab order; visual design; forms for data entry.

3. Interrogating a Database - 3 Lectures, 2 Practicals
Simple search; wildcards; filters and select queries; crosstab, parameter, groups and totals queries. Elementary SQL for queries.

4. Reports - 1 Lecture, 1 Practical
Access report wizards; varieties of report; the views of a report; controls.

5. Multi-table databases - 4 Lectures, 3 Practicals
Entity-relationship modelling: entities, attributes, relationships, many-to-many relationships. Primary and foreign keys. Derivation of a set of tables from a model.

6. Normalisation - 4 Lectures
Data redundancy, inconsistencies, modification anomalies. Relational integrity. Functional dependencies. 1st, 2nd,3rd Normal Forms. Implementation in Microsoft Access. Improving and modifying a database.

7. Other Database Management System Facilities - 2 Lectures
Security issues; introduction to transaction processing.

8. Debriefing - 2 Lectures
Some lecture time each week will be devoted to a debriefing on the previous practical. Two of the practical sessions will be allocated to work on the assignments, but students should expect to have to spend further time on their assignments.

Reading Lists

Books
Thomas M Connolly and Carolyn E. Begg (2004) Database Solutions: A step-by-step approach to building databases 2. Pearson Education Limited ISBN 0-321-17350-3

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4