Beginning Database Design

Grasping the Concept of a Database 4
Understanding a Database Model 5
What Is an Application? 5
The Evolution of Database Modeling 6
File Systems 7
Hierarchical Database Model 8
Network Database Model 8
Relational Database Model 9
Relational Database Management System 11
The History of the Relational Database Model 11
Object Database Model 12
Object-Relational Database Model 14
Examining the Types of Databases 14
Transactional Databases 15
Decision Support Databases 15
Hybrid Databases 16
Understanding Database Model Design 16
Defining the Objectives 17
Looking at Methods of Database Design 20
Summary 21
Chapter 2: Database Modeling in the Workplace 23
Understanding Business Rules and Objectives 24
What Are Business Rules? 25
The Importance of Business Rules 26
Incorporating the Human Factor 27
People as a Resource 27
Talking to the Right People 29
Getting the Right Information 30

Information, Data and Data Integrity 37
Understanding the Basics of Tables 37
Records, Rows, and Tuples 39
Fields, Columns and Attributes 40
Datatypes 42
Simple Datatypes 42
Complex Datatypes 46
Specialized Datatypes 47
Constraints and Validation 47
Understanding Relations for Normalization 48
Benefits of Normalization 49
Potential Normalization Hazards 49
Representing Relationships in an ERD 49
Crows Foot 50
One-to-One 51
One-to-Many 52
Many-to-Many 53
Zero, One, or Many 55
Identifying and Non-Identifying Relationships 57
Understanding Keys 58
Primary Keys 59
Unique Keys 59
Foreign Keys 60
Understanding Referential Integrity 63
Understanding Indexes 64
What Is an Index? 65
Alternate Indexing 65
Foreign Key Indexing 65
Types of Indexes 66
Different Ways to Build Indexes 68
Introducing Views and Other Specialized Objects 69
Summary 70
Exercises 70