Accounting

Information
Systems
9th Edition
Marshall B. Romney
Paul John Steinbart
Relational Databases
Chapter 4
Learning Objectives
Explain the difference between database and file-based legacy systems.
Describe what a relational database is and how it organizes data.
Explain the difference between logical and physical views of a database.
Create a set of well-structured tables to properly store data in a relational database.
Introduction
Ashton Fleming, the accountant for S&S, believes that the best way to provide Susan
Gonzalez and Scott Parry with easy access to the information they need to run their
business is to build S&Ss new AIS as a database system.
Introduction
Ashton decides to prepare a brief report for them addressing the following questions:
What is a database system?
What is a relational database system?
How do you design a relational database?
Introduction
This chapter explains what a database is and how it differs from a file-oriented system.
It also describes the structure of a relational database system.
The chapter concludes by discussing the basic steps involved in designing a database.
Learning Objective 1
Explain the difference between database and file-based legacy systems.
Types of Files
Two basic types of files are used to store data.
1 The master file, which is conceptually similar to a ledger in a manual system.
2 The transaction file, which is conceptually similar to a journal in a manual system.
File Approach
For many years, companies created new files and programs each time an information need
arose.
This proliferation of master files created problems:
1 Often the same data was stored in two or more separate files.
2 The specific data values stored in the different files were not always consistent.
File-Oriented Approach
Databases
The database approach views data as an organizational resource that should be used by,
and managed for, the entire organization, not just the originating department or function.
Its focus is data integration and data sharing.

 Integration is achieved by combining master files into larger pools of data that can be
accessed by many application programs.
Databases
Database management system (DBMS) is the program that manages and controls access to
the database.
Database system is the combination of the database, the DBMS, and the application
program that uses the database.
Database administrator (DBA) is the person responsible for the database.
Database Approach
Learning Objective 2
Describe what a relational database is and how it organizes data.
Relational Databases
A data model is an abstract representation of the contents of a database.
The relational data model represents everything in the database as being stored in the form
of tables.
Technically, these tables are called relations.
Relational Databases
Each row in a relation, called a tuple, contains data about a specific occurrence of the type
of entity represented by that table.
Learning Objective 3
Explain the difference between logical and physical views of a database.
Logical and Physical
Views of Data
A major advantage of database systems over file-oriented systems is that the database
systems separate the logical and physical view of data.
What is the logical view?
It is how the user or programmer conceptually organizes and understands the data.
Logical and Physical
Views of Data
What is the physical view?
It refers to how and where the data are physically arranged and stored on disk, tape,
CD-ROM, or other media.
The DBMS controls the database so that users can access, query, or update it without
reference to how or where the data are physically stored.
Logical and Physical
Views of Data
Logical and Physical
Views of Data
Program-data independence is the separation of the logical and physical views of
data.
Schemas
A schema describes the logical structure of a database.
There are three levels of schemas:
1 Conceptual-level schema

2 External-level schema
3 Internal-level schema
Schemas
The conceptual-level schema is an organization-wide view of the entire database.
The external-level schema consists of a set of individual user views of portions of the
database, also referred to as a subschema.
The internal-level schema provides a low-level view of the database.
Schemas
Schemas
The Data Dictionary
The data dictionary contains information about the structure of the database.
For each data element stored in the database, such as the customer number, there is a
corresponding record in the data dictionary describing it.
The Data Dictionary
The data dictionary is often one of the first applications of a newly implemented database
system.
What are some inputs to the data dictionary?
records of any new or deleted data elements
changes in names, descriptions, or uses of existing data elements
The Data Dictionary
What are some outputs of the data dictionary?
reports useful to programmers, database designers, and users of the information
system
What are some sample reports?
lists of programs in which a data item is used
lists of all synonyms for the data elements in a particular file
DBMS Languages
Every DBMS must provide a means of performing the three basic functions:
1 Creating the database
2 Changing the database
3 Querying the database
The sets of commands used to perform these functions are referred to as the data definition,
data manipulation, and data query languages.
DDL Language
The data definition language (DDL) is used to...
build the data dictionary.
initialize or create the database.
describe the logical views for each individual user or programmer.
specify any limitations or constraints on security imposed on database record or
fields.
DML Language
The data manipulation language (DML) is used for data maintenance.
What does it include?
updating portions of the database

inserting portions of the database

deleting portions of the database
DQL Language
The data query language (DQL) is used to interrogate the database.
The DQL retrieves, sorts, orders, and presents subsets of the database in response to user
queries.
Learning Objective 4
Create a set of well-structured tables to properly store data in a relational database.
Basic Requirements of the Relational Data Model
Each column in a row must be single valued.
Primary keys cannot be null.
Foreign keys, if not null, must have values that correspond to the value of a primary
key in an other relation.
All non-key attributes in a table should describe a characteristic about the object
identified by the primary key.
Anomalies That May Occur in Non-Normalized Relational Tables
Update Anomaly: When changes (updates) to data values are not correctly recorded.
Instead of having to update once, each record in the single table has to be updated
individually in order to avoid inconsistencies in the database.
Anomalies That May Occur in Non-Normalized Relational Tables
Insert Anomaly: There is no way to store information about one entity in the database
without it being associated with another entity
In the text, we would not be able to store information on new customers without
their being associated with transactions first!

Anomalies That May Occur in Non-Normalized Relational Tables

Delete Anomaly: Unintended results arising from deleting a row of data pertaining to one
entity and resulting in the deletion of data regarding another entity as well.
In the text, if a particular Inventory item were discontinued and hence removed from
the database table, we would lose information on the customer associated with that
inventory item as well.
Approaches to
Database Design
Normalization
Starts with the assumption that all data is initially stored in a large non-normalized
table.
This table is then decomposed using a set of normalization rules to create a set of
tables in the Third Normal Form.
Semantic Data Modeling
The database designer uses his/her knowledge about the business structure to create
a set of relational tables.
Database Systems and the
Future of Accounting
Database systems have the potential to significantly alter the nature of external reporting.

 Perhaps the most significant effect of database systems will be in the way that accounting
information is used in decision making.