Chapter 3

Database System
Development Lifecycle

Chapter Objectives
Main components of an information system
Main stages of the Database System
Development Lifecycle (DSDLC)
Main phases of database design:
conceptual, logical and physical design
Types of criteria used to evaluate a DBMS
How to evaluate and select a DBMSs

Kendall & Kendall

Copyright 2002 by Prentice Hall, Inc.

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Introduction
The Software Crisis software depression
80-90% do not meet their performance goals;
About 80% are delivered late and over budget;
Around 40% fail or are abandoned;
Under 40% fully address training and skills
requirements;
Less than 25% properly integrate enterprise and
technology objectives;
Just 10-20% meet all their success criteria

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Continue
Major reason for the failure of software projects:
Lack of a complete requirements specification
Lack
of
an
appropriate
development
methodology;
Poor
decomposition
of
design
into
manageable components.
As a solution to these problems, a structured
approach to the development of a software called
Information Systems Lifecycle (ISLC) or
Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
However, when the software being developed is a
database system the lifecycle is more specifically
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referred to as Database System Development

The Information System

Lifecycle
Information System the resources that
enable the collection, management, control
and dissemination of information throughout
an organization.
1970, database system gradually replace
file-based
system
as
part
of
an
organizations
Information
System
(IS)
infrastructure
Computer-based
Information
System

includes
database,
database
software,
application software, computer hardware,
and personnel using and developing
the
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The Information System

Lifecycle
Database fundamental component of an
information system and its development and
usage
should
be
viewed
from
the
perspective of the wider requirements of the
organization.

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The Database System

Development Lifecycle
Stages of Database System Development Lifecycle
Database Planning
System Definition
Requirements collection and analysis
Database design
DBMS selection (optional)
Application design
Prototyping (optional)
Implementation
Data conversion and loading
Testing
Operational Maintenance
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Database Planning
The management activities that allow the stages of
the database system development lifecycle to be
realized as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Database planning must be integrated with the
overall IS Strategy of the organization. Three
main issues involved in formulating an IS
strategy:
Identification of enterprise plans and goals
with
subsequent
determination
of
information needs.
Evaluation of current information system to
determine
existing
strengths
and
weaknesses;
Appraisal of IT opportunities that might
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yield competitive advantage.

System Definition
Describes the scope and boundaries of the
database system and the major user views.
User Views Define what is required of a
database system from the perspective of a
particular job role (such as Manager or
Supervisor) or enterprise application area
(such as marketing, personnel, or stock
control)

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Requirements Collection and

Analysis
Requirements Collection and Analysis the
process
of
collecting
and
analysing
information
about
the
part
of
the
organization that is to be supported by the
database system, and using this information
to identify the requirements for the new
system.
This stage involves the collection and
analysis of information about the part of
the enterprise to be served by the
database.
Fact finding techniques - way of gathering
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Requirements Collection and

Analysis
Example of information being gather for
each major user view
A description of the data used or
generated;
The details of how the data is to be
used or generated;
Any additional requirements for the new
database system

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Requirements Collection and

Analysis
Requirements Collection and Analysis
The requirements specification techniques
information collected at this stage can be
said to be poorly structured and include
some informal requests and can be
converted into a more structured statement
of requirements by using this technique.
Example: Data Flow Diagrams (DFD),
Hierarchical Input Process Output (HIPO)
charts supported by documentation.
Computer Aided Software Engineering
(CASE) tools, and Unified Modeling
Language (UML).
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Requirements Collection and

Analysis
Main approaches to managing the requirements of
database system with multiple user view.

Centralized Approach Requirements for each

user view are merged into a single set of
requirements for the new database system. A
data model representing all user views is
created during the database design stage.
View integration Approach Requirements for
each user view remain as separate lists. Data
models representing each user view are created
and then merged later during the database
design stage.
A combination of both approaches
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Database Design
The process of creating a design that will
support the enterprises mission statement
and mission objectives for the required
database system.
Approaches to Database Design
Bottom up
begins at the fundamental levels of
attributes (properties of entities and
relationship)
Normalization
Appropriate for the design of a simple
databases with a relatively
small
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Database Design
Approaches to Database Design
Top down
Starts with the development of data model
(Entity-Relationship (ER) Model)
Used to design complex database.
Data Modeling
Purpose:
Assists in the understanding of the meaning
of the data
Facilitate
communication
about
the
information requirements
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Database Design
Phases of Database Design
Conceptual database design
Process of constructing a model of the data
used in an enterprise, independent in all
physical consideration
Logical Database design
Process of constructing a model of the data
used in an enterprise based on specific data
model, but independent of a particular DBMS
and other physical consideration.
Physical database design
Process of producing a description of the
implementation of the database on the
secondary storage;
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DBMS Selection
The selection of an appropriate DBMS to
support the database system.
Selecting the DBMS:
Define terms of reference of study
Shortlist two or three products
Evaluate products

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Application Design
The design of the user interface and the
application programs that use and process
the database.
Observe that the database and application
design are parallel activities of the database
development lifecycle. In most cases, it is
not possible to complete the application
design until the design of the database itself
has taken place. On the other hand, the
database exists to support the application
and so there must be a flow of information
between application design and database
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design.

Application Design
Aspects of Application design:
Transaction design an action or series of
action, carried out by a single user or
application program, that accesses or changes
the content of the database.
Purpose of transaction design to define and
document the high level characteristics of the
transactions required on the database,
including:
Data to be used by the transaction;
Functional
characteristics
of
the
transaction;
Output the transaction;
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Importance to the users;

Application Design
Main types of transaction:
Retrieval transaction used to retrieve
data for display on the screen or in a
production of a report
Update transaction used to insert new
records, delete old records or modify
existing records in the database.
Mixed transaction involve both
retrieval and updating of data.

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Application Design
User Interface Design Guidelines
Meaningful Title The information conveyed by
the title should clearly identify the purpose of
the form/report.
Comprehensible Familiar terminology should
be used to convey instructions to the user.
Logical grouping Related fields should be
positioned together on the report/form. The
sequencing of fields should be logical and
consistent.
Visually appealing layout of the form/report
the form/report should present an attractive
interface to the user.
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Familiar fields labels Field labels

Application Design
User Interface Design Guidelines
Consistent terminology and abbreviation an
agreed list of familiar terms and abbreviations
should be used consistently.
Consistent use of color color should be used
to improve the appearance of a report/form
and to highlight important fields or important
messages.
Visible space and boundaries for data entry
fields a user should be visually aware of the
total amount of space available for each fields.
Convenient cursor movement a user should
easily identify the operation required to move
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a cursor throughout the form.

Application Design
User Interface Design Guidelines
Error correction for individual characters and
entire fields user should easily identify the
operation required to make alterations field
values.
Error message for unacceptable values if a
user attempts to enter incorrect data into a
fields, an error message should be displayed.
Optional fields marked clearly
Explanatory message for the fields.
Completion signal
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Prototyping
Building a working model of the database system.
A working model that does not normally have all
the required features or provide all the
functionality of the final system.
Prototyping strategies:
Requirements prototyping - uses a prototype to
determine the requirements of a proposed
database system, and once the requirements
are complete, the prototype is disregarded.
Evolutionary prototyping used for the same
purpose, but the difference is that the prototype
is not discarded, use with further development
becomes the working database system.
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Implementation
The physical realization of the database and
application designs.
Database implementation is achieved using the DDL
of the selected DBMS or GUI.
Application program are implemented using the
preferred third to fourth generation language (3GL or
4GL). Parts of these application program are the
database transaction, which are implemented using
the DML of the target DBMS, possibly embedded
within a host programming language such as VB.Net,
Python, Delphi, C, C++, C#,PHP).

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Data Conversion and Loading

Transferring any existing data into the
new database and converting any
existing application to run on the new
database.
This stage required only when a new
database is replacing an old system.

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Testing
The process of running the database
system with the intent of finding
errors.
Testing cannot show the absence of
faults; it can show only that software
faults are present.
Should also cover the usability of the
database system.
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Testing
Evaluation sample criteria:
Learnability: How long does it take a new
user to become productive with the
system?
Performance: How well does the system
response match the users work practice?
Robustness: How tolerant is the system of
user error?
Recoverability: How good is the system
from recovering from user errors?
Adaptability: How closely is the system
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Operational Maintenance
The process of monitoring and maintaining the database
system following installation.
Activities involve:
Monitoring the performance of the system. If the
performance falls below an acceptable level, tuning
or reorganization of the database may be required.
Maintaining and upgrading the database system
(when required). New requirements are incorporated
into the database system through the preceding
stages of the lifecycle.
Once the database is fully operational, close
monitoring takes place to ensure that performance
remains within acceptable levels.
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Exercise 1:
Assume that you are an employee
consultancy company that specializes in the
analysis, design and implementation of
database systems. A client has recently
approach your company with a view to
implementing a database system but they
are not familiar with the development
process. You have been assigned the task to
present an overview of the database system
development Lifecycle (SDLC) to them,
identifying the main stages of this lifecycle.
With this task in mind create
a slide
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The Client
Appendix B: The wellmeadows
Hospital Case study.

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Exercise 2:
Interview one or more people responsible for the
development and/or administration of a real database
system. During the interview find out the following
information:
a. The approach taken to develop the database
system.
b. How the approach taken differs or similar to the
DSDL approach described in this chapter.
c. How the requirements for different users(user view)
of the database system were managed.
d. How the DBMS product was evaluated and then
selected.
e. How the database system is monitored and
maintained.
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