Exam 14: Database Design

Audit files are special records of updates to other files, especially master and transaction files. They are used in conjunction with archival files to recover "lost" data. Audit trails are typically built into better database technologies.

A file is the physical implementation of a data attribute. Files are the smallest unit of meaningful data to be stored.

Most database management systems store both user data and metadata.

Variable-length record structures allow different records in the same file to have different lengths.

The set of all occurrences of a record structure is known as a(n):

A good data model should be flexible and adaptable to future needs.

A(n) ______________________________ is a collection of interrelated files.

While a database management system (DBMS) is somewhat slower than file technology, these performance limitations are rapidly disappearing.

As legacy file-based systems and applications become candidates for reengineering, the trend is overwhelmingly in favor of replacing file-based systems and applications with database systems and applications.

Metadata is the data about data, such as record and field definitions, synonyms, data relationships, validation rules, help messages, etc.

When specific columns of tables are assigned to specific databases or servers, it is known as:

An alternate identifier for a database, its value may identify either a single record or a subset of all records is known as a(n):

The ______________________________ is able to specify different views of a database.

Operational databases are developed to support day-to-day operations and business transaction processing for major information systems.

________________________________ distribution of the data has specific columns of tables assigned to specific databases and servers.

The trend is overwhelmingly in favor of replacing file-based systems and applications with ______________ systems and applications.

To add a new record to a database table you would use:

Database technology offers the advantage of storing data in flexible formats. This is made possible because databases are defined separately from the information systems and application programs that will use them. Theoretically, this allows us to use the data in ways not originally specified by end-users. This is known as ________________________________ (data dependence or data independence).

A(n) _______________________ is a collection of fields arranged in a predefined format.

Which form of distribution duplicates data in multiple locations?