Deck 12: Database Structure of Accounting Systems

Question 1

Why are conventional files easy to understand and operate?

A) Data are separated into files that mimic journals and ledgers in manual systems.
B) Data are disaggregated but can be combined in numerous ways.
C) Data can be visually checked.
D) Data can be posted in real time.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is meant by the "logical" structure of a database?

A) The way the data are thought about, or viewed, by users
B) The way the data are stored on storage devices
C) The internal level of a database
D) The conceptual and internal levels of a database

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What type of relationship do a customer table and an invoice table have?

A) One-to-one
B) One-to-many
C) Many-to-many
D) A and B, but not C

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which level of the database architecture relates to the way all the data in the entire database are logically viewed?

A) Physical level
B) Conceptual level
C) Internal level
D) External level

Question 5

Which of the following statements is not an advantage of a database?

A) Data storage and retrieval methods are designed by application developers.
B) Data elements can be combined in virtually limitless ways.
C) Each data element needs to be stored only one time.
D) Application programs are independent of the physical structure of the data they process.

Question 6

What are the subroutines called that define the external and conceptual schema in a database management system?

A) Application programs
B) Data definition language
C) Query language
D) Business rules

Question 7

Which of the following statements about a relationship in a database is correct?

A) It is a connection or interaction between tables.
B) It may exist because of the nature of the data elements themselves.
C) It may exist because of the need to relate information in the database in some prescribed manner.
D) A and B, but not C
E) A, B, and C E

Question 8

Which of the following statements is true about a database management system?

A) It is a software program specially designed to convert conventional files into a database.
B) It is a collection of software specially designed to manage the data in a database in response to instructions issued by application programs or requests made by users.
C) It is an application program that manages the instructions issued by users to process data.
D) It is a collection of software that contains metadata and a data dictionary.

Question 9

Which of the following are disadvantages of a database?

A) Increased hardware requirements, required technical skills, and integrated data
B) Increased hardware requirements, vulnerability to system failure, and integrated data
C) Required technical skills, difficult conversion from conventional files, and high- quality and efficient data
D) Increased hardware requirements, required technical skills, and difficult conversion from conventional files

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true about databases whether used on mainframes, midrange computers, networks, or personal computers?

A) The theory and structure are substantially the same, but the design and management issues are different.
B) The theory, structure, and design are substantially the same, but the management issues are different.
C) The theory, structure, design, and management issues are substantially the same.
D) The theory, structure, design, and management issues are different.

Question 11

What type of relationship do a customer table and an inventory table have?

A) One to one
B) One-to-many
C) Many-to-many
D) B and C, but not A

Question 12

Where does mapping occur?

A) Between the external and conceptual levels
B) Between the external and internal levels
C) Between the conceptual and internal levels
D) A and C
E) B and C D

Question 13

Which of the following is the most important query language used in database management systems?

A) COBOL
B) C
C) SQL
D) Visual Basic

Question 14

Which of the following files is not owned by the account receivable application in a conventional accounting system?

A) Open customer invoice file
B) Customer master file
C) Cash receipts transaction file
D) Vendor master file

Question 15

Which of the following statements about an index file is (are) true?

A) It is an auxiliary file to a data file that is used to increase the speed at which records in the related data file are sorted and accessed.
B) It contains only two fields.
C) It is maintained in order of the index key.
D) All of the above statements about an index file are true.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about the conceptual schema of a database is true?

A) It is for the entire database and is at the conceptual level of the database architecture.
B) It is a subset of the internal schema that is required by a particular application program or users.
C) It describes how the internal subschema is implemented physically.
D) It is a subset of the database that describes how the database is implemented.

Question 17

What is a data dictionary?

A) It is a special file, stored in an application program, that provides instructions for processing data.
B) It is a special file, stored in data definition language, that makes a data element in one schema correspond to an element in another schema.
C) It is a special file that is required to initiate the processing of data.
D) It is a special file, stored in the database itself, that provides metadata on the description, structure, and type of each data element stored in the database.

Question 18

Which of the following relationships is asymmetrical in terms of how one record in the first table is related to one or more records in the second table and how one record in the second table is related to one or more records in the first table?

A) One-to-one relationship
B) One-to-many relationship
C) Many-to-many relationship
D) B and C, but not A

Question 19

Which of the following statements about the internal level of a database is true?

A) It is the physical implementation of the conceptual level.
B) It includes the file organizations to store data on the physical storage devices.
C) It is the way all the data in the entire database are viewed logically.
D) A and B, but not C
E) B and C, but not A D

Question 20

Which of the following statements best describes mapping in a database?

A) Mapping is the process of implementing the conceptual relationship in a database.
B) Mapping defines the relationship among the three levels of a database.
C) Mapping is the process of making a data element in one schema correspond to an element in another schema.
D) Mapping is the process of implementing a particular application as requested by the users.

Question 21

What is (are) the function(s) of a database administrator?

A) To participate in the preliminary planning for a database
B) To select the database management system product
C) To write the data definition language software for the database
D) A and B
E) B and C D

Question 22

Which combination below would make the following statement correct?

A) Selection and join : projection and union
B) Selection and projection : join and intersection
C) Projection and union : intersection and difference
D) Intersection and difference : selection and projection

Question 23

What are data elements that are not stored in a database but are calculated on demand from other data elements that are stored in the database?

A) On-line data elements
B) Virtual data elements
C) Stationery data elements
D) Index data elements

Question 24

What is the operation that materializes the relationship between tables?

A) Union
B) Insertion
C) Projection
D) Join

Question 25

In a one-to-many relationship, one record in the first table matches many records in the second table, but one record in the second table matches only one record in the first table.

Question 26

The earliest computerized accounting systems used conventional files that separated accounting data into dependent files.

Question 27

Schemas exist at the external and conceptual levels, but not at the internal level.

Question 28

A query language is a high-level English-like language that enables users to make ad hoc, spur of the moment, requests from a computer.

Question 29

An accounting system can be structured to provide routine information and respond to spontaneous requests for information.

Question 30

Which of the following is not included in a data dictionary?

A) A list of records where each particular data element is stored
B) The cost of the data element
C) The source of each calculated data element
D) A description of each data element

Question 31

What operation produces a new table with only the desired columns from a single source table?

A) Selection
B) Projection
C) Join
D) Union

Question 32

What is a foreign key?

A) It is a nonkey data element that depends on another nonkey data element.
B) It is a data element that uniquely identifies a record.
C) It is the primary key of a table that is placed in another table so the tables can be joined.
D) A and B, but not C

Question 33

What is one or a group of data elements that uniquely identifies a record?

A) A primary key
B) An index key
C) A foreign key
D) A locator key

Question 34

Conventional file processing systems are not easily understood and operated, but control problems in these systems are amenable to simple solutions.

Question 35

A framework that is helpful for discussing different aspects of a database is its architecture.

Question 36

In practice, a database is defined as an organization's total collection of data on computer storage devices.

Question 37

A database administrator is responsible for planning, organizing, and maintaining the database to satisfy users' needs.

Question 38

A database system consists of two major components--a database and a database management system.

Question 39

In an accounting system that uses a database, the application programs interact with the data stored in the database rather than with the database management system.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about an object-oriented database is true?

A) It can handle maps, graphs, images, audio, and video as well as the familiar text and numbers.
B) It is more user friendly than a relational database.
C) It contains a collection of records stored in tables.
D) It performs faster than a relational database.

Question 41

Define a database management system and describe its role.

Question 42

The fact that tables are pooled into one reservoir gives a database its remarkable ability to relate data elements even though they are stored in different tables.

Question 43

A query language is a low-level, programming language.

Question 44

List the advantages and disadvantages of a database system.

Question 45

The database architecture includes an external level, which is the physical implementation of the conceptual level.

Question 46

A foreign key is a data element on which the database management system builds an index file.

Question 47

What activities of an organization must an accounting system be able to support?

Question 48

A database management system is a collection of software specially designed to manage the data in a database in response to instructions issued by application programs or requests made by users.

Question 49

Most companies develop their database management systems in house.

Question 50

The selection operation is used in a relational database to produce a new table with only the desired columns of the desired rows from a single source table.

Question 51

In a one-to-many relationship, one record in the first table matches many records in the second table, and one record in the second table matches many records in the first table.

Question 52

Describe data redundancy in an accounting system and the problems it causes.

Question 53

In the relational model, data are perceived by the user to be arranged in simple tables with rows and columns.

Question 54

What are the differences in the logical and physical structures of a database? How do these structures relate to the three levels of the database architecture?

Question 55

A database system consists of a database and a database management system.

Question 56

What does a database schema define?

Question 57

Identify the types of relationships that can exist between tables in a database.

Question 58

A primary key is one or a group of data elements that uniquely identifies a record.

Question 59

Compare the data hierarchy of a conventional file to that of a database.

Question 60

An index file contains metadata, which is data about data.

Question 61

What are the three ways in which a user can interface with a database management system?

Question 62

Define the two database models discussed in the chapter.

Question 63

List the rules regarding where the foreign key should be placed EACH OF the following relationships: one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many.

Question 64

If database management systems are so nifty, why does any company still operate a conventional file, or legacy, system?

Question 65

What are some of the advantages of an accounting system that uses a database?

Question 66

What is a concatenated (or compound or composite) key?