THE BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY THE BCS PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATIONS BCS Level 6 Professional Graduate Diploma in IT ADVANCED DATABASE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Thursday 8th October 2009 - Afternoon Answer any THREE questions out of FIVE. All questions carry equal marks. Time: THREE hours Answer any Section A questions you attempt in Answer Book A Answer any Section B questions you attempt in Answer Book B
The marks given in brackets are indicative of the weight given to each part of the question.

Calculators are NOT allowed in this examination. Section A Answer Section A questions in Answer Book A

A1.

Large scale database systems, such as distributed database management systems and the Data warehouse, are used in a wide range of industrial and business applications. Explain: a) What a distributed database management system (DDMS) is? (8 marks) b) What a distributed database environment is? (8 marks) c) Why concurrent control becomes important in the distributed database environment? (9 marks)

A2.

In XML database technology, native XML database (NXD) is often used. a) Explain what the terms data-centric and document-centric mean. (5 marks) Indicate which term (data-centric OR document-centric) is suitable for each of the following applications and provide reasons for your choice. a) Sales order b) Books c) Letters d) Appointment list e) Reports f) Engineering testing data (10 marks)
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b)

c)

Give an XML code example for the term datacentric and an XML code example for the term documentcentric, from applications listed in Q2b. (10 marks)

A3.

In Advanced Data Modelling, the models of extended entity relationship (EER) are often used. a) Give two object oriented concepts which are used in the EER model. (5 marks) Explain what entity cluster means. (5 marks) c) Describe what entity supertypes and subtypes are. (5 marks) d) Depict an example of EER model using UML notations and give explanations for the model you presented. (10 marks)

b)

Section B Answer Section B questions in Answer Book B

B4.

A geographic information system (GIS), captures, stores, analyses, manages, and presents spatial data that refers to or is linked to location. GIS provide software tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user created searches), analyse spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these operations. a) Explain how spatial data represented on a two dimensional map can be represented in the relational model of data. Use examples to assist in your answer. (10 marks) Describe, stating any necessary assumptions, the technological challenges involved in achieving the following objectives:

b)

A GIS application is to be developed using conventional relational database technology and web development tools. The main objectives of this application are to track the location (in latitude and longitude) of a person as they move around a particular geographic area. The users location is displayed on a base map covering the geographic area. The application must run on a web browser. Other users can query the map (to find somebodys location or any other object a building for example). Users can interact with the map and perform operations such as draw on it, pan and zoom. (15 marks)

B5.

Refer to the Sample Tables in Appendix A a) Express the following query as a stored procedure with a performance date acting as an input parameter:

List the customerID and seatNo for the seats booked for a performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that took place on 30/9/08. (8 marks) b) Explain your choice of indexes that would be appropriate for above query? For each index, state the type of index (for example clustered or nonclustered). (7 marks) Critically discuss the factors that you would need to consider when trading-off high throughput versus data integrity of transactions. You may assume that bookings can be made on-line via the WWW and at busy times tens of bookings are made every minute. (10 marks)

c)

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Appendix A - Sample Tables from a Theatre Bookings Database Production prodId prodName prodDirector startDate 103 104 108 106 Performance Perfidy 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 SeatType Seat seatType A B C AvailableSeats Perfidy 1064 1064 1064 1064 1064 Seats SeatNo 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1301 1401 Booking bookingNo 3098 3099 3101 3102 3104 location Circle Stalls Gallery seatNo 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 SeatType A A A A A B C bookingDate 02/09/08 03/09/08 03/09/08 27/09/08 27/09/08 bookingTotal 36.00 10.00 18.00 30.00 12.00 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Oliver Twist Le Malade Imaginaire Cinderella perfDate 29/09/08 30/09/08 01/10/08 01/10/08 01/10/08 price 12.00 10.00 6.00 bookingNo 3098 3098 3098 Moggy Tiler Dora Dickens Hypo Kondriac Bob Buttons startTime 19.00 19.00 10.00 14.30 19.00 01/09/08 01/10/08 01/11/08 01/12/08 prodId 103 103 104 104 104

finishDate 30/09/08 31/10/08 30/11/08 31/01/08

paymentDate 02/09/08 17/09/08 12/09/08 30/09/08

customerId 304 307 308 304 306