2. What is a DBMS? Briefly describe the components of DBMS.

DBMS is short for Database Management System. It is a set of different software

that help to organize, store and retrieve data.
Components:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Users,
Database administrators
Related information systems.
Data manipulation language
Schema
Physical data repository

3. Describe a primary key, candidate key, secondary key, foreign key, and
a combination key. Use your imagination to provide an example of each
key that is not in the textbook.
Primary key: One or more columns that uniquely identify each row in the table
(only one per table allowed. No nulls allowed). e.g Passport number, insurance ID
etc.
Candidate key: Any key that can be used as a primary key e.Drivers license
number instead of SSN.
Secondary key: A field or combination of fields to retrieve data e.g requirement of
first name and last name along with passport number to get I-90 form information.
Foreign key: One or more columns in a table that refer to a primary key in another
table.
Combination key: When two different fields combine to generate a result, the
fields altogether are called combination keys.
4. What are entity relationship diagrams and how are they used? What
symbol is used for relationship? What is an associative entity? Provide an
example.
ERD is a model that shows the logical relationships and interaction among system
entities (Def from book).Relationships are represented by diamond shape.
Associative identity is a third identity that links the two other entities e.g patient
reserves an appointment with doctor, the associative identity is associative identity.
6 What are data warehousing and data mining? How do businesses use
these business tools?
Data warehousing is just a collection of data, just like a warehouse where
everything is stored without any specific pattern or category whereas data mining is
assigning that data some meaning on the basis of patterns. E.g ads on the right side
of facebook are displayed on the basis of a persons interest and the search the
person has done most frequently.

9. How would you define third normal form? How do you convert a 2NF
design to 3NF? In your answer, refer to specific pages and figures in this
chapter.
In third normal form only foreign key columns should be used to reference another
table, and no other columns from the parent table should exist in the referenced
table. 3NF design avoids the redundancy and data integrity problems that can exist
in 2NF.
To convert the table from 2 NF to 3NF:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Identify any dependencies between non-key attributes within each table

Remove them to form a new table
Promote one of the attributes to be the key of the new table
This becomes the Foreign Key link in the original table
(http://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/DDFun01CD/page_13.htm).

On page 371 figure 9-25 the PRODUCT table in 2NF is transformed into two 3NF
tables.