Database Design for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design

Why is it important to complete the design process thoroughly?

It is important to complete the design process thoroughly because it helps you assure a sound structure and data integrity.

True or False: The level of structural integrity is in direct proportion to how thoroughly you follow the design process.

True. The level of structural integrity is in direct proportion to how thoroughly you follow the design process.

What is the purpose of a mission statement ?

The mission statement identifies the purpose of your database.

What are mission objectives ?

Mission objectives are statements that represent the general tasks your users can perform against the data in the database.

What constitutes your organization's fundamental data requirements?

The list of fields and calculations that you compile during the second phase of the design process constitutes your organization's fundamental data requirements.

How do you determine the various subjects that the tables will represent?

You determine the various subjects that the tables will represent from the mission objectives you wrote during the first phase of the design process and the data requirements you gathered during the second phase.

True or False: You establish field specifications for each field in the database during the second phase of the database-design process.

False. You establish field specifications for each field in the database during the third phase of the database-design process.

How do you establish a logical connection between the tables in a relationship?

You establish a logical connection between the tables in a relationship either with a primary key or with a linking table.

What determines a set of limitations and requirements that you must build into the database?

The manner in which your organization views and uses its data will determine a set of limitations and requirements that you must build into the database.

What is it that you can design and implement to support certain business rules?

You can define and implement validation tables as necessary to support certain business rules.

How do you determine the types of views you need to build in the database?

You identify the types of views you need to build in the database by interviewing users and management and determining how they work with their respective data.

When can you implement your logical structure in an RDBMS program?

You can implement the logical database structure in an RDBMS program after you've completed the entire database-design process.