 Question 1. What Is Rdbms?

Answer :

Relational Data Base Management Systems (RDBMS) are database management systems that
maintain data records and indices in tables. Relationships may be created and maintained across
and among the data and tables. In a relational database, relationships between data items are
expressed by means of tables. Interdependencies among these tables are expressed by data values
rather than by pointers. This allows a high degree of data independence. An RDBMS has the
capability to recombine the data items from different files, providing powerful tools for data
usage.

 Question 2. What Is Normalization?

Answer :

Database normalization is a data design and organization process applied to data structures based
on rules that help build relational databases. In relational database design, the process of
organizing data to minimize redundancy. Normalization usually involves dividing a database into
two or more tables and defining relationships between the tables. The objective is to isolate data
so that additions, deletions, and modifications of a field can be made in just one table and then
propagated through the rest of the database via the defined relationships.

 Question 3. What Are Different Normalization Forms?

Answer :

1NF: Eliminate Repeating Groups Make a separate table for each set of related attributes, and
give each table a primary key. Each field contains at most one value from its attribute domain.

2NF: Eliminate Redundant Data If an attribute depends on only part of a multi-valued key,
remove it to a separate table.

3NF: Eliminate Columns Not Dependent On Key If attributes do not contribute to a description
of the key, remove them to a separate table. All attributes must be directly dependent on the
primary key.

BCNF: Boyce-Codd Normal Form If there are non-trivial dependencies between candidate key
attributes, separate them out into distinct tables.

4NF: Isolate Independent Multiple Relationships No table may contain two or more 1:n or n:m
relationships that are not directly related.

5NF: Isolate Semantically Related Multiple Relationships There may be practical constrains on
information that justify separating logically related many-to-many relationships.
ONF: Optimal Normal Form A model limited to only simple (elemental) facts, as expressed in
Object Role Model notation.

DKNF: Domain-Key Normal Form A model free from all modification anomalies. Remember,
these normalization guidelines are cumulative. For a database to be in 3NF, it must first fulfill all
the criteria of a 2NF and 1NF database.

 Question 4. What Is Stored Procedure?

Answer :

A stored procedure is a named group of SQL statements that have been previously created and
stored in the server database. Stored procedures accept input parameters so that a single
procedure can be used over the network by several clients using different input data. And when
the procedure is modified, all clients automatically get the new version. Stored procedures
reduce network traffic and improve performance. Stored procedures can be used to help ensure
the integrity of the database.
e.g. sp_helpdb, sp_renamedb, sp_depends etc.

 Question 5. What Is Trigger?

Answer :

A trigger is a SQL procedure that initiates an action when an event (INSERT, DELETE or
UPDATE) occurs. Triggers are stored in and managed by the DBMS. Triggers are used to
maintain the referential integrity of data by changing the data in a systematic fashion. A trigger
cannot be called or executed; the DBMS automatically fires the trigger as a result of a data
modification to the associated table. Triggers can be viewed as similar to stored procedures in
that both consist of procedural logic that is stored at the database level. Stored procedures,
however, are not event-drive and are not attached to a specific table as triggers are. Stored
procedures are explicitly executed by invoking a CALL to the procedure while triggers are
implicitly executed. In addition, triggers can also execute stored procedures.

 Question 6. What Is View?

Answer :

A simple view can be thought of as a subset of a table. It can be used for retrieving data, as well
as updating or deleting rows. Rows updated or deleted in the view are updated or deleted in the
table the view was created with. It should also be noted that as data in the original table changes,
so does data in the view, as views are the way to look at part of the original table. The results of
using a view are not permanently stored in the database. The data accessed through a view is
actually constructed using standard T-SQL select command and can come from one to many
different base tables or even other views.
 Question 7. What Is Index?

Answer :

An index is a physical structure containing pointers to the data. Indices are created in an existing
table to locate rows more quickly and efficiently. It is possible to create an index on one or more
columns of a table, and each index is given a name. The users cannot see the indexes, they are
just used to speed up queries. Effective indexes are one of the best ways to improve performance
in a database application. A table scan happens when there is no index available to help a query.
In a table scan SQL Server examines every row in the table to satisfy the query results. Table
scans are sometimes unavoidable, but on large tables, scans have a terrific impact on
performance. Clustered indexes define the physical sorting of a database table’s rows in the
storage media. For this reason, each database table may have only one clustered index. Non-
clustered indexes are created outside of the database table and contain a sorted list of references
to the table itself.

 Question 8. What Is Database?

Answer :

A database is a logically coherent collection of data with some inherent meaning, representing
some aspect of real world and which is designed, built and populated with data for a specific
purpose.

 Question 9. What Is Dbms?

Answer :

It is a collection of programs that enables user to create and maintain a database. In other words
it is general-purpose software that provides the users with the processes of defining, constructing
and manipulating the database for various applications.

 Question 10. What Is A Database System?

Answer :

The database and DBMS software together is called as Database system.

 Question 11. Advantages Of Dbms?

Answer :

  Redundancy is controlled.
  Unauthorised access is restricted.
  Providing multiple user interfaces.
   Enforcing integrity constraints.
  Providing backup and recovery.

 Question 12. Disadvantage In File Processing System?

Answer :

  Data redundancy & inconsistency.

  Difficult in accessing data.
  Data isolation.
  Data integrity.
  Concurrent access is not possible.
  Security Problems.

 Question 13. Describe The Three Levels Of Data Abstraction?

Answer :

There are three levels of abstraction:

  Physical level: The lowest level of abstraction describes how data are stored.
   Logical level: The next higher level of abstraction, describes what data are stored in
database and what relationship among those data.
  View level: The highest level of abstraction describes only part of entire database.

 Question 14. Define The "integrity Rules"?

Answer :

There are two Integrity rules.

  Entity Integrity: States that “Primary key cannot have NULL value”.
  Referential Integrity: States that “Foreign Key can be either a NULL value or should be
Primary Key value of other relation.

 Question 15. What Is Extension And Intension?

Answer :

Extension : It is the number of tuples present in a table at any instance. This is time dependent.
Intension : It is a constant value that gives the name, structure of table and the constraints laid
on it.

 Question 16. What Is System R? What Are Its Two Major Subsystems?

Answer :

System R was designed and developed over a period of 1974-79 at IBM San Jose Research
Center. It is a prototype and its purpose was to demonstrate that it is possible to build a
Relational System that can be used in a real life environment to solve real life problems, with
performance at least comparable to that of existing system.
Its two subsystems are

  Research Storage
  System Relational Data System.

 Question 17. How Is The Data Structure Of System R Different From The Relational
Structure?

Answer :

Unlike Relational systems in System R

  Domains are not supported

  Enforcement of candidate key uniqueness is optional
  Enforcement of entity integrity is optional
  Referential integrity is not enforced

 Question 18. What Is Data Independence?

Answer :

Data independence means that “the application is independent of the storage structure and access
strategy of data”. In other words, The ability to modify the schema definition in one level should
not affect the schema definition in the next higher level.
Two types of Data Independence:

  Physical Data Independence: Modification in physical level should not affect the logical
level.
  Logical Data Independence: Modification in logical level should affect the view level.

 Question 19. What Is A View? How It Is Related To Data Independence?

Answer :
A view may be thought of as a virtual table, that is, a table that does not really exist in its own
right but is instead derived from one or more underlying base table. In other words, there is no
stored file that direct represents the view instead a definition of view is stored in data dictionary.
Growth and restructuring of base tables is not reflected in views. Thus the view can insulate
users from the effects of restructuring and growth in the database. Hence accounts for logical
data independence.

 Question 20. What Is Data Model?

Answer :

A collection of conceptual tools for describing data, data relationships data semantics and
constraints.

 Question 21. What Is E-r Model?

Answer :

This data model is based on real world that consists of basic objects called entities and of
relationship among these objects. Entities are described in a database by a set of attributes.

 Question 22. What Is Object Oriented Model?

Answer :

This model is based on collection of objects. An object contains values stored in instance
variables with in the object. An object also contains bodies of code that operate on the object.
These bodies of code are called methods. Objects that contain same types of values and the same
methods are grouped together into classes.

 Question 23. What Is An Entity?

Answer :

It is a 'thing' in the real world with an independent existence.

 Question 24. What Is An Entity Type?

Answer :

It is a collection (set) of entities that have same attributes.

 Question 25. What Is An Entity Set?

Answer :
It is a collection of all entities of particular entity type in the database.

 Question 26. What Is An Extension Of Entity Type?

Answer :

The collections of entities of a particular entity type are grouped together into an entity set.

 Question 27. What Is Weak Entity Set?

Answer :

An entity set may not have sufficient attributes to form a primary key, and its primary key
compromises of its partial key and primary key of its parent entity, then it is said to be Weak
Entity set.

 Question 28. What Is An Attribute?

Answer :

It is a particular property, which describes the entity.

 Question 29. What Is A Relation Schema And A Relation?

Answer :

A relation Schema denoted by R(A1, A2, …, An) is made up of the relation name R and the list
of attributes Ai that it contains.

A relation is defined as a set of tuples. Let r be the relation which contains set tuples (t1, t2,
t3, ..., tn). Each tuple is an ordered list of n-values t=(v1,v2, ..., vn).

 Question 30. What Is Degree Of A Relation?

Answer :

It is the number of attribute of its relation schema.

 Question 31. What Is Relationship?

Answer :

It is an association among two or more entities.

 Question 32. What Is Relationship Set?

Answer :

The collection (or set) of similar relationships.

 Question 33. What Is Relationship Type?

Answer :

Relationship type defines a set of associations or a relationship set among a given set of entity
types.

 Question 34. What Is Degree Of Relationship Type?

Answer :

It is the number of entity type participating.

 Question 35. What Is Ddl (data Definition Language)?

Answer :

A data base schema is specifies by a set of definitions expressed by a special language called
DDL.

 Question 36. What Is Vdl (view Definition Language)?

Answer :

It specifies user views and their mappings to the conceptual schema.

 Question 37. What Is Sdl (storage Definition Language)?

Answer :

This language is to specify the internal schema. This language may specify the mapping between
two schemas.

 Question 38. What Is Data Storage - Definition Language?

Answer :

The storage structures and access methods used by database system are specified by a set of
definition in a special type of DDL called data storage-definition language.

 Question 39. What Is Dml (data Manipulation Language)?

Answer :

This language that enable user to access or manipulate data as organized by appropriate data
model.

  Procedural DML or Low level: DML requires a user to specify what data are needed
and how to get those data.
  Non-Procedural DML or High level: DML requires a user to specify what data are
needed without specifying how to get those data.

 Question 40. What Is Dml Compiler?

Answer :

It translates DML statements in a query language into low-level instruction that the query
evaluation engine can understand.

 Question 41. What Is Query Evaluation Engine?

Answer :

It executes low-level instruction generated by compiler.

 Question 42. What Is Ddl Interpreter?

Answer :

It interprets DDL statements and record them in tables containing metadata.

 Question 43. What Is Record-at-a-time?

Answer :

The Low level or Procedural DML can specify and retrieve each record from a set of records.
This retrieve of a record is said to be Record-at-a-time.

 Question 44. What Is Set-at-a-time Or Set-oriented?

Answer :

The High level or Non-procedural DML can specify and retrieve many records in a single DML
statement. This retrieve of a record is said to be Set-at-a-time or Set-oriented.

 Question 45. What Is Relational Algebra?

Answer :
It is procedural query language. It consists of a set of operations that take one or two relations as
input and produce a new relation.

 Question 46. What Is Relational Calculus?

Answer :

It is an applied predicate calculus specifically tailored for relational databases proposed by E.F.
Codd.
E.g. of languages based on it are DSL ALPHA, QUEL.

 Question 47. How Does Tuple-oriented Relational Calculus Differ From Domain-
oriented Relational Calculus?

Answer :

The tuple-oriented calculus uses a tuple variables i.e., variable whose only permitted values are
tuples of that relation. E.g. QUEL
The domain-oriented calculus has domain variables i.e., variables that range over the underlying
domains instead of over relation. E.g. ILL, DEDUCE.

 Question 48. What Is Functional Dependency?

Answer :

A Functional dependency is denoted by X Y between two sets of attributes X and Y that are
subsets of R specifies a constraint on the possible tuple that can form a relation state r of R. The
constraint is for any two tuples t1 and t2 in r if t1[X] = t2[X] then they have t1[Y] = t2[Y]. This
means the value of X component of a tuple uniquely determines the value of component Y.

 Question 49. When Is A Functional Dependency F Said To Be Minimal?

Answer :

  Every dependency in F has a single attribute for its right hand side.
  We cannot replace any dependency X A in F with a dependency Y A where Y is a
proper subset of X and still have a set of dependency that is equivalent to F.
  We cannot remove any dependency from F and still have set of dependency that is
equivalent to F.

 Question 50. What Is Multivalued Dependency?

Answer :

Multivalued dependency denoted by X Y specified on relation schema R, where X and Y are

both subsets of R, specifies the following constraint on any relation r of R: if two tuples t1 and t2
exist in r such that t1[X] = t2[X] then t3 and t4 should also exist in r with the following
properties

  t3[x] = t4[X] = t1[X] = t2[X]

  t3[Y] = t1[Y] and t4[Y] = t2[Y]
  t3[Z] = t2[Z] and t4[Z] = t1[Z]

where [Z = (R-(X U Y)) ]

 Question 51. What Is Lossless Join Property?

Answer :

It guarantees that the spurious tuple generation does not occur with respect to relation schemas
after decomposition.

 Question 52. What Is 1 Nf (normal Form)?

Answer :

The domain of attribute must include only atomic (simple, indivisible) values.

 Question 53. What Is Fully Functional Dependency?

Answer :

It is based on concept of full functional dependency. A functional dependency X Y is full

functional dependency if removal of any attribute A from X means that the dependency does not
hold any more.

 Question 54. What Is 2nf?

Answer :

A relation schema R is in 2NF if it is in 1NF and every non-prime attribute A in R is fully

functionally dependent on primary key.

 Question 55. What Is 3nf?

Answer :

A relation schema R is in 3NF if it is in 2NF and for every FD X A either of the following is true

  X is a Super-key of R.
  A is a prime attribute of R.
In other words, if every non prime attribute is non-transitively dependent on primary key.

 Question 56. What Is Bcnf (boyce-codd Normal Form)?

Answer :

A relation schema R is in BCNF if it is in 3NF and satisfies an additional constraint that for
every FD X A, X must be a candidate key.

 Question 57. What Is 4nf?

Answer :

A relation schema R is said to be in 4NF if for every Multivalued dependency X Y that holds
over R, one of following is true

  X is subset or equal to (or) XY = R.

  X is a super key.

 Question 58. What Is 5nf?

Answer :

A Relation schema R is said to be 5NF if for every join dependency {R1, R2, ..., Rn} that holds
R, one the following is true

  Ri = R for some i.

  The join dependency is implied by the set of FD, over R in which the left side is key of
R.

 Question 59. What Is Domain-key Normal Form?

Answer :

A relation is said to be in DKNF if all constraints and dependencies that should hold on the
constraint can be enforced by simply enforcing the domain constraint and key constraint on the
relation.

 Question 60. What Are Partial, Alternate, Artificial, Compound And Natural Key?

Answer :

Partial Key:
It is a set of attributes that can uniquely identify weak entities and that are related to same owner
entity. It is sometime called as Discriminator.
Alternate Key:
All Candidate Keys excluding the Primary Key are known as Alternate Keys.

Artificial Key:
If no obvious key, either stand alone or compound is available, then the last resort is to simply
create a key, by assigning a unique number to each record or occurrence. Then this is known as
developing an artificial key.

Compound Key:
If no single data element uniquely identifies occurrences within a construct, then combining
multiple elements to create a unique identifier for the construct is known as creating a compound
key.

Natural Key:
When one of the data elements stored within a construct is utilized as the primary key, then it is
called the natural key.

 Question 61. What Is Indexing And What Are The Different Kinds Of Indexing?

Answer :

Indexing is a technique for determining how quickly specific data can be found.
Types:

  Binary search style indexing

  B-Tree indexing
  Inverted list indexing
  Memory resident table
  Table indexing

 Question 62. What Is System Catalog Or Catalog Relation? How Is Better Known As?

Answer :

A RDBMS maintains a description of all the data that it contains, information about every
relation and index that it contains. This information is stored in a collection of relations
maintained by the system called metadata. It is also called data dictionary.

 Question 63. What Is Meant By Query Optimization?

Answer :

The phase that identifies an efficient execution plan for evaluating a query that has the least
estimated cost is referred to as query optimization.
 Question 64. What Is Join Dependency And Inclusion Dependency?

Answer :

Join Dependency:

A Join dependency is generalization of Multivalued dependency.A JD {R1, R2, ..., Rn} is said to
hold over a relation R if R1, R2, R3, ..., Rn is a lossless-join decomposition of R . There is no set
of sound and complete inference rules for JD.

Inclusion Dependency:

An Inclusion Dependency is a statement of the form that some columns of a relation are
contained in other columns. A foreign key constraint is an example of inclusion dependency.

 Question 65. What Is Durability In Dbms?

Answer :

Once the DBMS informs the user that a transaction has successfully completed, its effects should
persist even if the system crashes before all its changes are reflected on disk. This property is
called durability.

 Question 66. What Do You Mean By Atomicity And Aggregation?

Answer :

Atomicity:
Either all actions are carried out or none are. Users should not have to worry about the effect of
incomplete transactions. DBMS ensures this by undoing the actions of incomplete transactions.
Aggregation:
A concept which is used to model a relationship between a collection of entities and
relationships. It is used when we need to express a relationship among relationships.

 Question 67. What Is A Phantom Deadlock?

Answer :

In distributed deadlock detection, the delay in propagating local information might cause the
deadlock detection algorithms to identify deadlocks that do not really exist. Such situations are
called phantom deadlocks and they lead to unnecessary aborts.

 Question 68. What Is A Checkpoint And When Does It Occur?

Answer :
A Checkpoint is like a snapshot of the DBMS state. By taking checkpoints, the DBMS can
reduce the amount of work to be done during restart in the event of subsequent crashes.

 Question 69. What Are The Different Phases Of Transaction?

Answer :

Different phases are

  Analysis phase
  Redo Phase
  Undo phase

 Question 70. What Do You Mean By Flat File Database?

Answer :

It is a database in which there are no programs or user access languages. It has no cross-file
capabilities but is user-friendly and provides user-interface management.

 Question 71. What Is "transparent Dbms"?

Answer :

It is one, which keeps its Physical Structure hidden from user.

 Question 72. Brief Theory Of Network, Hierarchical Schemas And Their Properties?

Answer :

Network schema uses a graph data structure to organize records example for such a database
management system is CTCG while a hierarchical schema uses a tree data structure example for
such a system is IMS.

 Question 73. What Is A Query?

Answer :

A query with respect to DBMS relates to user commands that are used to interact with a data
base. The query language can be classified into data definition language and data manipulation
language.

 Question 74. What Do You Mean By Correlated Subquery?

Answer :
Subqueries, or nested queries, are used to bring back a set of rows to be used by the parent query.
Depending on how the subquery is written, it can be executed once for the parent query or it can
be executed once for each row returned by the parent query. If the subquery is executed for each
row of the parent, this is called a correlated subquery.
A correlated subquery can be easily identified if it contains any references to the parent subquery
columns in its WHERE clause. Columns from the subquery cannot be referenced anywhere else
in the parent query. The following example demonstrates a non-correlated subquery.
E.g. Select * From CUST Where '10/03/1990' IN (Select ODATE From ORDER Where
CUST.CNUM = ORDER.CNUM)

 Question 75. What Are The Primitive Operations Common To All Record Management
Systems?

Answer :

Addition, deletion and modification.

 Question 76. Name The Buffer In Which All The Commands That Are Typed In Are
Stored?

Answer :

‘Edit’ Buffer.

 Question 77. What Are The Unary Operations In Relational Algebra?

Answer :

PROJECTION and SELECTION.

 Question 78. Are The Resulting Relations Of Product And Join Operation The Same?

Answer :

No.
PRODUCT: Concatenation of every row in one relation with every row in another.
JOIN: Concatenation of rows from one relation and related rows from another.