计算机英语6.ppt

Unit 6 Database Section A Database Overview I. Introduction Data storage traditionally used individual, unrelated files, sometimes called flat files. In the past, each application program in an organization used its own file. In a university，for example, each department might have its own set of files: the record office kept a file about the student information and their grades, the financial aid office kept its own file about students that needed financial aid to continue their education， I. Introduction the scheduling office kept the names of the professors and the courses they were teaching, the payroll department kept its own file about the whole staff (including professors), and so on. Today, however, all of these flat files can be combined in a single entity, the database for the whole university. I. Introduction Although it is difficult to give a universally agreed definition of a database, we use the following common definition：a database is a collection of related, logically, coherent, data used by the application problems in an organization. Ⅱ．Database Management Systems A database management system (DBMS) defines, creates, and maintains a database. The DBMS also allows controlled access to data in the database. A DBMS is a combination of five components：hardware, software, data, users, and procedures. Ⅱ．Database Management Systems 1．Hardware The hardware is the physical computer system that allows access to data. For example，the terminals, hard disk，main computer and workstations are considered part of the hardware in a DBMS. Ⅱ．Database Management Systems 2．Software The software is the actual program that allows users to access，maintain, and update data. In addition, the software controls which user can access which parts of the data in the database. Ⅱ．Database Management Systems 3．Data The data in a database is stored physically on the storage device. In a database, data is a separate entity from the software that accesses it. This s