Related expressions

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), data communication system, communication standard

Explanation

A database can be defined as a structured collection of data that is stored in a computer. The data is structured in a way that a query can be made to retrieve relevant data. The records retrieved in answers to queries become information that can be further used. The computer program (software) used to manage and query a database is known as a database management system (DBMS). The properties and design of database systems are included in the study of information science.

The central concept of a database is that of a collection of records, or pieces of information. Typically, for a given database, there is a structural description of the type of facts held in that database: this description is known as a schema. The schema describes the objects that are represented in the database, and the relationships among them. There are a number of different ways of organizing a schema, that is, of modelling the database structure: these are known as database models (or data models).

The model in most common use today is the relational model, which in layman's terms represents all data in the form of multiple related tables each consisting of rows and columns. This model represents relationships by the use of values common to more than one table. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships. In a hierarchical data model, data is organized into a tree-like structure. The structure allows repeating information using parent/child relationships: each parent can have many children but each child only has one parent. If a one-to-many relationship is violated (e.g. a patient can have more than one physician), then the hierarchy becomes a network.

Database management systems are usually categorized according to the data model that they support: relational, object-relational, network, etc. The data model will tend to determine the query languages that are available to access the database. A great deal of the internal engineering of a DBMS, however, is independent of the data model, and is concerned with managing factors such as performance, concurrency, integrity, and recovery from hardware failures. In these areas, there are large differences between products.

Application / usage in Indisputable KEY

In Indisputable KEY Tracing Applications are built that can be accessed by many different companies using many different systems. For this reason, communication standards and electronic messages must be developed for communication between the different systems and the Tracing Application. Tracing Applications contain databases which can be accessed through the communication standard.

Institutions with teaching capabilities

TietoEnator can conduct training about databases. FC Sovelto is not an Indisputable KEY partner, but can conduct training about databases in English but only has offices in Finland.

Several other institutions offer training courses about database use and management (Kompass directory ): for example CESI (Centre d’Etudes Supérieures Industrielles, Paris, France -, Technische Akademie Esslingen (Germany).

Available text books and training material

Introduction to Database Systems, from C.J. Date (2004): this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the now very large field of database systems by providing a solid grounding in the foundations of database technology while shedding some light on how the field is likely to develop in the future.