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Relational Databases
An integral part of any eBusiness system is its database. However, an advanced study of implementing databases is beyond the scope of this course. Here, for now, we are concerned with understanding the role that a database plays in an ebusiness system and in gaining an appreciation for the relational approach to managing data.
A relational database turns raw data into persistent structured collections of information. In addition to managing information a database defines the relationships within an ebusiness system.
Here is an online Introduction to relational database design.
Database Management System
Database Table
Relational database
Datawarehouse
Posted by Mark Hemphill on March 3, 2004 | Permalink
Comments
I hope that everyone has had a chance to check out the powerpoint slide show on the video store problem that I posted in the SCSI Nodes blog.
Posted by: Mike Butler | Mar 8, 2004 8:18:56 PM
Mark, can you explain the difference between just a plain database and a relational database? I realize it has been explained a bit in the text and in the posts, but I don't understand the main difference, a relational database is a database, but what makes it different?
Posted by: Megan Killorn | Nov 30, 2004 10:23:29 PM
Sure Megan, thanks for your question.
You could call anything that stores data a database. Even a simple shopping list, for example.
A relational database is a logically organized collection of structured data. Imagine a well labelled and well organized shopping list (call it Shopping table)cross-referenced with say a detailed budget (budget table), a collection of recipe's (recipe tab) and so on. The integration and cros-referencing of these labelled collections of data make it, you could say, a relational database. And a software program can make use of these interrelated tables to better manage the data (and the process) associated with a given task.
Posted by: Mark | Dec 1, 2004 11:38:51 AM
Mark, where do you get all of your visual resources. Do you make them? Or do you find them online? If you make them you are doing a good job because some of them are pretty indepth. Sometimes it takes me a minute just to situate and realize what I am looking at. Is this what you meant at the first of the year when you mentioned thinking in the abstract?
Posted by: Blake Crockett | Dec 1, 2004 8:23:40 PM
I make a lot of them and rip,mix, & burn the rest just like everyone else ;)
In an important way, yes, this IS what I meant. Because it's not physical you have to be willing to be creative in visually representing the work that software does.
Posted by: Mark | Dec 1, 2004 9:18:02 PM
I'm familiar with relational databases, and how they are used in library catalogues, and businesses to keep tract of customer profiles. However, could the world wide wed in general be considered a relational database, and if not, what would be lacking to organize all of the information into something cohesize and uniform such as a database? Does my question make any sense?
Posted by: Jordan Mackinnon | Dec 2, 2004 12:28:33 AM
I was just wondering if relational databases are just tables that are related to each other and/or cross referenced to make up a more complex table. Then does that make each of the tables a module?
Posted by: Ben | Nov 15, 2005 1:15:32 PM
Hi Mark,
I was just wondering how much we had to know about relational databases. I understand the definition but things get a little fuzzy after that.
Posted by: Jen | Apr 4, 2006 12:14:42 AM
If you know the text of these posts, published before March 21st, 2006, you'll do fine.
Knowing the definitions is especially important.
Posted by: Mark | Apr 4, 2006 11:42:34 AM
One thing that immediately comes to mind when discussing relational databases are reward point cards such as airmiles. Not only do they have the majority of your personal info (name, location etc) but they have a record of your shopping habits. Seeing the popularity of something like airmiles, imagine the size of the database that handles this info. A relational database in this case is VERY useful to companies as it would able to compile and organize the shopping habits of various age groups. Possibly the best and most cost effective way of conducting market research.
Posted by: Janson Simmonds | Apr 7, 2006 12:31:16 PM
Wow Janson..that made it a lot easier to understand. I guess that's how they do it in Hospitals only a little bit more condensed as they would have more locals rather than individuals from around the world like Airmiles would. Anyway, I found this post pretty interesting as you rarely stop to think about how much companies really know about you.
Posted by: Katelyn Murnaghan | Nov 15, 2007 10:30:52 AM
This is very intersting topic, and I was still a bit confused, but as Katelyn mentioned, Janson made it much clearer to understand with the airmiles example. Same thing with the shopping list example, using examples that we use we use in everyday life seems to make it so much easier to compile. I just want to make sure I fully understand a relational database, would a credit card company be an example? Credit card companies have all of our personal information (from date of birth, social insurance numbers, to how much we make a year in income)and also have records of everywhere we use our cards. Am I on the right track??
Posted by: Stephanie Doucette | Nov 21, 2007 5:34:41 PM
A relational database is a way of structuring and storing data for use in software systems.
They are used by a wide array of different types of systems - pretty much anything that needs to store complex data. So of course a credit card company would find many uses for relational databases.
Posted by: Mark | Nov 21, 2007 10:54:40 PM
So, a relational database is just a more specified database. So you have to break the topic down into even smaller bits of information. I liked the example you gave earlier it cleared a lot up for me.
Posted by: Joel Mac Neill | Nov 24, 2007 7:40:34 PM
RDBMS is using to collect data then manage them as orders, at last store them.
Posted by: XiaoJiang | Dec 1, 2007 4:26:41 PM
Kinda like what Joel was saying, you have your basic database and then when you branch off it is a relational database?
Posted by: Colin Butler | Dec 3, 2007 10:46:57 PM
i was confused as i was reading through this post on relational databases but after reading other posts like jason's for example on the airmiles example i now have a better understanding and with the example stephanie used as a credit card!
Posted by: Jolene | Dec 4, 2007 8:35:08 PM
