CS 180 Database Systems - Winter Quarter 2000
6:00 to 7:45 PM, Tuesday-Thursday, N. Science Annex 101
 Labs Tu-Th 12:30 - 2:00 Kresge 317 and Tu-Th 9:30 - 11:00 Oaks
Teaching Assistant Fang Zhao







INSTRUCTOR: Miles B. Welter
Office: Applied Science 153-A; Mailbox: Applied Science 210
Office Telephone: 831-459-4913
Office  Hours: 2:30 - 3:30 Tuesday, Thursday and by appointment
Email addresses: mbwelter@pipeline.com (home)

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:

The course deals with the concepts and design of Database Management Systems (DBMS) within a business enterprise. It will address both the fundamentals and implementation of DBMS' and why they are  important to support business strategies and core processes with  a business entity.
 

In completing this course a student should have an understanding of the role of database management  systems within a business organization. Two practical projects will be completed using a single user database management system  - ACCESS.  Students will be assigned to teams of two people so that the concept of working in teams to accomplish a single goal can be appreciated.
 
 

Specifically this course will address:

  1. The background and history of database management systems
  2. The fundamentals of using a database management systems
  3. Industry standards used for database management systems
  4. Theoretical background of the relational model
  5. Query Management systems
  6. Transaction Management systems
  7. Optimization of Database Management Systems.

COURSE PREREQUISITES: CMPS 101 is a prerequisite to this course and sophomore standing is strongly recommended.

Database System Concepts (Shown as DBS below), Henry F. Korth and Abraham Silberschatz, Third Edition, McGraw Hill.

MIDTERM SOLUTION and PRACTICE PROBLEMS

Midterm Problem one and two

Schema Practice #1

Practice #1 Answer 1a

Practice #1 Answer 1b

Practice #1 Answer 1c

Schema Practice #2

Practice #2 Answer

Problem 3.5 Part 1   Sample Access Database   Must use Internet Explorer

Problem 3.5 Part 2

Problem 3.5 Part 3

CLASS SCHEDULE:

Jan. 4 (T) Class Objectives, Overview, Structure, Assignments and Grading and Challenges: Information Technology Management and Basic Database Concepts. Presentation 1 Additional Material

Jan. 6 (Th) Types of DBMS and the Relational Data Model Presentation  Airlline Schema  Additional Material
Look over Appendix A and B and Read Chapter 1 and 3 (Part 3.1) in DBS. Network Model  Hierarchical Model

Due :Personal Letter of Introduction.
Include a) a short personal introduction, b) personal work experience, c) computer related experience including classes, d) and your short-term job objectives. The introduction letter should be in a formal business format addressed to the instructor and must be prepared using a word processor. Assume that you are meeting the instructor for the first time.

Jan. 11 (T) Relational Data Model (Continued)
Read Chapter 3 (Part 3.1) in DBS.

Presentations Start

Jan. 13 (Th) Normalization and Design Presentation
Read Chapter 6 in DBS..

Jan. 18 (T) Entity Relational (ER) Model Presentattion
Read Chapter 2 in DBS..

Jan. 20 (Th) Microsoft Access Sample Database

Jan. 25 (T) SQL Data Definition Language(DDL) and SQL Data Manipulation Language (DML)
Presentation Read Chapter 4 in DBS..

Assign First Project Project


Project Grading Guidelines

Jan. 27 (Th) Advanced Design Presentation
Read Chapter 7 in DBS

Feb. 1 (T) Advanced Design (Continued)
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Feb. 3 (Th) Advanced SQL Presentation

Feb. 8 (T) Query Processing Presentation
Read Chapter 12 in DBS.

Feb. 10 (Th)Mid-Term (25% of Grade)
Review all material covered to date.

Feb. 15 (T) Query Processing (Continued)
Read Chapter 12 in DBS

Feb. 17 (Th) Transaction Processing Presentation
Read Chapter 13 in DBS.

Feb. 22 (T) Concurrence Presentation
Read Chapter 14 in DBS.

First Project is Due

Assign Second Project Second project


Note: Feb. 24 is Advising Day and no class is scheduled.

Feb. 29 (T) Relational Algebra
Read Chapter 3 in DBS

Mar. 2 (Th) Relational Calculus
Read Chapter 3 in DBS
.

Mar. 7 (T) Back-up and Recovery Presentation
Read Chapter 15 in DBS

Mar. 9 (Th) Distributed Databases Presentation

Read Chapter 18 in DBS

Mar. 14 (T) Future Databases and Class Summary
.

Second Project is Due Possible Project 2 schema

 
 

GRADE STRUCTURE: Current Grades
 

Introduction Letter and Personal Resume 5%
Oral Presentation 5%
Project 1  15%
Project 2 15%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Note: All written assignments must be prepared using a word processor.

EXAMINATIONS:

Both the midterm and the final exam will be open book and open notes. I caution students from using this as too much of a crutch. My past experience with other classes is that too much time is wasted looking up things in the book with the result that not enough time is spent developing good, comprehensive answers to exam questions. The final exam is comprehensive and covers all of the material addressed during the quarter.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

Any confirmed academic dishonesty including but not limited to copying papers or cheating on exams, will constitute a failure of the ethics standards of this class and will result in a no-pass or failing grade. You are encouraged to read .

 Academic Dishonesty
 

DUE DATES: All written assignments are due on the dates indicated. Anything submitted after the due date will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade. Absence from class does not excuse late papers unless arrangements have been made with the instructor before the day that the assignment is due.

MAKE-UP EXAMS: Exams should be taken when they are scheduled. Make-up exams will be available only if the student has received permission from the instructor to take a make-up exam before the exam is given to the rest of the class.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:

Personal Letter of Introduction and Projected Resume (5% of course grade)

This assignment includes a cover letter written to the instructor and a personal resume. In the final paragraph of the cover letter indicate what you have tried to accomplish in preparing the resume. The cover letter should be addressed in a business format to the instructor and include a) a personal introduction and a perspective of why your future career could involve IT in a business. Your resume should be factually accurate. Be realistic about what you include but make sure that you fill an entire page. The main sections of the resume should include a) education, b) work experience, c) computer related experience including relevant classes and class projects if needed, d) extra curricular activities and e) and your career objectives (at the top of the resume after personal identification information. Use three important criteria in preparing your resume: 1) at first glance it should look very professional so pay attention to fonts and spacing, 2) everything you say should be brutally clear, and 3) it should be absolutely perfect in terms of spelling, grammar, etc.

The most difficult thing to write for a resume is the job objective. It should not be too general or too specific unless you have very definite ideas about what you want to do. You may end up having multiple job objectives based on applying to different companies.

Oral Presentation (5% of course grade)

Each student will give a five minute oral presentation on an IT term during the quarter. The presentation will explain the term including its significance.

Presentation Guidelines Presentation Dates

The goals of the presentations are to:

    1. Increase the individual student's self confidence in presenting in front of an audience.
    2. Develop a good presentation methodology and style.
    3. Gain experience in summarizing a complex and potentially long subject into an Executive Presentation.

The content of these presentations will be chosen with mutual agreement from the professor. They are intended to increase the student's overall knowledge of the technical Information Systems Management topic. In addition they will show each student that they can communicate such a topic to the rest of the class. You should also mention things that you have learned that are particularly good and/or beneficial and any negative aspect of the topic.

Each presentation will be no longer than five minutes. All presentations must be done in a professional style and need to stick to the basic format of all business presentations. The following is offered as a guideline on how to approach this assignment:

    1. Tell what you are going to present (1 overhead)
    2. Present the material (maximum 5 overheads)
    3. Summarize what you have said  (1 overhead)

All presentations should be prepared using some sort of professional product such as Power Point, Freelance, Coral Draw, etc. They can be presented on a laptop computer or converted to transparencies (black and white is fine, since color is quite expensive) for the actual in-class presentation. The length of the presentation should be exactly five minutes, not four and not six; thus, several practice sessions are recommended. In the past these sessions are most effective if they are videotape recorded so that each student can evaluate his/her performance by themselves and take any necessary corrective action.

The presentation will be graded as follows with each factor representing 20% of the grade.

    1. Technical Content
    2. Outline Integrity
    3. Speaking Style
    4. Professionalism

    5. Timing


Midterm Exam (25% of course grade)

The midterm exam will deal with material covered up to that point in the quarter. Both the midterm and the final exam will follow a format that includes the following sections:

    1. Multiple short answer questions based on material from the textbook, course lectures and assignments.
    2. Several essay questions that are similar to the short answer questions but require more to answer the questions.

A logical approach to prepare for the exams would include the following:

    1. Review your class notes and determine what was emphasized in each class lecture.
    2. Use the terms on this web page as pointers of topics that are important.
    3. Use the learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter as a way to review the focus of the chapter.
    4. Benefit from the focus of the review quiz and discussion questions at the end of each chapter.
    5. Pay particular attention to models that were emphasized in class as to the concept and what can be accomplished through the use of the model.
    6. Determine the most important concepts in each chapter and be prepared to explain the logic and objectives of the concept.