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Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Your notes

Computer Science
Databases
Contents
Single Table Databases
Primary Keys

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Single Table Databases

Your notes
What is a database?
A Database is an organised collection of data
A database is made up of either one or multiple tables which are made up of fields and records to
organise how it stores data
It allows easy storage, retrieval, and management of information
A database is useful when working with large amounts of data, databases are stored on secondary
storage
A database is often stored on remote servers so multiple users can access it at the same time, useful
for online systems
Data can be sorted and searched efficiently, making use of more advanced structures
They are more secure than text files

Fields & records

What are fields & records?
A field is one piece of information relating to one person, item or object
A field is represented in a database by a column,
A record is a collection of fields relating to one person, item or object
A record is represented in a database by a row

Text files
A text file is useful when working with small amounts of data, text files are stored on secondary storage
and 'read' into a program when being used
They are used to store information when the application is closed
Each entry is stored on a new line or separated with a special identifier, for example, a comma (',')
It can be difficult in text files to know where a record begins and ends

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Your notes

Validation
When a table is created, validation rules can be assigned to the different fields
A validation rule controls what data can be entered into that field
There are different types of validation checks used to limit what data can be entered into each
field
The validation checks that are used are the same as those that appear in section 7: Algorithm
Design & Problem-Solving

Type Description

Length This type of validation checks the number of characters that have been entered into a field.
Check For example, you might make phone numbers entered have to be eleven characters long

Format This type of validation checks data entered meets an exact format. For example, a product
Check code might have to be two letters followed by five numbers

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Range A range check will check the number entered is within a specific range. For example, the
Check age of a dog would be between 0 - 40. Any other number would be disallowed
Your notes
Presence A presence check can be added to fields which cannot be left blank
Check

Type A type check will allow data with a specific data type to be entered into a field. For
Check example, if text was entered into a field which is supposed to contain the date of birth of a
person it would not be allowed

Check Check digit validation is a process used to verify the accuracy of numbers such as credit
Digits card numbers. A check digit is a single digit added to the end of the number, which is
calculated based on a specific algorithm applied to the other digits in the number. When
the data is re-entered the same algorithm can be applied, and if it produces a different
result the code is incorrect

Examiner Tips and Tricks

You will likely be presented with an example database table and identify either how many fields there
are or how many records there are so make sure you remember a record is a row and a field is a
column.

Worked Example
A Database Table Containing Student Grades

StudentID FirstName LastName MarkSubmitted Percentage

1483792 Shanay Giles Y 55

1498378 Poppy Petit N 20

1500121 Diya Dinesh Y 74

1382972 Joe Swaile Y 68

1598264 Anton Smith Y 34

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1548282 Felicity Hall N 47

Your notes
Describe two validation checks that could be used to check data being inputted into the table
above [4]
How to answer this question
This
Answer
StudentID could have a length check to ensure 7 characters are entered [2]
FirstName and LastName could have a presence check to make a record cannot be entered without
entering the name of the student [2]
A type check of boolean could be applied to the Mark Submitted field so that only Y or N are entered
[2]
A range check could be assigned to the Mark column to ensure only numbers between 0 and 100
are entered [2]

Data types
What is a data type?
A data type is the type of data that can be held in a field and is defined when designing a table
Examples of common datatypes are:
Integer - whole number
Real - decimal number
Text/alphanumeric - text data
Character - single
Date/Time
Boolean - true or false values
In the table cars below, the following datatypes would be used:
car_id: integer
make: text/alphanumeric
model: text/alphanumeric
colour: text/alphanumeric

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price: real
cars
Your notes
car_id make model colour price

1 Peugeot 2008 Red 24950

2 Mazda MX5 Blue 17995

3 Citroen DS4 Black 21450

4 Ford Puma White 19500

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Primary Keys
Your notes
Primary Keys
What is a primary key?
A primary key is a unique field that can be used to identify a record in a table
customer_id is the primary key for the customers table below
Other examples of primary keys in database tables would include:
Student_ID in a school database
Car_Registration in a car database
Product_ID in a shop database

CustomerID FirstName LastName DOB PhoneNumber

001 Andrea Bycroft 05031976 0746762883

002 Melissa Langler 22012001 0756372892

003 Amy George 22111988 074637

Key database terminology

Term Definition

Table A collection of records with a similar structure

Record A group of related fields, representing one data entry

Field A single piece of data in a record

Data type Type of data held in a field

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Primary A unique identifier for each record in a table. Usually an ID number

key
Your notes
Foreign A field in a table that refers to the primary key in another table. Used to link tables and
key create relationships

Worked Example
A database has been developed for a dance club to store information about their members.
The database contains one table: Members
Figure A shows some data from the table.
Members

MemberID FirstName LastName DateJoined

1 Zarmeen Hussain 2024-01-19

2 Fyn Ball 2024-02-01

3 George Johnson 2024-02-25

4 Ella Franks 2024-03-04

State the name of the field from the Members table that is the most suitable to use as the primary
key [1]
Answer
(a) MemberID

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