Database report

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
Database Report
Jordan Pountley
12009102
Stewart Blakeway

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 2
2. History of databases........................................................................................................ 3
2.1 Flat file database model............................................................................................ 3
2.2 Hierarchical database model..................................................................................... 4
2.3 Relational database model........................................................................................ 5
2.4 Network database model.......................................................................................... 6
2.5 Object-Oriented database model.............................................................................. 6
3 Scenario............................................................................................................................ 7
3.1 Requirements............................................................................................................ 9
3.2 Business Operations................................................................................................ 11
3.3 Business Rules......................................................................................................... 13
4 Conceptual Design ......................................................................................................... 16
4.1 Conceptual diagram................................................................................................ 20
4.2 Entity Relationships................................................................................................. 20
4.3 Diagram script......................................................................................................... 25
5 Logical Design................................................................................................................. 28
6 Normalisation................................................................................................................. 30
6.1 Cumulative design................................................................................................... 30
7 Implementation ............................................................................................................. 38
7.1 Field attributes........................................................................................................ 38
7.2 SQL Implementation ............................................................................................... 47
8 Security and Contingency .............................................................................................. 57
9. Testing ........................................................................................................................... 66
10. GUI .............................................................................................................................. 76
References......................................................................................................................... 87
1. Introduction
The following is a full database report for a company called Ace Training this
report will give information on the background of databases and why they are
important, it will also then inform the reader on the steps to creating a database
from beginning to end starting with figuring out the problems and understanding
the company background and requirements, which will then be processed into
diagrams, implementation and finally the overall design of the database interface,
each chapter will give clear definitions, information and understanding for the
reader.

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2. History of databases
Our lives are full of different types of information and because of computer
databases which interact with information more easily every day, but even before
the computer age databases were used to store information, things like ship
manifests, card catalogues and product inventory are all databases and then the
computer allowed databases to be automated early stages of computer
databases where flat files this was very simple and the records where a
consecutive list, there was a disadvantage to this method because the computers
had to search at the beginning of the list and search sequentially this wasn’t a
very effective way to search and maintain large amount of records as if would be
very slow.
It was in the 1960’s when IBM created the hierarchical database model for
their information management system to improve the previous way of searching it
was a treeline structure which pointed to child nodes from parent nodes, then a
more flexible network model was designed by a man named Charles Bachman
who made it so that the child nodes could be pointed at by more than one parent
node but this would prove confusing due to all the pointers when the database
grew.
In 1970 a database structure called the relational database model was
proposed by a man named Ted Codd who was a computer scientist at IBM, this
model organised a body of data into simple tables of related information this
meant that no more pointers where needed because the tables where only
connected by have the same data fields which proved to be very useful as it
made it easier to access, merge and even change data, This idea was then used
by Michael Stonebraker and his team in 1973 to create the INGRES relational
which was used as a basis by several large companies for successful
commercial products.
It wasn’t until 1975 when IBM came up with a relational database called
system R and it used a structured query language. In 1977 a man named Larry
Ellison who liked Ted Codds idea of the relational database took a big interest in
it and started his own business called ‘Oracle’ in which he designed a new
relation model that would be commercially available and also compatible with
IBM’s system R. (Rodgers-Ostema, 2004)

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2.1 Flat file database model
What is a flat file database? a flat file database is defined as an information
structure that stores data in a simple two-dimensional format and with a flat file
database information is stored in one long text file which is called a delimited file,
and a delimited file is a special type of text file used as a data transfer from one
computer to another, delimiters replace vertical lines between columns for
example commas and tab stops and then each record is terminated by a
character which is usually a carriage return and line feed.
Every entry made on the flat file e.g. ‘Place’ would be separated by a
special character and each entry contains multiple pieces of information AKA
‘fields’ and then all this information is then grouped together to create a record.
Users are able to set flat file database tables in numerous application types
which include HTML documents and word processing and worksheets, this
human-readable format works great for the simple sets of information but when it
comes to the sets that are far more complex the best course of action would be
to use a relational database, within the flat file database the tables are able to be
organised based on column values, these tables are used as a simple solution
for database tasks.
The flat file has a disadvantage to other database models as it has many
limitations, but they are still used within different kinds of applications on a user’s
computer it is used to store data related configuration, and these applications
allow users to store and then retrieve information depending on their pre-defined
set of fields from flat files. They do feature datatypes that are similar to other
databases such as the database management system and separated columns as
the database is based on fixed-width data formatting. (P.K singh 2009 pg 27).
2.2 Hierarchical database model
The Hierarchical database model created by IBM is generally used on mainframe
computers and they have been about since the mid-1960s its considered to be
one of the oldest methods of organizing and data storage and is still used today
by small businesses and things such as making travel reservations, the
hierarchical database is designed like a pyramid and the pointers are reaching
downwards for example there will be higher level records and also lower level
records this means that they will be above the child nodes below.
At the very top of the hierarchical model or (pyramid) there is the parent
record which is also named the root record and in the model the child node only
has one parent pointing to it and they will be linked and parent can be pointed at
numerous children which are also linked. The child nodes in the database model
can themselves become parent nodes as the way that the model works is from
top down and when searching for a record it is operated by starting at the very

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top and working down through the pyramid from parent to child until the
applicable child record is discovered.
The hierarchical database has a strong advantage in that is can be
accessed and updated immediately due to its structure and the relationships
between the records are defined in advance, but its advantage can also be its
disadvantage as the child nodes are only able to have one parent and users are
unable to link two child nodes together even if users look at it logically and it
could work to have a relationship between two child nodes and due to the
adamant design of the hierarchical model if users want to add a new field or
record it would require users to redefine the whole database. (P.K singh 2009 pg
27-28).
2.3 Relational database model
The relational database was first put forward in 1970 by Tedd Codd and rather
than being hierarchical the relationships between data files are in fact relational
which if different to a hierarchical database model because users have to pass
down hierarchy to find what kind of data users are searching for but with the
relational model users actually connect the data in different files by using
common data elements or a key field. The way that the data is stored in a
relational database is in different tables and each one has a key field this way the
rows can be identified uniquely, the relational database is much more flexible
than its competition the hierarchical database and the network database.
he way the relational database works is that there is key field for each
individual table and this uniquely identifies each row this can then be used to
connect two tables of data to one another for example if users have a one table
that had a customer account number as the key field along with other data like
age and address the customer account number in this table is then able to be
linked to another table of data that also has the customer account number known
as the key field but this table could contain information about something else
entirely like product information which could include item number and this would
also be a key field which can be then also linked to another table which contains
item number and then more information about products such as price, size,
quality etc... So by using his data model users are very easily able to link
customer information with product information.
he relational database is one of the most popular ways to store data due
to two major reasons them being that due to how user friendly it is users can use
it even if users had little training and sometimes even no training at all, and the
fact that when the user is entering data they can be easily modified without
compromising the whole structure of the model where users may have to

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redefine it all, there are however some drawbacks from using the relational
database one being the hardware it requires as the relational database systems
need to have more powerful hardware computers and larger storage devices this
way the system can run smoothly. (J. Glenn Brookshear, 2012 pg 400-407) (P.K
singh 2009 pg 30-35).
2.4 Network database model
The network model was created by charles bachman in 1969 with the
hierarchical database in mind he wanted to enhance it and make it more flexible
and easier to understand this was done by creating multiple links to the owner file
the model organises data by using 2 main constructs and these are named
records and sets, records have fields and the sets define relationships between
the records e.g. 'one-to-many' the model allows linkages between multiple
records to the same owner file. The model is designed so that the owner is at the
bottom and it looks like an upside down tree and the members are linked to the
owner.
The network model is popular today because of its high speed retrieval
and how easy it is to understand as the model itself is simple and users are able
to design it without finding it difficult one major advantage the network database
has is its ability to handle one-to-many relationships as well as many-to-many
relationships users can also change data characteristics and it will not affect the
application program.
Some drawbacks for the network model is the fact that data can only be
accessed one record at a time this means that if a user where to use this model
they would have to make sure that the database designers, admins and
programmers are all able to recognise and understand the internal data
structures this way they are able to gain access to the data they want, this means
that users are unfortunately unable to create a user friendly database
management system, alongside this making modifications to the database
proves to be very difficult as a result of the data access method being
navigational. (P.K singh 2009 pg 30).
2.5 Object-Oriented database model
The object-oriented model is different to the network and hierarchical models
because this model handles new data types which includes graphics, photos,
audio and video therefore its more advanced because the network and
hierarchical models are made to handle small structured data like ID number,
name, age etc... and this data is inserted into fields, rows and columns. The
object-oriented model stores many multimedia types of data and the work is

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produced as an output.
within the database objects are used and these objects are small reusable
parts of software, With the object there are 2 main aspects one being a piece of
data which would consist of sound, video, graphics etc... and the second would
be the instructions or the software programs named methods and these methods
are able to manage what to do with the given data.
Even though the object-oriented database is very advanced when it
comes to the data it stores there are some disadvantages one being the obvious
and thats the cost as to develop the database would cost alot more than it would
for the other database models mentioned, another is due to how the other
models have been around longer companies are hesitant to change the database
they currently have and have developed as they have probably invested alot of
money into it, but the object-oriented database is so advanced it would be perfect
and vastly for many different types of companies. (J. Glenn Brookshear, 2012 pg
415) (P.K singh 2009 pg 36-37).
This concludes the chapter about different types of databases available as well
as their history, the next chapter in the report will explain the scenario of Ace
Training and the requirements that are needed for the database as well as the
business rules and operations.
3 Scenario
This Section will give background information about the company Ace training it
will also give a better insight as to how the business works and what problems
need to be ironed out.
Ace Training is a business that deals with teaching certain courses and is in need
of a database system this way they can record details of students, tutors and
other different kinds of data, The students that have chosen to enrol onto a
course or courses at ace training, a student will be able to enrol onto a chosen
course using three different methods, one being by a list that will be uploaded by
a tutor another would be using an online form by the tutor and lastly they can
enrol by going online themselves and inputting there details but this will need to
be authorised by a tutor, with the use of a database the students details can be
stored these details will consist of Their first and second name, then their
address including postcode and town or city, their next of kin details, course or
courses they have chosen to enrol on, the fees that have been paid, their date of
birth and finally their email address, if the student happens to be an international
student then the visa expiry date and passport will also need to be included.

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As well as students there will be tutors who will have more privileges when
it comes to the database as the students will have very restrictive access to
certain parts of the database to prevent misuse, the tutors will be created by
administrators but before they can be added there credentials have to be
thoroughly checked, then that tutor will have to register as a tutor to become a
course tutor when registering the tutor needs to fill in certain details the same as
the student they will need to enter their first and second name, their address
including postcode and town or city, their next of kin details, their office number,
extension number, date of birth, email address and lastly their national insurance
number.
Due to tutors having more privileges it means that they are granted to do
certain things students are not such things as being able to store resources
within the database for their each individual course the resources will be things
such as presentations and other documents that the students might need or find
helpful, and once stored they can either be made available to students or not
available until a certain date has been reached this allows the students to focus
on work they are currently learning about rather than skipping ahead to other
material, and the resources are also able to be transferred to other tutor on other
courses should the tutor think that it is needed.
With the database there should also be a mechanism in place that allows
online assessments for the students in the form of different types of quizzes such
as multiple choice and true or false for each individual course, once the quizzes
have been taken there should then be a record kept with each student that has
completed certain quizzes along with what they scored on the quizzes they had
took and that student should be allowed to view their own quiz score to get a
better understanding of the material and see where and if they went wrong, the
tutor must also know each students on his courses score on the quizzes then
they are able to give that student feedback on how they may be able to improve
their score next time, and it is imperative that no other students see the scores of
another student as some students may want their score kept secret between
them and the tutor.
Ace training also want there to be a progress bar in place for students so
they are able to see how their students are progressing through the course this
will allow tutors to step in if certain students are not progressing as well as the
other students and give them help if they desire it, ace training also would like
knowledge bar in place so that they are able to see how much their students
understand the course they are taking.
The database needs to be made so that details of both the students and
staff on the database cannot be deleted but instead their details will stay on the
system with either unregistered for students or left for the tutors this way there
will be no confusion and if said student or tutor end up coming back for any kind
of reason then it makes it a lot easier to reinstate them to the database, when it
comes to the courses that are available there should be a way to delete them for
reasons such as inactivity for a long period of time this will also save confusion if
a student is to believe that course is still available when it is not.
If a student tries to apply to Ace Training to do a course that they have

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already undertaken then that student should not be allowed to enrol and the
same goes for a student if they have got any oustanding fees from previous
course or courses that they have been part of, and if a new student has paid a
certain amount of their fees they should be given a reciept and or an invoice.
3.1 Requirements
Student
A student will be able to enrol onto a course using three different methods first
one being a list which will only be able to be uploaded by a tutor the next is an
online form only used by a tutor and finally the student can do it themselves
online this will then need to be verified by a tutor before said student can be
registered to register the students must fill in their name, address, next of kin
details, course(s) enrolled for, date of birth and email address, if these are not
filled in then the students enrolment would become void as they all need to be
filled in in addition to this if a student is an international student they will need to
provide their visa expiry date and also passport number, students also need a
progress bar that will be updated when they complete certain tasks give e.g quiz.
Tutor
Tutors have to have their credentials checked before they can be created this will
be performed by administrator(s) then there has to be information stored about
said tutor this will include, name, address, next of kin details, office number,
extension number, date of birth, email address and national insurance number
these details need to be added for the tutor to be created, the Tutor will then
have the responsibility to store multiple resources in the database for their
course(s) such as presentations and documents the tutor will have the power to
change the settings of the resources like data that will be available to students
and data that won’t be the tutor can also change the time the data is available for,
Tutors will also have a username and password for.
Course
The course will be created by the administrator and a tutor will be assigned to
each course and then they are able to change the course details and once the
students enrol they can then select which course they would like to register in the
data that should be stored in the course will be, course name, credit value,
duration, course code, start date, end date and fee administrators will be able to
delete and or achieved after a time scale of inactivity.

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Quiz
Quizzes should be created by the tutor of each course for their students, the
students can then access these quizzes and complete them there should be
multiple types of questions like multiple echoice, true or false and fill in the blank
when the student has completed a certain quiz which is given to them by the
tutor it will then be added to his/her progress bar the quizzes must be configured
so that not only can students see their own score as well as the tutor but others
students cannot see another students score but the tutor will be able to see all.
Resources
The resources are to be controlled by the tutors this way they are able to
implement what data they need such as documents and presentations these
resources will be set to a specific course by the administrator to avoid confusion
with other courses the tutor is then able to set the resources so that parts of it
can be seen by students and other parts cannot be seen by students.
Enrolment
The enrolment is how the students enrol into their chosen course of study there
will be an enrolment number to keep track of certain enrolments and some can
be turned down if they try to re-enrol with outstanding fees to be paid.
Progress bar
The progress bar shows a student how well they are doing on their course of
study, it can also be viewed by the tutor so they are able to inform certain
students where they can improve and how to do it.
Quiz scores
The quiz scores depend on how a student does on the quiz they have been
assigned to do these quiz scores can then be viewed by the by both the student
and the tutor.
Questions

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The questions are what are in the quizzes given to the students they will have
either multiple choice or true/false.
Incorrect answer
This entity will contain the incorrect answers to the quiz and that way if the
student uses this answer they will not get a point for a certain question answered.
Correct answer
This works just like the incorrect answer but if a student chooses this answer
then they gain a point in the quiz.
Next of kin
This allows all users (administrator, student and tutor) to have a next of kin where
and this is used for all users in case of emergency they have a contact to inform
them.
The next part of this chapter shows what the business rules and operations are,
this shows what kind of privileges will be granted to each of the users among
other things the business operations states the things users are able to do and
the business rules state what things users are not able to do in the database
system.
3.2 Business Operations
1. Students can view course details
2. Students can enrol by list uploaded by tutor
3. Students can enrol by using an online form by a tutor
4. Students can enrol online by student
5. Student data is stored
6. Tutors authorise a student to enrol
7. tutors are created by administrators
8. Tutor credentials are checked by administrators
9. Tutor data is stored

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10. Tutors are given permissions to storing resources
11. Resources are made available to students
12. Quizzes are created for each course
13. There is a record of quizzes for each student
14. Student score is kept from the quiz
15. Different types of questions are made
16. The Tutor sees the data from the quiz
17. Students can see the data from their individual quiz
18. A Progress bar is created for a student
19. A knowledge bar is also created for a student
20. A student can view their progress bar
21. A student can view their knowledge bar
22. A tutor can view a student on their course progress bar
23. A tutor can view a student on their course knowledge bar
24. A tutor can use an offline register
25. Student can become unregistered
26. Tutors can become no longer employed
27. courses can be deleted
28. courses can be achieved
29. Course details can be changed by a tutor
30. students log in using username and password
31. tutors log in using username and password
32. permissions are given to tutors by administrators
33. permissions are given to students by administrators

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34. students have an attendance record
35. tutors can view attendance record of all students
36. students can access their individual attendance
37. administrators create a register for each course
38. Tutors can add a new course
39. administrators can move students to different courses
40. students can access resources
41. Tutors can add new assessments
42. students can apply for more than one course
43. administrators can add new tutor
44. Timetables are made administrators
45. Timetables can be amended by tutors
46. Students can view their timetable
47. Students can change their password
48. Administrators can change usernames and passwords
49. Tutors can mark completed quizzes
50. Administrators can view attendance records
3.3 Business Rules
1. Tutors cannot delete a course
2. Students cannot amend any course details
3. Students cannot delete course details
4. Students cannot enrol themselves
5. Students cannot register until fields are filled in

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6. International students cannot register until visa and passports data is filled
in
7. Tutors cannot create themselves
8. Tutors cannot be created until credentials are checked
9. Tutors cannot become a course tutor until registered
10. Tutors cannot register until the fields have been filled in
11. specific resources cannot be accessed by students
12. Resources cannot be shared across courses
13. Students cannot amend quizzes
14. Students cannot look at quiz answers
15. Students cannot look at another students quiz score
16. Students cannot look at another students details
17. Students cannot look at a tutors details apart from name
18. Students cannot look at another students progress bar
19. Students cannot look at another students timetable
20. Students cannot look at another students details
21. Students cannot create a timetable
22. Students cannot create a course
23. Students cannot amend a timetable
24. Tutors cannot create a timetable
25. Tutors cannot unregister a student
26. Tutors cannot delete other tutors
27. Students cannot delete a tutor
28. Students cannot delete another student

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29. Students cannot enrol on a course they have already undertaken
30. Students cannot enrol again if fees are outstanding
31. Tutors cannot change a student’s username and password
32. Students cannot change their username
33. Students cannot amend other students details
34. Students cannot change their fees
35. Tutors cannot change a student’s fees
36. Tutors cannot change their permissions
37. Students cannot change their permissions
38. Tutors cannot delete a student
39. Students cannot amend the register
40. Students cannot move themselves to a different course
41. Tutors cannot move a student to a different course
42. Tutors cannot change a student’s details
43. Students cannot store resources
44. Students cannot delete a tutor
45. Students can not add assessments
46. Students cannot create quizzes
47. Students cannot give permissions
48. Tutors cannot give students permissions
49. Tutors cannot give themselves permissions
50. Tutors cannot view other course resources

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This concludes the scenario chapter which has explained Ace Training scenario,
requirements for the database and also the business rules and operations that
should be taken into account, the next part of this report will go on to explain
what a conceptual diagram is and why they are important as well as the
conceptual diagram itself designed for Ace Training, and a diagram script which
shows a breakdown of the database.
4 Conceptual Design
A conceptual diagram can also be known as an explanatory or summary
diagram. A conceptual diagram provides an overview in graphical form of how
people, things, ideas, influences, actions and many more interrelate with each
other. This is done by consolidating large amounts of data into one chart which is
an ideal way of presenting the material which might be still in the idea stage,
They can be just as effective in communicating simple and complex concepts.
They are usually not quantitative and never go into to much detail. One huge
advantage a conceptual diagram has is that it applies itself to any kind of subject
such as; concrete or abstract, theoretical or actual, current, historical, or future.
There is not much of a distinction between conceptual diagrams and
certain other types of diagrams for example; flow charts and organizational charts
its not always clear. Usually if the diagram becomes more detailed then it is
considered to no longer be a conceptual diagram, there are a few block and
Venn diagrams that are known as conceptual diagrams also. Conceptual
diagrams can sometimes be used in presentations due to them being extremely
easy and quick to understand which can leave more of an impact on the
audience and can also be remembered for a longer space of time due to it being
a diagram rather than it being just words and numbers.
Conceptual diagrams are made up of geometric shapes, lines, arrows,
symbols, pictures or sketches and text. When being used in conceptual diagrams
the standard symbols can sometimes have different meanings when used in
different diagrams. The main benefits from using the conceptual diagram are that
it helps focus the design of the application by coupling the design to the tasks
that the user is doing as well as being able to support having a good process for
developing the product from the initial design and makes using the application
much easier for the given user, the conceptual diagram is basically the
foundation and it informs the design, process and experience these all then feed
off each other and grow together.
The conceptual model is made up of four types of structures these are entities,

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attributes, special entity types (sub type entities) and relationships, the entity is
represented in a box with square corners and then this box will have the name of
the entity within the middle of it and all entities must be singular not plural to save
confusion.
The attributes in the conceptual design are pieces of information about
objects or events that the user may wish to store within the database these
attributes can be known to describe the objects they are attached to such things
as 'TutorID' for example could be used in a Tutor entity but there are different
kinds of attributes one attribute can be used to describe and another can be used
to identify these are known as 'identifying attribute' which uniquely identifies the
entity it is placed in using 'TutorID' for example this is usually the primary key and
has a lollypop like shape next to it coloured in and 'describing attribute' which
only describes to properties of an entity 'name, address, email etc...' this attribute
will also have a lollypop like shape next to it but not coloured in.
The relationships in the conceptual diagram happen when there are over
two entities are linked to each other in some way, and these are sorted using
associations these associations include:
 One to one – e.g. a student has one quiz score and that quiz score
belongs to that student only.
 One too many – e.g. a student can have many enrolments but an
enrolments can only have one student at a time.
 Many too many – e.g. A tutor can teach on many courses and a course
can have many tutors.

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 constant to one – This means that there is an optional association
existence and this is shown by symbol on the line of the optional
association e.g. a quiz score may be seen by one of the tutors.
 Constant to many – This means that there is a mandatory association
existence and this is shown with a e.g. a course must have a payment
option.
Other relationships in a conceptual model include generalisation and recursive,
with a generalisation this means that multiple entities can be connected to one
other entity such as Tutors, administrators are all users so there should be an
entity named user that all these entities can be connected to using a large arrow
for example:

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And finally there is the recursive relationship this is a relationship can go back
into itself, such as a tutor may also be a head tutor and a tutor is overseen by
one head tutor and a head tutor may oversee a number of tutors. Example:
The next part of this chapter will show a fully completed conceptual diagram for
Ace Training.
(Harris, RLH, 1999, Page 100) (Johnson, JJ, 2012
2,10) (Toby, J, Teorey. Sam S, 2011 pg 17)

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4.1 Conceptual diagram
4.2 Entity Relationships
These show each relationship that are in the conceptual diagram as a
breakdown.
A tutor can have many courses just as a course is able to have many tutors.

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A tutor is able to have many resources they can upload and resources can have
many tutors.
One tutor can have a look at many quiz scores for their given course and quiz
scores can only have one tutor for their given course.
A student is able to view many resources and resources can have many students

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One student is only allowed to view their progress bar and there can only be one
progress bar per student
One student can view and have theirs and theirs alone quiz score and quiz
scores can only be allocated to one student each.
One student is able to enrol many times, there can be only one student per
enrolment.
Many courses can have many enrolments and enrolments can have many
courses.

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Many courses can have many students on that courses and many students can
have more than one course.
One Quiz score can have many quizzes and many quizzes can only have one
quiz score for each.
One next of kin can only have one user and one user can only have a certain
next of kin.

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One quiz score can have many quizzes and many quizzes can only have one
quiz score.
One quiz can have many questions in it and questions can only have one quiz.
There can be many incorrect answers in many questions, and questions can
have many incorrect answers

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Questions can have one correct answer and the correct answer can have many
questions
4.3 Diagram script
Entity Attributes identified Synonym Related to
Student Student ID
Forename
Surname
Address line 1
Address line 2
TownCity
Postcode
Phone number
Email address
Payment option
Fees paid
Many students can
access many
resources.
A student has one
progress bar.
A student can enrol
many times.
Many students can
be on many
courses.
A student can have
one quiz score.
Tutor Tutor ID
Forename
Surname
Address line 1
Address line 2
TownCity
Postcode
Phone number
Email address
A tutor can view
many quiz scores.
Many tutors can
teach many
courses.
Many tutors can
upload many

26
resources
Quiz Quiz ID
Course Code
Quiz name
A quiz has many
questions
Many quizzes have
one quiz score
Resorces Tutor ID
Student ID
Resource type
Many resources
have many
students
Many resources
have many tutors
Enrolment Enrolment number
Student ID
Course Code
Status
Enrolment type
Many enrolments
can have a certain
student.
Many enrolments
can have many
courses.
Next of kin Relation
Phone number
Address line 1
Address line 2
TownCity
Postcode
Phone number
Email address
One next of kin has
one user (Tutor,
Student, and
Administrator).
Correct answer Question ID
Correct answer
One correct
answer has many
questions.
Progress bar Student ID
Progress percent
One progress bar
has one student.
Quiz scores Score
Student ID
Course Code
One quiz score has
one quiz.
One quiz score is
assigned to a
certain student.
Questions Question ID Many questions
can have many

27
incorrect answers.
Many questions
can have one
correct answer.
Incorrect answer Question ID
Incorrect answer
Many incorrect
answers can have
many questions.
Course Course code
cost
description
Course name
Many courses can
be taught by many
tutors.
Many courses can
have many
students.
Many courses can
have many
enrolments.
Administrator Admin ID
Forename
Surname
Address line 1
Address line 2
TownCity
Postcode
Phone number
Email address
This concludes this chapter on the explanation about the conceptual model as
well as the conceptual model itself and the diagram script, The next chapter will
be about the logical diagram which is the next part of the design phase, it will
explain the importance of the logical model as well as the diagram itself designed
for Ace Training.

28
5 Logical Design
After completing the conceptual diagram the next diagram to create is the logical
diagram this is achieved by extracting all the information from the conceptual and
putting it all together but this time including the attributes as well as the entities, it
is known as a fully attributed data model that does not have DBMS, technology,
data storage or organizational constraints.
The logical diagram shows the data requirements for Ace Training from
more of a business point of view and are easy to understand by most users, and
allows them to understand what information goes where in the database due to
the attributes and entities being listed clearly and is a clean-up of any loose ends
of data that have been put into the conceptual diagram and new entities are
made for the entities that where by many-to-many thus making it easier when
transferring the model onto a physical design.
The following steps show the steps needed in creating a logical diagram:
 Identify business rules and operations
 Identify both key and non-key data items
 Identify the paths and consolidate them
 Find a strategy for archiving data
 Create a volume table to allow for future expansion
The data that is defined can then be made into logical relationships called
'entities' and 'attributes', entities are known as blocks of information and
attributes are known as components of an entity and these are what help a user
to define uniqueness of an attribute.
(Victor, VE, 2012 pages 11-12)
(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc505843.aspx)

29
This is a logical diagram of Ace Training database it has been converted from
conceptual to logical model, and the logical model has to have some
requirements the most needed one would be that each entity needs to have a
primary key which is done by have (pk) next to an attribute that is recognised as
the primary key, the entities are then given their relationships to other entities on
the model as there has to be at least one relationship if there is more than one
entity and then these relations must be defined by the use of a foreign key which
are made clear with the use of (fk) The foreign key is an attribute that is able to
complete a relationship by identifying the parent entity.
As this is the next step after the conceptual model other requirement must
be take into consideration such as generalisation will not be allowed in the logical

30
model instead there are two choices one being collapsing it back into a super
class or have it as an entity that is separate but has the same key as the super
class would have and then have one to one relationships in the diagram above
the user has chosen the second option, also many to many relationships are not
allowed as they do not work they have to be replaced by associative entities for
example 'Tutor' and 'Course' were many to many and a next entity named 'Tutor
On Course' has been created where both 'Tutor' and 'Course' can connect to as a
one to many then their primary keys are stored into the associate entity as
foreign keys, and one to one relationships are only allowed if they cannot be
reduced to a single entity.
This concludes the chapter on the explanation of the logical design and why they
are important as well as the logical design itself, the next part of the report will go
on to explain normalisation and why it is important to normalise when creating a
database.
6 Normalisation
6.1 Cumulative design
This section allows the user to get a better understanding of the logical design
this is done by creating a cumulative design, as it can be easier to understand
the user is then able to add new rules to each entity using update, cascade,
delete and restrict to understand what each entity is doing.
DDL
DDL or database design language is used to show the logical diagram in the
format of text, this will let the user understand foreign keys (fk) as it explains it in
detail including the rules of update and delete rules, and with these rules it allows
the user to update, delete and set how the child attribute will be affected by the
changes. The tables will be set underneath this way the user is able to see the
relationships between table (fk to pk) more clearly. The other functions are
restrict which means that nothing can be deleted if there is a child row and
cascade which means the child row will be deleted /updated too.

31
Cumulative design
The cumulative design works by listing each of the entities just once, it then
identifies the foreign key as well as the update and delete rules for the relations
of the foreign keys, there are only duplicates allowed for those which are
identified as foreign keys.
Student (StudentID, Forename, Surname, Address Line 1, Address Line 2,
Town/city, Postcode, Phone Number, Email Address, Payment Option, Fees
Paid)
Tutor (TutorID, Forename, Surname, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, Town/city,
Postcode, Phone Number, Email Address)
Course (Course code, cost, description, name)
Questions(QuestionID)
Administrator(Email Address, Forename, Surname, Address Line 1, Address
Line 2, Town/city, Postcode, Phone Number, Payment Option, Fees Paid)
Next of Kin(Email Address, Forename, Surname, Address Line 1, Address Line
2, Town/city, Postcode, Phone Number)
Tutor On Course(Tutor ID, Course code)
FK Tutor ID --->> Tutor
Update Cascade
Delete

32
Restrict
FK Course Code --->> Course
Update Cascade
Delete restrict
Student On Course(Student ID, Course code)
FK Student ID --->> Student
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete restrict
Enrolment (Enrolment number, Student ID, course code)
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict

33
Student resources(Student ID, Tutor ID)
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Resources ( Tutor ID, Student ID, Score)
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Progress Bar ( Student ID, Progress bar)
Update Cascade
Delete

34
Restrict
User(Student ID, Admin ID, Tutor ID, Email Address)
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
FK Admin ID ---->> Administrator
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
FK Email Address --->> Next Of Kin
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Enrolment onto course(Enrolment number, Course Code)
FK Enrolment number --->> Enrolment
Update Cascade
Delete

35
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Quiz Scores (Student ID, Course Code, Score)
restrictFK Student ID --->> Student
Update Cascade
Delete
Restrict
Update Cascade
Delete
Quiz(Quiz ID, Course Code, Quiz name)
Update Cascade
Delete
Questions(Question ID)
Incorrect Answer to Question(Question ID, Incorrect answer ID)
FK Question ID --->> Question
Update Cascade

36
Delete
FK Incorrect answer ID --->> Incorrect answer
Update Cascade
Delete
Correct answer(Correct answer ID, Question ID, Correct answer)
Update Cascade
Delete
Incorrect answer( Question ID, Incorrect answer)
Update Cascade
Delete
Normalisation
The main reason Normalisation is used is to make sure that only relevant data is
stored and to make sure its stored in a way so that there isn’t any unnecessary
space is being used up.
When normalising there are two main objectives which are removal of any
redundant data or duplicated data as well as making sure that the data
dependencies make sense, there are dependencies in a database when
information is stored in the same table uniquely determines other information
that is stored in the same table.

37
Normalisation is applied to new databases using a a series of guidelines
which include having normalised forms and these are numbered from 1 and can
go up to 5 the first normal form is known as (1NF) and this carries on through to
5NF which is the 5th
normal form but generally normalisations only go up to 3rd
normal form so the first three are the most commonly used and due to them
being guidelines sometimes there is a need to depart from them if a business is
in need of a deviation.
(Rob, PR, 2007, Page 153)
UNF
To start normalisation the user will have to create an un-normalised table from
the given data source which has to include a list of the attributes of the entity,
there must be an identification of the primary key e.g. Student ID then the user
must find all the repeating group of attributes and identify the key from the group
that is repeating.
1NF
After creating a UNF the user can then go on to the next step which is 1NF
known as the first normal form to create this form the user must dismiss the
repeating group of attribute to from a completely new entity and then it has to
have the original key added to it, this will cause be two entities that are linked by
the primary key.
2NF
2NF or second normal form can only be made if a relation has filled the
requirements to be in first normal form as well as each non-key attribute in the
relation has to be functionally dependent on the set primary key, there will be a
creation of separate tables this allows there to be no dependency problem.
3NF
3NF or third normal form is usually the last form to be normalised and there can
be sometimes complications as there can be a key and dependent relationship
between non-key attributes in an entity. The way to convert 2NF to 3NF the user
must first find any dependencies between non-key attributes in each table and
then remove said dependencies to form another table once this is done the user
must then choose the most proficient attribute to become the new key of that
table and this is known as a foreign key link to the original table.

38
The tables for this certain database is already in 3rd
normal form and therefore do
not need to be normalised any further.
(Stephen, SM, 2011. Pages 96-99)
This concludes the chapter on the normalisation, the next chapter will focus on
the implementation stage of a database, this will show the field attributes of the
database as well as the code that will be used to create the database, and the
explanation of SQL and why it is used.
7 Implementation
7.1 Field attributes
This section of the report focuses on the overall implementation of the database,
to start the physical design has to be created this is done by making a table with
different fields the first part of the table that should be filled in is the field section
which should be filled with attributes from each entity usually starting with the
primary key, the user will then go onto deciding which data type should be
attached to that field e.g. The primary key will usually be an integer as it’s a
unique number and the names will usually be varchar which stands for variable
character there are many other different data types to use, next the user will
decide the right size for each field this may take some research depending on
each field to stop and redundant space not being used or not enough space for
certain people.
The next field on the table to be filled in is the format this is used to input
the most appropriate format for that datatype, then there is the key type this is
where the user will input what kind if any key types there are such as primary and
foreign, the final two fields are index and required the index should be filled in
with an index type and required section should be filled in with a yes or no.

39
Student
Field Data
type
Field
size
Format Key type Index Required
Student ID integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
Forename VarChar 36 No
Surname VarChar 36 Yes
(duplicates
ok)
Yes
Address line 1 VarChar 25 yes
Address line 2 VarChar 25 No
TownCity VarChar 58 Yes
Postcode VarChar 10 Yes Yes
Phone
number
VarChar 20 Yes
Email address VarChar 255 Yes
Payment
option
VarChar 25 Yes
Fees paid Decimal 5,2 Yes
Integer has been used for Student ID to create a number that will just a number
and no fractional or decimal components, the forename and surname has a data
type varchar and a field size of 36 because some names can go upto that
amount of characters, varchar is also used for address line 1 and 2 with a field
size of 25 as some street names can be very long, TownCity has been made into
a varchar and given a field size of 58 as there is a town in wales that has 58
characters. The use of varchar has continued onto the postcode with a field
value of 10 due to some postcodes being larger than 8 characters, the phone
number is set to a 20 field size with a varchar data type for phone numbers that
can be extremely long including phone area codes, the email address is set to
varchar with a field size of 255 because there could be a email address that size
because there is not a limit, payment option is the last one with a varchar data
type and that is 25 to give a bit a leeway as there are numurous ways of
payment, lastly fees paid is set to decimal as it will be a number and the field size
is set to 5,2 for large numbers.

40
Tutor
Field Data
type
Field
size
Tutor ID integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
(duplicates
ok)
Yes
Address line
1
VarChar 58 yes
Address line
2
VarChar 58 No
Town/City VarChar 58 Yes
Phone
number
VarChar 20 Yes
Email
address
VarChar 255 Yes
These are the same values that have been previously justified on the student
table.

41
Quiz
Field Data
type
Field
size
Quiz ID integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
Course code integer Foreign
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Quiz name VarChar 30 Yes
Quiz ID is set to integer due to needing just numbers for the ID of the quiz and
that it is a primary key and needs to be unique so it can be set up as an
autonumber as well as course code, the quiz name is set to varchar and a field
size of 30 as the name of the quiz can become long for unexpected reasons.
Resources
Field Data
type
Field
size
Tutor ID integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
Student ID integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes

42
Resources
type
VarChar 30 Yes
Again the tutor ID and Student Idhave a data type integer for reasons already
stated on previous justifications, and resource type has a varchar data type set to
30 as there can be a resource type with a long name or multiple names.
Enrolment
Field Data
type
Field
size
Enrolment
Number
integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
Student ID integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
No
Course code integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
(duplicates
ok)
Yes
Status VarChar 58 Yes
Enrolment
type
VarChar 19 Yes
Enrolment number, student ID and Course code have all been given a integer
data type as they all need to be numbers, the status field has been given a field
size of 58 as there may be a small explanation of what status the enrolment is in,
and enrolment type has been given a field size of 16 as there are only three ways
to enrol and the max number of characters needed for this is 19.

43
Next of kin
Field Data
type
Field
size
Email Varchar 255 Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
(duplicates
ok)
Yes
Address line 1 VarChar 58 yes
Address line 2 VarChar 58 No
Phone
number
VarChar 20 Yes
These are the same values that have been previously justified on the Tutor table.
Correct answer

44
Field Data
type
Field
size
Question ID Integer compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Correct
Answer ID
integer compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Correct
answer
VarChar 35 Yes
Question ID and Correct answer ID are both set as integers as they need to be
numbers, and correct answer is set to varchar with a field size of 35 due to the
answer could be a sentence.
Incorrect answer
Field Data
type
Field
size
Question ID Integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Incorrect
answer ID
integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Incorrect
answer
varchar 35 Yes
These have the same values as the 'correct answer' table.

45
Progress bar
Field Data
type
Field
size
Student ID Integer Foreign
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Progress
percent
number 3 Yes
Student ID is set to integer because it needs to be an autonumber, and progress
percent is set to number with a field size of 3 as percentage can only go up to
100.
Quiz scores
Field Data
type
Field
size
student ID Integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Course code integer Compoun
d key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Score number 4 Yes
Student ID and Course code are set to integer because they need to be an

46
autonumber, and score is set to number with a field size set to 4 as scores can
go into the thousands.
Questions
Field Data
type
Field
size
Question ID Integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
Question ID is set to integer because it needs to be an autonumber.
Course
Field Data
type
Field
size
Course code integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes
cost decimal 5,2 yes
Description VarChar 255 no
Course name VarChar 25 yes
Course code is set to integer because it needs to be an auto number, cost is a
decimal set to 5,2 for a large number, the description is set to varchar with 255
for the field size as the description can be large, and course name is set to
varchar with a field size of 25 as the name of the course could be bigger than just
one word.

47
Administrator
Field Data
type
Field
size
Admin ID integer Primary
key
Yes (no
duplicates)
Yes -
auto
number
(duplicates
ok)
Yes
Address line
1
VarChar 58 yes
Address line
2
VarChar 58 No
Postcode VarChar 10 Yes
Phone
number
VarChar 20 Yes
Email
address
VarChar 255 Yes
The same values in the Tutor apply to the administrator table also.
7.2 SQL Implementation
Databases need to store and retrieve data for different types of computer
programs as well as web-based programs such as blogs and photo galleries, and
because of this many database software support a computer language which is
known as SQL (sequel) and this language was designed specifically to make it
easier for the users as programs that want the software for the database to be
able to handle the low-level work of managing data just have to use the SQL
language to send it instructions.
There are multiple different databases that support the use of SQL so they
can access data the more popular ones are MySQL and postgreSQL so this
means that MySQl is one of many brands of database software and the same

48
goes for PostgreSQL, these are among the most popular probably due to the fact
that they are free.
SQL needs to allow the user the create the database and relation
structures as well as being able to perform certain procedures such as insertion,
modification and deletion of data from relations and of course it must allow the
user to also perform complex queries as well as simple ones and this must also
be performed so that user effort is at a minimum, the command structure has to
be easy to learn for the user in case there needs to be anything else added to the
database.
SQL is an easy language to learn and use as it is non-procedural which
means that the user only specify what information the user requires rather than
how to get said information.
When writing SQL commands it’s good to know that all SQL statements
consist of words that are reserved as well as user-defined words, the said
reserved words are a part of SQL which are fixed and because of this these
words must be spetl correctly and exactly as required otherwise they will not
work at all, the other part is user-defined words and these are made up by a user
which could represent names of different types of database objects like names of
different columns.
For the most part of SQL statements they are not case sensitive unless it
is for literal character data then it will have to be case sensitive, SQL is much
easier to read when it has indentation and lination this means that with every
clause there should be a new line created and then the start of the new clause
should line up with the start of the previous clauses in order for the user to avoid
confusion and sometimes there may be several parts to a clause then the way to
lay it out would be to allow it to appear on a separate line and be indented under
the start of the clause.
Another part of SQL is literals and literals are constants that are used in
SQL statements the way this works is that all literals that are non-numeric must
be enclosed in single quotes (e.g. 'Liverpool') and all literals that are numeric
should not be enclosed in quotes (e.g. 100.0)
The following shows the creation of the Ace Training database using MySQL, to
start the user must use -uroot -p and then change the password to whatever the
user might see fit this way the database will be secure then the user will go on to
create the database this is done by simply using the statement 'CREATE
DATABASE' the user can then name that database anything they seem fit as long
as it has no spaces and after the name there has to be ';' symbol to state that that
line is over, then the user must type the statement 'SHOW DATABASES' this will
then allow all databases to be shown and the next line can then be used which is
'USE' then the name of the database the user wants to use after this the user can
then add tables to said database this is done by using the statement 'CREATE
TABLE' then name the table anything the user sees fit but to save confusion it is

49
best to start the name with 'tbl' (e.g. TblStudent) this way the user will know what
part of the database are tables then ending that statement with '('.
The user is then able to add attributes to the table they have created such
a 'Student ID' and 'Names' and like the physical design the user will have to input
each of the values for each attributes usuing ',' after each attribute is filled going
to the next line and filling in new attributes and after they have finished that they
then have to state which one of the attributes are the primary key or the foreign
key this is done at the bottom of the statements with using the word 'Primary
and/or Foreign' with said attribute next to it in brackets then to end that table the
user must end it with a ');@ on a new line.
MYSQL -uroot -p
SET PASSWORD FOR 'root'@'localhost' =
PASSWORD ('newPassword');
CREATE DATABASE aceTraining;
SHOW DATABASES;
USE aceTraining;
CREATE TABLE tblStudent (
StudentID integer auto_increment not null unique,
forename varchar(36),
Surname VarChar (36) not null,
AddressLine1 VarChar (58) not null,
AddressLine2 VarChar (58),
TownCity VarChar (58) not null,
Postcode VarChar (10) not null,
PhoneNumber VarChar (20) not null,

50
EmailAddress VarChar (255) not null,
PaymentOption VarChar (25) not null,
FeesPaid Decimal (5,2) not null,
primary key (StudentID)
);
CREATE INDEX indexStudentID ON tblStudent (StudentID);
CREATE INDEX indexSurname ON tblStudent (Surname);
CREATE INDEX PostcodeID ON tblStudent (postcode);
CREATE TABLE tblTutor (
TutorID integer auto_increment not null unique,
primary key (TutorID)

51
);
CREATE INDEX indexTutorID ON tblTutor (TutorID);
CREATE INDEX indexSurname ON tblTutor (Surname);
CREATE INDEX PostcodeID ON tblTutor (postcode);
CREATE TABLE tblAdmin (
AdminID integer auto_increment not null unique,
primary key (AdminID)
);
CREATE INDEX indexAminID ON tblAdmin (AdminID);
CREATE INDEX indexSurname ON tblAdmin (Surname);
CREATE INDEX PostcodeID ON tblAdmin (postcode);

52
CREATE TABLE tblCourse (
CourseCode integer auto_increment not null unique,
cost varchar(36),
description VarChar (255),
CourseName VarChar (25) not null,
primary key (CourseCode)
);
CREATE INDEX indexCourseCode ON tblCourse(CourseCode);
CREATE TABLE tblQuiz (
QuizID integer auto_increment not null unique,
CourseCode integer not null,
Quizname varchar (30) not null,
Primary key (QuizID)
);
CREATE INDEX indexQuizID ON tblQuiz (QuizID);
CREATE INDEX indexCourseCode ON tblQuiz (CourseCode);

53
CREATE TABLE tblResources (
TutorID integer not null,
StudentID integer not null,
ResourceType varchar (30) not null,
foreign key (TutorID) REFERENCES tblTutor (TutorID) on update
cascade on delete restrict,
foreign key (StudentID) REFERENCES tblStudent (StudentID) on
update cascade on delete restrict,
);
CREATE INDEX indexTutorID ON tblResources (TutorID);
CREATE INDEX indexStudentID ON tblResources (StudentID);
CREATE TABLE tblEnrolment (
EnrolmentNumber auto_increment not null unique,
Status varchar(58) not null,
EnrolmentType(58) not null,
Primary key (EnrolmentNumber),

54
foreign key (CourseCode) REFERENCES tblCourse (CourseCode) on
CREATE INDEX indexEnrolmentNumber ON tblEnrolment
(EnrolmentNumber);
CREATE INDEX indexStudentID ON tblEnrolment (StudentID);
CREATE INDEX indexCourseCode ON tblEnrolment (CourseCode);
CREATE TABLE tblNextOfKin (
EmailAddress VarChar (255 not null,
primary key (EmailAddress)
);
CREATE INDEX indexEmailAddress ON tblNextOfKin (TutorID);
CREATE INDEX indexSurname ON tblNextOfKin (Surname);

55
CREATE INDEX PostcodeID ON tblNextOfKin (postcode);
CREATE TABLE tblCorrectAnswer (
CorrectAnswerID auto_increment not null unique,
QuestionID no null,
CorrectAnswer varchar(35) not null,
primary key (CorrectAnswerID)
);
CREATE INDEX indexCorrectAnswerID ON tbltblCorrectAnswer
(CorrectAnswerID);
CREATE INDEX indexQuestionID ON tblCorrectAnswer (QuestionID);
CREATE TABLE tblIncorrectAnswer (
incorrectAnswerID auto_increment not null unique,
QuestionID no null,
incorrectAnswer varchar(35) not null,
primary key (incorrectAnswerID)
);
CREATE INDEX indexincorrectAnswerID ON tbltblincorrectAnswer
(incorrectAnswerID);

56
CREATE INDEX indexQuestionID ON tblCorrectAnswer (QuestionID);
CREATE TABLE tblProgressBar (
StudentID auto_increment not null unique,
ProgressPercent varchar(3) no null,
CREATE INDEX indexStudentID ON tblProgressBar (StudentID);
CREATE TABLE tblQuizScores (
score varchar(4) not null,
foreign key (TutorID) REFERENCES tblTutor (TutorID) on update
cascade on delete restrict,
foreign key (CourseCode) REFERENCES tblCourse (CourseCode) on
);
CREATE INDEX indexTutorID ON tblQuizScores (TutorID);
CREATE INDEX indexStudentID ON tblQuizScores(CourseCode);

57
This concludes the chapter on implementation, the next chapter will explain the
necessity of security and contingency, the security is part of the database that makes
sure there is no misuse between the created users, as well as the SQL code that has
gone into creating security and it will also explain why contingency is needed.
8 Security and Contingency
This part of the report focuses on the need for security and contingency inlcluding what
would happen if there wasnt any security and contingency first off the database needs to
have security implemented into it using the language of MySQL this is done to give the
users a clear list of database requirements as well as restrictions in place for the users
this will prevent any kind of misuse.
The following is an implementation of database security using MySql the user has to
create credible users for instance people who will be using the database e.g. (Student)
and then the user who will usually be the head administrator can give these created user
different privileges these are usually decided within the business rules and operations
that have already been made on the previous section 3.2 and 3.3, once there is an
understanding as to what is wanted from each type of user the administrator can then
start granting privileges using Mysql to start they must enter -root -p and enter password
when prompted which has already been established in the previous section 7, the
administrator can then go on to using the CREATE USER statement e.g
('student'@'localhost';) this means that the user student has been created and is
assigned to the local host.
The Administrator can then use the GRANT statement which initializes that a user will
be given privileges there are many different types of privileges the more common ones
are as follows:
 ALL – This allows All except grant
 ALTER - This means that the user will be able to alter the table
 CREATE USER - This allows one to create user, drop user, rename user and
also revoke
 CREATE – This Enable the creation of databases and tables
 DELETE – This allows a user to be able to delete records
 DROP – This allows databases the tables and views to be dropped
 INDEX – This allows indexes to be created
 INSERT – This allows users to insert rows into tables
 SELECT – This allows users to select data from a database object
 UPDATE – This allows the user to update data in a table
After the GRANT statement the administrator will then choose a table or tables to give
users privileges to e.g. (Student Table) the administrator can then use different
statements to give privileges for example SELECT this means that this particular user

58
can select parts of data in the table then after deciding what kinds of privileges should be
given the administrator will have to give the privileges a destination the is done by using
the ON statement where the administrator will then have to state what database its on
followed by what table, then which user its set to for example (ON aceTraining.tblStudent
TO 'Student ' @ ' localhost';)
(http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/mysql-complete-reference-
ch14.pdf.)
mysql -root -p
USE aceTraining;
CREATE USER 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (StudentID, forename, Surname, AddressLine1, AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress, PaymentOption,
FeesPaid),
UPDATE (forename, Surname, AddressLine1, AddressLine2, TownCity,
Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress)
ON aceTraining.tblStudent TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (CourseCode, cost, description, CourseName),
ON aceTraining.tblCourse TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (TutorID, StudentID, Resource type),
ON aceTraining.tblResource TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (QuizID, CourseCode, QuizName),
ON aceTraining.tblQuiz TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (StudentID, ProgressPercent),
ON aceTraining.tblProgressBar TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (Forename, Surname),
ON aceTraining.tblTutor TO 'Student'@'localhost';

59
GRANT
SELECT (StudentID, CourseCode, Status, EnrolmentType),
ON aceTraining.tblEnrolment TO 'Student'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (StudentID, CourseCode, Score),
ON aceTraining.tblQuizScore TO 'Student'@'localhost';
CREATE USER 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
SELECT (TutorID, forename, Surname, AddressLine1, AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress),
ON aceTraining.tblTutor TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT (TutorID, StudentID, Resource type),
UPDATE (Resource type)
ON aceTraining.tblResource TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT (QuizID, CourseCode, QuizName),
UPDATE (QuizName)
ON aceTraining.tblQuiz TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT (StudentID, CourseCode, Score),
UPDATE (Score)
ON aceTraining.tblQuizScore TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT (StudentID, ProgressPercent),
UPDATE (ProgressPercent)
ON aceTraining.tblProgressBar TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT (CourseCode, cost, description, CourseName),
UPDATE (Description, CourseName)
ON aceTraining.tblCourse TO 'Tutor'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT, SELECT, DELETE (StudentID, forename, Surname,
AddressLine1, AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber,

60
EmailAddress, PaymentOption, FeesPaid),
Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress, PaymentOption, FeesPaid)
ON aceTraining.tblStudent TO 'Student'@'localhost';
CREATE USER 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT, SELECT, DELETE (StudentID, forename, Surname,
AddressLine1, AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, Phone Number,
EmailAddress, PaymentOption, FeesPaid),
Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress, PaymentOption, FeesPaid)
ON aceTraining.tblStudent TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSET, SELECT, DELETE (TutorID, forename, Surname, AddressLine1,
AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress),
ON aceTraining.tblTutor TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (TutorID, StudentID, Resource type),
UPDATE (Resource type)
ON aceTraining.tblResource TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE(QuizID, CourseCode, QuizName),
UPDATE (QuizName)
ON aceTraining.tblQuiz TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (StudentID, CourseCode, Score),
UPDATE (Score)
ON aceTraining.tblQuizScore TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (StudentID, ProgressPercent),
UPDATE (ProgressPercent)
ON aceTraining.tblProgressBar TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (CourseCode, cost, description,
CourseName),
UPDATE (cost, Description, CourseName)

61
ON aceTraining.tblCourse TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (EmailAddress, forename, Surname,
AddressLine1, AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber ),
UPDATE (EmailAddress, forename, Surname, AddressLine1,
AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber)
ON aceTraining.tblNextOfKin TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (QuestionID, CorrectAnswerID,
CorrectAnswer),
UPDATE (CorrectAnswer)
ON aceTraining.tblCorrectAnswer TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (QuestionID, IncorrectAnswerID,
IncorrectAnswer),
UPDATE (IncorrectAnswer)
ON aceTraining.tblIncorrectAnswer TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSERT,SELECT, DELETE (QuestionID),
ON aceTraining.tblIncorrectAnswer TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
GRANT
INSET, SELECT, DELETE (AdminID, forename, Surname, AddressLine1,
AddressLine2, TownCity, Postcode, PhoneNumber, EmailAddress),
ON aceTraining.tblAdmin TO 'Admin'@'localhost';
The previous code is the privileges given to all users in Ace Training and the next part of
this chapter is contingency which deals with preemptive security.
Contingency is when an event might happen which didn’t seem likely to happen or even
intended to happen, so it can be known as a possibility, which needs to be prepared for
in case something happens in the future e.g an emergency.
When working with databases their needs to be things taken into consideration
when it comes to contingency as there are many different occurrences that can possibly
happen such as the database might crash which causes major problems if people are
trying to use it at the time, even where the servers are kept can become a problem for
things such as natural disasters, fires or vandalism and if there the right kind of security

62
and have information someone might want hackers can be a major problem as well as
the hardware which can die such as the motherboard and hard disk depending on the
quality of it, the server space given might cause server load to be too high if there are to
many people using the database at the same time there needs to be maximum which
allows all users to be on it at once to avoid this from happening.
It is important that if the database goes down all the data has been backed up
regularly, there are many options for backing up a database but there can only be one
chosen for certain databases.
How to back up using transact-SQL
A user will have to backup a database by executing a 'backup database statement' this is
achieved by specifying the name of the database to back i.e “aceTraining” and then
going on to choosing the back up device which the full database backup will be written
to.
Example of backup:
BACKUP DATABASE aceTraining
TO backup_device [,...n]
[WITH with_options [,...o]];
The with statement allows the users to have a few basic with options such as
compression or no compression, description and name, this allows the user to add
information to the backup so its easier to understand if there ever needs to be another
backup.
Tape
Backing up data on a tape can be proficient as in the event of a hard disk crash or
comparable failure the data won’t be lost as it will be on the tape, users can back up the
data manually or use the proper software to be programmed which allows it to happen
automatically, the tape can also be taken off-site which can be a good thing as well as a
bad thing the fact that users can transport it is user friendly but at the same time there is
human error and the backups can be lost left behind or even stolen which can cause
huge problems for a company but the tape has a life expectancy of 4 or more years
which is very good for businesses that are around for a long time.
The technology and software used on the tape is very well established and been
improved over the years which allows it use less power and less heat requirements, the

63
reason the tape is popular with small businesses is that they are able to add additional
tapes and there is no limit to how many the user can keep adding and the tapes are just
one fixed cost, there are also no issues with the networks security once the backup has
completed.
There can be some drawbacks from using the tape a major one is that it is
unable to become a shared resource so expanding a business can be harder, and even
though it is a fixed price, the price per gigabyte is slightly higher compared to other
methods of backing up data as well as higher price per GB the tape is also slower at
backing up and can also be fragile if it is not properly handled in the right way which can
cause information being destroyed.
RAID
RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is used in a way so that the same
data will be stored in different places on numerous different hard drives, doing
this input and output operations overlap but in a balanced way which causes the
performance to be improved, due to using numerous disks the mean time
between failures increases and storing data redundantly enhances fault
tolerance, There are many different types of RAID that the user can use:
RAID 0 – blocks striped, no mirror, no parity
RAID 1 – blocks mirrored, no stripe, no parity
RAID 5 - blocks striped, distributed parity
RAID 10 - blocks mirrored. (And blocks striped)
A strip is data that is striped (in the option the user can choose 64kb or 128kb for
strip a size).
RAID can be adept by how fast it recovers data and the cost per gigabyte
is slightly cheaper than the average and because its saved onto a hard disk the
user has the choice whether they want to have it re-purposed, its main benefit is
that if the user loses a drive in an array it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is
data loss this is because there are other disks with the same information.
When using RAID there can be some drawbacks one being the increased

64
difficulty when trying to use is off-site, if the users have 5 drives when using RAID
5 then one is usually the parity drive and if there is a loss of a drive a user can
still recreate it but if there is a loss of a second one during recreation then there
is a possibility that the whole database can be lost, another drawback is that it
cannot handle long-term archive and the only way it is able to is if it has a huge
amount of hard disk space, but its usually fine if the business is not to big, some
businesses staff may need to be trained in how to use RAID as its harder to set
up than the other methods of backing up and RAID has higher requirements
when it comes to both the power and cooling.
Network Backup
A network backup are one the most popular way to backup a persons or a company’s
data as they are easy to access for users either at home or at the office, it allows
multiple users to backup to the same location and can also share computers over the
network, some of the benefits of are that this kind of backup allows users to be able to
wireless utilities and it can be managed in-house.
There are a few downsides to a network backup, these include how slow it can
be which all depends on the infrastructure and if this is the case there could be
repercussions when it comes to the cost of the hardware as it may have to be updated if
the backup is not quick enough, there will be some training needed for staff members
who have not got the right kind of expertise.
The network backup has been known not to handle long-term storage well which
can cause a company huge problems if they are planning to store their data for a long
period of time, as well as this there is a limit storage capacity which will not be beneficial
for large companies.
Offsite backup
Offsite backup also known as cloud backup is a way of backing up data which involves
sending a copy of the data over a public network onto an off-site server and this server is
usually hosted by a third party service provider who will charge the customer a certain
amount of money to the customer which is usually based on bandwidth or number of
users, this kind of backup is built around a client software application which is run on a
schedule which will be determined by the level of service that a certain customer has

65
paid for.
Some of the pros to this type of backup is that once its initially installed its
seamless and extremely easy to use, it also offers many types of security depending on
how much is spent this is true for the amount of storage too.
Some of the cons involved with cloud backup is that the data is stored on a third
party server which can be controversial when it comes to the ownership of data aswell
as this there is no way of knowing that the data is 100% secure as its in the hands of
someone else plus the servers that it is stored in can be in multiple different countries
which can be hit with natural disasters as well as different laws for information.
(Sack,JS, 2000, Pages 6-7, 285-290)
Conclusion
The right backup for ace training would be the tape backup over the other backups as its
a portable medium which allows offsite storage of data which means that it can be used
in disaster recovery, there are also different types of security for tape such as WORM
and hardware based encryption these allows the tape to be secure in both transit and at
rest.
Another reason it is more superior is because it’s both cost and space efficient if
its for a long term company, there are some tapes such as the LTO5 that can store up to
3TBs of compressed data it might not be needed but the option is there for the
customers and this type of tape can be secure in an offsite vault and is able to exist
offline without any power or requirements for cooling.
The lifespan for the tape is impressive as some have had a shelf life of up to 30
years which is very reliable for long-term archival.
Server backup should be performed at the end of each day this is done by
inserting the tape and allow the backup process run overnight this means if the server
suffers from a disaster then there is at least all the saved files from the previous day this
should be performed by the administrator.
This concludes the chapter on security and contingency, the next chapter will be about
the testing of the SQL code and why it is important.

66
9. Testing
This section focuses on testing this allows the user to extract parts of the code they have
written and test it in MySql giving the user a better understanding of the code that has
been written the user will test each pieces of code to make sure they are working and if
they do not work as they should the user can then explain how it has been rectified or
the code might be fine the way it already is.
Code to be tested What should
happen
What did
happen
Amendments
CREATE TABLE
tblStudent (
StudentID integer
auto_increment
not null unique,
forename
varchar(36),
Surname VarChar
(36) not null,
AddressLine1
VarChar (58) not
null,
AddressLine2
VarChar (58),
TownCity VarChar
(58) not null,
Postcode VarChar
(10) not null,
PhoneNumber
VarChar (20) not
null,
EmailAddress
VarChar (255)
not null,
This piece of
code is made to
create a table
for the user
students
including all the
attributes
associated with
it, as well as the
primary key and
indexes.
After testing the
code there was
no errors and
the table was
created
successfully.
No
amendments
were needed.

67
PaymentOption
VarChar (25) not
null,
FeesPaid Decimal
(5,2) not null,
primary key
(StudentID)
);
CREATE INDEX
indexStudentID ON
tblStudent
(StudentID);
CREATE INDEX
indexSurname ON
tblStudent (Surname);
CREATE INDEX
PostcodeID ON
tblStudent
(postcode);
CREATE TABLE tblTutor
(
TutorID integer
auto_increment
not null unique,
forename
varchar(36),
Surname VarChar
(36) not null,
AddressLine1
VarChar (58) not
null,
AddressLine2
VarChar (58),
TownCity VarChar
(58) not null,
Postcode VarChar
(10) not null,
PhoneNumber
VarChar (20) not
null,
EmailAddress
This piece of
code is made to
create a table
for the user
tutors including
all the attributes
associated with
it, as well as the
primary key and
indexes.
After testing this
code there were
no errors and
the Tutor table
was created
successfully.
No
amendments
were needed.

68
VarChar (255)
not null,
primary key (TutorID)
);
CREATE INDEX
indexTutorID ON
tblTutor (TutorID);
CREATE INDEX
indexSurname ON
tblTutor (Surname);
CREATE INDEX
PostcodeID ON
tblTutor (postcode);
CREATE TABLE tblAdmin
(
AdminID integer
auto_increment
not null unique,
forename
varchar(36),
Surname VarChar
(36) not null,
AddressLine1
VarChar (58) not
null,
AddressLine2
VarChar (58),
TownCity VarChar
(58) not null,
Postcode VarChar
(10) not null,
PhoneNumber
VarChar (20) not
null,
EmailAddress
VarChar (255)
not null,
primary key (AdminID)
This piece of
code creates
the third and
final user table
for
Administrators,
including all the
attributes
associated with
it, as well as the
primary key and
indexes.
After testing this
code there were
no errors and
the table for
administrators
was created
successfully.
No
amendments
were needed.

69
);
CREATE INDEX
indexAminID ON
tblAdmin (AdminID);
CREATE INDEX
indexSurname ON
tblAdmin (Surname);
CREATE INDEX
PostcodeID ON
tblAdmin (postcode);
CREATE TABLE
tblCourse (
CourseCode
integer
auto_increment
not null unique,
cost varchar(36),
description
VarChar (255),
CourseName
VarChar (25) not
null,
primary key
(CourseCode)
);
CREATE INDEX
indexCourseCode ON
tblCourse(CourseCode)
;
This piece of
code is
supposed to
create a table
for the course
with attributes
and including
the primary key
and indexes.
The table for
courses was
created
successfully
without any
errors.
No
amendments
needed.
CREATE TABLE
tblResources (
TutorID integer
not null,
StudentID integer
not null,
ResourceType
varchar (30) not
null,
This next
section of code
should create a
table as well as
all the
attributes,
primary key,
foreign key and
indexes for
resources.
This piece of
code work fine
after testing with
no errors and
the table
creation was a
success.
No
amendments
were needed.

70
foreign key (TutorID)
REFERENCES tblTutor
(TutorID) on update
cascade on delete
restrict,
foreign key
(StudentID)
REFERENCES tblStudent
(StudentID) on update
cascade on delete
restrict,
);
CREATE INDEX
indexTutorID ON
tblResources
(TutorID);
CREATE INDEX
indexStudentID ON
tblResources
(StudentID);
CREATE TABLE
tblEnrolment (
EnrolmentNumber
auto_increment
not null unique,
StudentID integer
not null,
CourseCode integer
not null,
Status varchar(58)
not null,
EnrolmentType(58) not
null,
Primary key
(EnrolmentNumber),
foreign key
(StudentID)
cascade on delete
restrict,
foreign key
(CourseCode)
This part of the
sql code is to
make a table for
the enrolment,
including its
attributes,
primary key,
both foreign
keys and
indexes.
After testing this
code, the tables
were created
successfully with
no errors.
There were no
amendments
needed for this
piece of code.

71
REFERENCES tblCourse
(CourseCode) on
update cascade on
delete restrict,
CREATE INDEX
indexEnrolmentNumber
ON tblEnrolment
(EnrolmentNumber);
CREATE INDEX
indexStudentID ON
tblEnrolment
(StudentID);
CREATE INDEX
indexCourseCode ON
tblEnrolment
(CourseCode);
CREATE TABLE
tblNextOfKin (
EmailAddress
VarChar (255 not
null,
forename
varchar(36),
Surname VarChar
(36) not null,
AddressLine1
VarChar (58) not
null,
AddressLine2
VarChar (58),
TownCity VarChar
(58) not null,
Postcode VarChar
(10) not null,
PhoneNumber
VarChar (20) not
null,
primary key
(EmailAddress)
This part of
code is used to
create a table
for next of kin
with all
attributes a
primary key and
indexes.
The table for
next of kin was
created
successfully with
no errors.
There were no
errors there for
no
amendments
were needed.

72
);
CREATE INDEX
indexEmailAddress ON
tblNextOfKin
(TutorID);
CREATE INDEX
indexSurname ON
tblNextOfKin
(Surname);
CREATE INDEX
PostcodeID ON
tblNextOfKin
(postcode);
CREATE TABLE
tblCorrectAnswer (
CorrectAnswerID
auto_increment not
null unique,
QuestionID
no null,
CorrectAnswer
varchar(35) not null,
primary key
(CorrectAnswerID)
);
CREATE INDEX
indexCorrectAnswerID
ON
tbltblCorrectAnswer
(CorrectAnswerID);
CREATE INDEX
indexQuestionID ON
tblCorrectAnswer
(QuestionID);
This partition of
code is used to
create a table
for correct
answers with
the attributes
and primary key
as well as
indexes.
It worked fine
after testing with
no errors and
the table was
created.
No errors
therefore no
amendments
were done.
CREATE TABLE
tblIncorrectAnswer (
incorrectAnswerID
auto_increment not
null unique,
QuestionID
This part of
code is used to
make a table for
incorrect
answers which
also includes
the attributes
The code
worked fine and
the table was
created with no
errors.
No
amendments
were needed
in this case.

73
no null,
incorrectAnswer
varchar(35) not null,
primary key
(incorrectAnswerID)
);
CREATE INDEX
indexincorrectAnswerI
D ON
tbltblincorrectAnswer
(incorrectAnswerID);
CREATE INDEX
indexQuestionID ON
tblCorrectAnswer
(QuestionID);
primary key and
indexes.
CREATE TABLE
tblProgressBar (
StudentID
auto_increment not
null unique,
ProgressPercent
varchar(3)
no null,
foreign key
(StudentID)
cascade on delete
restrict,
CREATE INDEX
indexStudentID ON
tblProgressBar
(StudentID);
This part of
code is used to
make a table for
incorrect
answers which
also includes
the attributes
primary key,
foreign key and
indexes.
The code
worked as
intended and the
table was
created with no
errors.
No errors
meant there
was no
amendments
were needed.
CREATE TABLE
tblQuizScores (
StudentID integer
not null,
CourseCode integer
not null,
This section of
sql code is used
to create a table
for quiz scores
as well as the
attributes
primary key,
The code
worked as
intended and the
table was
created with no
errors.
No errors
meant there
was no
amendments
were needed.

74
score varchar(4)
not null,
foreign key (TutorID)
REFERENCES tblTutor
(TutorID) on update
cascade on delete
restrict,
foreign key
(CourseCode)
REFERENCES tblCourse
(CourseCode) on
update cascade on
delete restrict,
);
CREATE INDEX
indexTutorID ON
tblQuizScores
(TutorID);
CREATE INDEX
indexStudentID ON
tblQuizScores(CourseC
ode);
both foreign
keys and
indexes.
CREATE USER
'Student'@'localhost'
;
This part of
code should
create the user
student.
The user was
created and
named correctly
.
No
amendments
needed
GRANT
SELECT (StudentID,
forename, Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
PhoneNumber,
EmailAddress,
PaymentOption,
FeesPaid),
UPDATE (forename,
Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
PhoneNumber,
EmailAddress)
ON
This code
should give the
user students
certain types of
privileges when
it comes to the
student table
which have
been declared
in the business
rules and
operations.
After the code
was typed into
mysql there
were no errors
and the console
stated that
'Query OK, 0
rows affected
(0.01)'
There were no
amendments
needed

75
aceTraining.tblStuden
t TO
'Student'@'localhost'
;
CREATE USER
'Tutor'@'localhost';
This part of
code should
create the user
Tutor.
The user was
created and
named correctly.
No
amendments
needed
GRANT
SELECT (TutorID,
forename, Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
PhoneNumber,
EmailAddress),
UPDATE (forename,
Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
PhoneNumber,
EmailAddress)
ON
aceTraining.tblTutor
TO
'Tutor'@'localhost';
This code
should give the
user Tutors
certain types of
privileges when
it comes to the
Tutor table
which have
been declared
in the business
rules and
operations.
After the code
was typed into
mysql there
were no errors
and the console
stated that
'Query OK, 0
rows affected
(0.01)'.
No
amendments
were needed.
CREATE USER
'Admin'@'localhost';
This part of
code should
create the user
Admin.
The user was
created and
named correctly
.
No
amendments
needed
GRANT
INSERT, SELECT,
DELETE (StudentID,
forename, Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
Phone Number,
EmailAddress,
PaymentOption,
This code
should give the
user Tutors
certain types of
privileges when
it comes to the
Tutor table
which have
been declared
in the business
After the code
was entered the
was an
unfortunate
syntax error as
there was
human error
when coming to
inserting the
code. In this
To fix this it
just had to be
made into one
word, after this
was done it
was then
tested again
and worked
fine.

76
FeesPaid),
UPDATE (forename,
Surname,
AddressLine1,
AddressLine2,
TownCity, Postcode,
PhoneNumber,
EmailAddress,
PaymentOption,
FeesPaid)
ON
aceTraining.tblStuden
t TO
'Admin'@'localhost';
rules and
operations.
case it was that
‘PhoneNumber’
had a space
between each
word.
This concludes the chapter on testing, the next chapter will discuss the key
definitions and principles of the databases GUI (graphical user interface), as well
as the overall design.
10. GUI
The GUI or (graphical user interface) is a piece of software that works at the
point of contact (interface) between a user and the computer, which contains
graphical elements such as dialog boxes, a menu, scroll bars, icons etc... Rather
than having text characters to allow the user to give commands to the computer
or change what is on the screen in front of them.
A GUI is usually used using a pointing device such as a mouse which
allows the user to select certain things and navigate around the GUI, it should be
taken into consideration that when all programs are running under the GUI they
use a default set of graphical elements this is to make it easier for the user to
learn how to use the interface because once they are able to remember it they
are then able to use all programs rather than learning new commands.
There are six main principles to take into consideration when creating the design
for the user interface theses are as follows:
Layout
The way that the interface is layed out is very important for the users as most
layout concepts are the same, the screen is more than likely to be divided up into
3 different kind of boxes one for the navigation area this is usually at the top, one
for the status are which is usually placed at the bottom and finally the work area

77
which will be in the middle, if there are areas on the layout that are similar to
each other or more than one then they should be grouped together, The user
should not have to move about the interface to much so the layout must be
designed in a way to minimise this as well as this the best layouts are made so
that they are consistent for the same areas, such things as size, shape, data
entry should be remaining the same throughout to avoid user confusion.
Content Awareness
All the interfaces on the GUI need to have a title for each, alongside this the
interface should also contain menus and then these menus should allow the user
to understand where he/she is as well as where the user had been previously to
end up where they are currently, the content awareness for users should also
make it clear what information is within each areas.
Aesthetics
Interfaces need to be user friendly and allow the user to want to use the
interface, this can be done by making it aesthetically pleasing using multiple
different methods, a new user would be to overcome if there was a lot of
information in front of them the more simple it is the better for new users, it is not
only the information on screen that may confuse a new user but the way it is
presented such things as text font and the size of the text can put a user off from
an interface, The colours of the interface are a big part of it being aesthetically
pleasing as some colours can be harsh on the eyes especially if they clash with
each other, the colours will need to separate different items so the users are able
to differentiate between them.
User experience
The user should be content with the program that they are using especially if they
are using it for the very first time, it should be memorable to user and easy for
them to learn, this also goes for the experts that need to also use the programs
such as the administrators so there should be shortcuts for the experts to use so
they are then able to get to a point on the interface in a shorter amount of time.
Consistency
The GUI needs to be consistent for all users throughout this way the users are
able to then predict what will happen as well as know precisely where certain
information is, this will of course reduce the learning curve as the information
they seek will usually be in the same place as it was previously, as the user
navigates through the interface the different parts need to have the same
information as all the other parts, much like a website has its links usually at the
top of the webpage, it will be the same for the database interface so the users
can navigate to different areas with ease.

78
Minimal user effort
A user wants to be at a point they are looking for when on an interface in the
shortest amount of time otherwise it can be tedious which would make the users
unfriendly with the interface therefore there is a rule named the three clicks rule
this means that the users should be able to go from one point in the interface for
e.g. 'main menu' to the information or action they want within three clicks or three
key strokes.
(Stewart, SB 2013, slides 16-28)
Interface Design
This is the log in which the users will face when trying to access the database,
the users will have been given a certain user name and a password, these
unique user names will allow the interface to differentiate between the students,
tutors and administrators and they will then go onto the next part of the interface.

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