For Hugh Darwen's M359 Students
Date last modified: 23 April, 2014
This web site is used for
communications from Hugh Darwen to members of his M359 tutorial group.
Watch for updates during the presentation of the course.
Updates during 2014:
23
April: Made some minor revisions to From
E-R Model to Relational DB Design
(Sections 5 and 7, and the old Section 9 has been moved to become Section 6) and From Relational DB Design
to E-R Model (Section 8), with thanks to suggestions from student Carlos
Uralde.
26
March: Reorganised the material on E-R modelling
in the hope that nobody will miss the very important
hint.
15
February: Corrected a dreadful little mistake in From Relational DB Design
to E-R Model, in Step 6, points (a) and (b)
11
February: Added some more hints in connection with E-R
modelling.
04
February: Fixed broken link to to notes for Tutorial #1.
31 January: Posted my Introductory letter,
2014.
Contents:
Introductory
material to be read at start of course
Links to OU resources
Presentations given at tutorials
Database Design
SQL
Comments on course texts and materials
E-R Modelling You
are guaranteed to lose marks unless you study this!
Introductory material to be read at start of course:
What a Database Really Is: Predicates and Propositions (HTML) (please read at the start of the course). Also available in PDF.
Introduction to Relational Databases (PDF) My presentation used in Tutorial #1. In conjunction with these slides, please read my explanatory notes, here.
Rel359: a software tool that might help with your Block 2 studies.
Rel359 script to set up the University database
Rel359 script to set up the Hospital database
Extra Rel359 script to add GPs to the Hospital database
Presentations given by HD at tutorials
Tutorial 1 (March
8): Introduction
to Relational Databases. Notes to
accompany the slides.
Free
download book whose Chapter 1 covers the same material.
Tutorial 2 (April
12): Relational
Algebra. Slides
in PDF. Notes to
accompany the slides.
Constraints. Slides in PDF.
Notes to
accompany the slides.
Database Design (to help with Block 2)
What is a key? Some students, perennially, find this concept hard to grasp at first. I offer my own explanation.
From E-R Model to Relational DB Design. A summary of the steps needed to derive a relational database design from an E-R model.
From Relational DB Design to E-R Model. A summary of the steps needed to retroactively derive an E-R model from a relational database design.
Relations for Relationships, a detailed explanation of how E-R relationships can be represented in relational database designs.
Relational Database Constraints (a 2-page explanation). See also Constraints (notes inspired by the general poor performance we experience each year on this subject.)
Trying to Demystify FDs and Normalisation. Something that might help if you are struggling with the text in Block 2, Section 5 on these concepts.
Slides of a lecture on normalisation. Slides after #31 are beyond the scope of M359. The term "join dependency", introduced early on in these slides, is not used in M359, but it might help you to understand what is going on in normalisation. Please read my explanatory notes keyed to the slides.
A hint regarding typical normalisation exercises in TMAs and the exam.
A hint regarding the use of SELECT DISTINCT in SQL queries.
Comments on course texts and materials
Some notes on the treatment of Constraints in Block 1.
A note on data dependence, a topic covered in Block 1.
A note on the use of the term "relational table" in Blocks 2 and 5.
E-R hint Two hints for E-R modelling. The second, which is also available in PDF, is very important as it concerns an error that everybody makes every year unless they've read it. The first is for those who struggle with working out at which end to put the blobs, circles and crow's feet.
M359 module web site (watch for news items in right margin, possibly correcting errors in TMAs!)
Tutor group forum for questions and answers
Software resources and activities (including drawing tool for ER diagrams)