Class Agenda – 09/03/ Answer questions about course logistics Access Chapter 1 Grader Project and Quiz 1 reminders Present computer data organization Explore files, folders, and libraries Discuss the different levels of software available to manage data on a computer. Explore the functions of a DBMS vs. an operating system to manage data. Discuss the relative data management capabilities of a DBMS vs. a spreadsheet. Introduce Access

Course Learning Process 2 Course objectives Visualization methods; systems development process Systems development tools: Access and Excel Methods to learn material Course lectures: concepts, exercises, questions Book/MyITLab exercises: Labs: in-class time to try out new and/or difficult Access and Excel skills/concepts Outside of class: do book exercises not done in labs Book material: Explanation, concepts, detailed description Methods to assess learning (and hopefully learn more…) Homework and projects: Apply instruction from tutorials Create simulated “real” applications

Help available 3 Your books!!!! Online help via Access and Excel Google (or other favorite search engine) Professor (Christina Hilfer)

Views of Computer Data Organization & Access Conceptual I want to buy music on iTunes. I want to see if that shirt is available in blue in a size medium. Physical 4 Primary Storage/Main Memory Processor ALU Secondary Storage/Disk Data and Programs

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7 How does it work? Primary Storage/Main Memory Processor ALU Secondary Storage/Disk Data and Programs when they are not being processed Data and Programs when they are being processed

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What is an operating system? Examples: Windows Unix Mac OS X Linux Definition: Set of software that manages a computer’s operations. 9

What does an operating system do? Manage hardware and software resources: Allocate main memory. Direct processor activities. Track all program activities. Manage network connections. Allocate secondary storage. Move data and programs from secondary storage to main memory and back again. Manage users 10

11 Moving data between primary and secondary storage Secondary Storage/Disk Primary storage/main memory Operating System MS Excel Firefox Photoshop MS Word

Computer Data Organization Vocabulary 12 Bits Bytes Program FilesData Files Database Fields Records Windows Library: View Folders

Organizing Files and Folders 13 A file is a collection of bytes that has a name and is stored in a computer A file can store a “program” or “data” Organize files by storing them in folders Disks contain folders that hold files USB drives Compact discs (CDs) Digital video discs (DVDs) Hard disks Each drive is assigned a letter

What types of data are stored on a computer? 14 Video, pictures, audio Web pages Word processing documents PowerPoint-type presentations Structured data: Pre-defined formats such as employee, customer, student, registration data.

Understanding the Need for Organizing Files 15 Windows (and all other operating systems) organizes folders and files in an hierarchy, or file system Windows stores the folders and important files it needs to turn on the computer in its root directory Folders stored within other folders are called subfolders

Developing Strategies for Organizing Files 16

Developing Strategies for Organizing Files 17 Type of disk you use to store files determines how you organize those files Storing files on removable media allows you to use simpler organization The larger the medium, the more levels of folders you should use You should have a “backup”, or duplicate copy, of all files Definitely all data files All program files that you don’t have available in other forms (downloads, other media)

Exploring Files, Folders, and Libraries 18 Windows Explorer and the Computer window show the drives, folders, and files on your computer Each has a slightly different view A folder window displays the files and subfolders in a folder Divided into two sections, called panes

Navigating to Your Data Files 19 The file path is a notation that indicates a file’s location on your computer G:\FM\Tutorial\Map.png G: is the drive name FM is the top-level folder on drive G Tutorial is a subfolder in the FM folder Map.png is the full filename with the file extension

Managing Folders and Files 20 Creating a folder In the Navigation pane, click the drive or folder in which you want to create a folder Click New folder on the toolbar Type a name for the folder, and then press the Enter key

Working with Folders and Files 21 Moving and Copying Files and Folders Moving a file removes it from its current location and places it in a new location you specify Copying places the file in both locations Naming and Renaming Files Filenames provide important information about the file, including its contents and purpose Main part of the filename File extension A filename extension identifies file type and indicates program in which file was created Deleting Files and Folders Recycle Bin is an area on your hard disk that holds deleted files until you remove them permanently Files removed from a network drive do not go to the Recycle Bin!

Working with Compressed Files 22 Files stored in a compressed (zipped) folder take up less disk space Allows you to transfer files more quickly Extracting a file creates an uncompressed copy of the file in a folder you specify, while the original file remains in the compressed folder Compression programs WinZip 7-Zip

What is a DBMS? A set of software that facilitates storage and access of data on a computer. Designed to work with a specific operating system. Examples from vendors. Microsoft products: Access, FoxPro, SQL Server Oracle products: Oracle, MySQL SAP: Sybase, HANA IBM products: Informix, DB2 Open-ish: PostgreSQL 23

What does a DBMS do? Data structure maintenance: add, delete, change data objects. Data maintenance: add, delete, change data. Data backup and recovery. Concurrency control. Data access (query) optimization. Security. Distributed data management. 24

What does MS Access do? Data structure maintenance: add, delete, change tables for data storage. Data maintenance: add, delete, change data in tables. Provide user-friendly tools for data access. Forms. Reports. Integration with other software such as Excel. 25

Why do we store data in a database? 26 To protect the “integrity” of the data. Make data accurate. Reduce data redundancy. To make data more accessible. Enhance flexibility of data access methods. Improve speed of data access. To make an application more adaptable. Provide more flexibility in application development. Decrease dependence on a given visualization method.

What other software is available for data storage? Word processing Spreadsheets Application programs Examples: TurboTax, QuickBooks Data storage: files, or enhanced file structures Some application programs rely on a DBMS 27

28 Decision Issue Spreadsheet (Excel) Database (Access) Ability to maintain accurate data Limited. Completely dependent on user for accurate input. Excellent. Many filters/constraints available to protect data accuracy. Ease of showing data in different formats Limited. Can make small color changes to basic spreadsheet. Excellent. Very flexible. Data entered once can be viewed in many different formats. Ease of doing calculations Excellent. Statistics, financial functions available. Limited. Can do calculations, but only basic math. Difficulty of learning/using product Excellent. Easy to learn.Difficult to learn. Necessity for pre- planning Not much planning required.Must plan/design the database in advance.

Overview of MS Access 29 Data Management Software Has the following objects: Tables: Object to store data. This is the only data storage object in Access. Queries: Object to view data stored in tables. Can be used to filter data, reformat data, create calculations, create aggregations, create summarizations. Forms: Object to enter data into a table in user friendly format. Also used to view data in a nice format on a screen. Reports: Object to view data in a nice format on paper.

Database Vocabulary- 1 Table: A two-dimensional database object used to store data. Row: One “entry” of data within the table. Must have a primary key that has a different value than all other rows of data within the table Column: A field used to store data. Must have a single data type. Cell: An intersection of a row and column. Can only have one data type and one value. 30

Database Vocabulary- 2 Entity (when implemented it is called a “table”): A person, place, or thing about which we store data. Example is a Customer for Belmont Landscapes. Entity instance(also called a “record” or “row”): One instance of an entity that includes all data stored about that instance. Example is “Anthony Rodriquez row” for Belmont. Attribute (also called a “field” or “column”): A characteristic of the entity about which we store data. Examples are Company, FirstName, Lastname for a Customer entity. 31