Database Management System Questions and Answers

Answer: A

They are examples of RDBMS.

Oracle Database, MySQL and Microsoft Access are relational database management systems: they store data in tables of rows and columns, link tables through keys, and are queried with SQL.

They are not operating systems, which manage the computer's hardware (Windows, Linux), nor utility software such as antivirus or disk tools. 'Application software' is too broad; the specific class they belong to is RDBMS.

Answer: D

The right object is a Report.

In Microsoft Access, a report presents data from tables or queries in a formatted layout designed for printing, with headings, grouping, totals and page numbers.

A table stores the raw data. A query selects or calculates data from tables. A form is used to enter and view records on screen. None of these is designed for well-formatted printed output.

Answer: C

MS Access is a desktop database.

Microsoft Access keeps its tables, queries, forms and reports in a single file on the user's own computer (an .accdb file) and is meant for one user or a small workgroup. It is a relational database management system bundled with Microsoft Office.

A server database such as SQL Server or Oracle runs as a separate service that many clients connect to. A distributed database spreads one database across several sites. 'Network database' names an older data model built on linked records, not a description of Access.

Answer: B

The field is the primary key.

A primary key uniquely identifies each row of a table, so every value in it appears only once and it cannot be empty. Relationships between tables are built on it: another table stores the same value to point back to the row.

That pointing column in the other table is the foreign key, and its values may repeat, since many rows can refer to one parent. A composite key is a primary key made of two or more columns together, so no single column of it need be unique. 'Unit key' is not a standard database term.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Whenever a 1 is present at an input

NOR is the complement of OR. OR is 1 as soon as any input is 1, so NOR is 0 in that case, and it is 1 only when every input is 0.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Domains

A relation is defined over a set of attributes, each drawn from a domain - the set of permitted values for that field. So the fields into which a tuple divides correspond to the domains of the relation. Relations are the tables themselves, one level up.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Information

Data are raw facts; once they have been organised, summarised or interpreted so that they mean something, they are information. That is the distinction on which the whole subject rests.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Entity

An entity is a thing about which data is kept - a student, an order - and it is represented in the database by the stored values of its attributes. An attribute is one such value and a relationship connects entities.

Answer: C

Correct answer: SQL Server Profiler

SQL Server Profiler traces events as they occur on the server - statements executed, logins, errors - and can record them for auditing or performance analysis. The Service Manager only starts and stops services.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Data Flow Diagram

A data flow diagram shows the processes of a system, the data stores they read and write, and the flows between them - a functional picture, as against the entity-relationship diagram's picture of the data itself.