TDBC86
Database Concepts
Fall 1997
Links to Sections of this Syllabus:
Course Staff
Course Language
Course Literature
Course Outline
Course Schedule
Computer Resources
On-Line Resources
Grading System
Obligatory Work
1. Course Staff:
Instructor:
Name:
Office:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Office hours:
Stephen J. Hegner
C444 MIT-huset
090-786-5760
hegner@cs.umu.se
0800-0900 Tuesday and Friday
Assistant:
Name:
Office:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Office hours:
Markus Stoor
D420 MIT-huset
090-786-5452
stoor@cs.umu.se
1500-1700 Monday
1300-1500 Wednesday and Thursday
2. Course Language:
Lectures will be given in English. Laboratory exercises may be submitted in either
English or Swedish. The final examination will be in English, and students will be
expected to answer in English. Exceptions may be made upon special arrangement
with the instructor.
3. Course Literature:
Main textbook:
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Ramez Elmasri and Shamkant B. Navathe, Fundamentals of
Database Systems, Second Edition, Benjamin-Cummings, 1994;
ISBN: 0-8053-1748-1 (cloth), 0-8053-1753-8 (paper).
4. Course Outline
The numbers shown in the rectangular brackets (i.e., [..]) identify chapters and
sections in the textbook. The numbers in angle brackets (i.e., ..) indicate the
approximate number of 45-minute lecture periods which will be devoted to the topic.
Please note the following.

The authoritative source for relevant (i.e., possible examination material) is
the course lectures. Material not covered in the textbook may nonetheless
be covered in lecture presentations.

The number of lecture periods to be devoted to each topic is approximate.
Adjustments may be made as the course progresses.
1. Introduction [1, 2] 2
2. Knowledge Representation for Database Systems
2.1 Entity-relationship modelling [3] 2
2.2 The relational model [6.1-6.4, 6.8, 7.1] 2
3. Query Processing and Constraints
3.1 Query Languages
3.1.1 The relational algebra [6.5-6.7] 2
3.1.2 The relational calculus [8.1,8.3] 2
3.1.3 SQL [7.1-7.3] 4
3.2 Views [7.4] 2
3.3 Dependencies and normalization [12, 13] 4
4. Implementation Issues
4.1 Physical database design [4, 5] 4
4.2 Query optimization [16] 2
4.3 Transaction processing and concurrency control [17, 18] 4
4.4 Recovery [19] 1
4.5 Security and authorization [20] 1
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5. Special Topics
5.1 Distributed database systems [23] 2
5. Course Schedule
The table below identifies the course meeting times and places, together with the
nature of the meeting. The key “L” denotes a lecture, while “D” denotes a discussion
session.
For each lecture, the topics to be covered are identified via the outline header
number of Section 4 of this syllabus. So, for example, on November 6 the topics of
2.2, that is the relational model, will be covered. This is only an approximate
assignment of meeting times to topics, and it may be altered as the course
progresses.
The topics to be covered during the discussion meetings will be determined as the
course progresses, but will generally include the topics of lectures during the
previous week or two. The two discussion meetings on each given day will cover
essentially the same material, and a student is expected to attend only one of them.
Initially, anyone may attend either meeting, but there proves to be a problem of
sufficient space in the rooms, some assignment of students to discussion meeting
may have to be made.
Initially, Stephen Hegner will handle the morning discussion meetings, and Markus
Stoor will handle the afternoon meetings. However, this preliminary arrangement is
subject to change.
Week
Type
45
L
Date
Nov. 3
L
46
Room
Topic
0815-1000
MA246
1
1015-1200
MA246
2.1
L
Nov. 6
0815-1000
MA246
2.2
L
Nov. 10
0815-1000
MA121
3.1.1
1015-1200 /
1315-1500
MA166 /
MC313
0815-1000
MA246
3.1.2
1015-1200
MA246
3.1.3
D
L
Nov. 13
L
47
Time
L
Nov. 17
0815-1000
MA121
3.1.3
L
Nov. 20
0815-1000
MA246
3.2
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D
48
L
Nov. 24
L
49
0815-1000
MA246
3.3
1015-1200
MA246
3.3
Nov. 27
0815-1000
MA246
4.1
L
Dec. 1
0815-1000
MA246
4.1
1015-1200 /
1315-1500
MA156 /
MA156
L
Dec. 4
0815-1000
MA236
4.2
L
Dec. 8
0815-1000
MA246
4.3
1015-1200 /
1315-1500
MA156 /
MA156
D
51
MA156 /
MA156
L
D
50
1015-1200 /
1315-1500
L
Dec. 11
0815-1000
MA246
4.3
L
Dec. 15
0815-1000
MA246
4.4, 4.5
1015-1200 /
1315-1500
MA156 /
MA156
D
L
Dec. 18
0815-1000
MA246
5.1
02
E
Jan. 10
0900-1500
Skrivsal 5 Final Examination
06
E
Feb. 7
0900-1500
Skrivsal 2 Final Examination
Re-test
6. Computer Resources
The microcomputer laboratory MA343 is reserved from 1200-1700 every weekday
for the use of students in this course. The specific software which will be used is the
relational database system Microsoft Access, which is part of the Microsoft Office
suite. The version which is installed in the laboratory is Office 97 (and specifically
Access 97), and information on the use of this version will be provided. In principle,
it should be possible to use earlier versions of Access, but the course staff will not be
able to provide detailed help in that case.
7. On-Line Resources
Whenever feasible, images of overhead transparencies and the like will be made
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available on-line, at the web page for the course, which is
http://www.cs.umu.se/local/kurser/TDBC86/H97/index.html
Slides which are figures in the textbook will also be used. These are available via
anonymous ftp at ftp://ftp.aw.com/cseng/authors/elmasri/Dbase2e. Note, however,
that they are just the figures from the textbook.
8. Grading System
The final grade will be determined as follows.
Final Examination: 90%
Obligatory Work:
10%
9. Obligatory Work
The course includes five obligatory written and computer exercises for which the
student must submit satisfactory solutions in order to be allowed to sit the final
examination. The rules governing these submissions are as follows.

To be allowed to sit the final examination, the student must complete all five
exercises satisfactorily. Thus, in the first instance, each exercise will be marked
as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

A grade between 0 and 10 inclusive will be assigned to each submission. This
grade is, in principle, independent of the evaluation of satisfactory or
unsatisfactory, although a high numerical grade will almost always indicate
satisfactory work.

Exercises marked as unsatisfactory may be resubmitted for another evaluation.
However, the point total of a resubmission may never exceed the point total of
the original submission. Work may not be resubmitted more than once without
special permission.

Each exercise will have a due date. For each working day that the submission is
late, two points will be subtracted from the grade. (The grade may never be less
than zero, of course.)

Grading resources are limited. Therefore, work submitted well after the deadline
may not be graded at all. If you must submit work late, discuss this with the
course assistant.

At the end of the course, the point totals on the obligatory work will be averaged,
resulting in a number between 0 and 10 inclusive. This number will constitute
10% of the final examination points.
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