Uses of Databases in design offices

Databases, of course, are simply repositories of information, indexed in ways that organize stored data and make it accessible. All information in a database should be related; separate databases should be created to manage unrelated information. For example, a database that contains information about company stock prices should not also hold information about students and courses. Databases can be organized in different ways, and thus take many forms. The most popular form of database nowadays is the relational database. The Figure 1 listed below is a typical case for an relational model. 

Figure 1

Popular examples of relational databases today are Microsoft Access, MySQL, and Oracle. Let's go deeper for Microsoft Access since it's the most familiar one to us. For example, Coca Cola, last I checked, runs their accounting department with a series of MS Access front-ends connected to MS SQL back-ends. 



First, what's the Microsoft Access used for? Very simply, Microsoft Access is an information management tool that helps us store information for reference, reporting, and analysis. It helps us analyze large amounts of information, and manage related data more efficiently than Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet applications.  


Secondly,  how does a Microsoft Access Database work? Microsoft Access works in the same manner any database does, by storing related entities, and letting us create relationships between different things.  The relationships between two different things in MS Access can be very simple (such as a contact at a customer and the customer itself) or complex. Data is stored in Microsoft Access tables.  A table can have many fields, we can think of them as columns in a spreadsheet. Each field in a table can be set up to allow or prevent users from entering certain information. These abstract words mean, for example, we could say one field only accepts dates, another can only allow a user to enter a numeric value, while another lets them enter anything they want. Once we have our MS Access tables, fields, and relationships set up, we can create data entry forms that use those tables to store our information and later create reports with the data. 

The last but not least, the MS Access is not just setting up spreadsheets, not like MS Excel. These two are easy to misunderstanding. A spreadsheet stores data in an organized fashion, using rows and columns, and looks very similar to a database table. However, when several types of data must be mixed together, or when the relationships between these types of data are complex, then a spreadsheet is not the best solution. A database allows data from several entities (such as students, clubs, memberships, and events) to all be related together into one whole. While a spreadsheet does allow you to define what kinds of values can be entered into its cells, a database provides more intuitive and powerful ways to define the types of data that go into each field, reducing possible errors and allowing for easier analysis.

Reference

[1] Brownstein, Mark  "Microsoft Puts Finishing Touches on Windows Applications". InfoWorld. p. 5 February 13, 1989

[2] Darwen, Hugh. An Introduction to Relational Database Theory. Place of Publication Not Identified: Ventus, 2009. An Introduction to Relational Database Theory. Web.

[3] Mattessich, Richard "Budgeting Models and System Simulation". The Accounting Review. 36 (3): 384–397. 1969

Comments

Chris Sager - when I was doing my post, I found out that SQL was closely related my topic MS Access. These two like I said are the most popular relation databases nowadays. From your article, I could clearly understand that SQL language could effectively be used to insert, search, update, and delete databases records. You do give a good example of a SQL syntax.

Alsaleem - You did such a clear job to explain the Object Oriented Databases which I am not familiar with that before. I am really like the way that you listed the pros and cons of  ODBMS. I could see both side of this database system. 

Arthur McCloskey - I really enjoyed your post because of your topic. The post is not just introduced relational database but also related to the construction industry field. The content is comprehensive and I noticed that you also had a figure which called relational scheme tree. That caught my eyes. I wish you could explain more of this tree.