Master of Computer Applications

Second Year

Advanced Databases
Syllabus

Unit I
Introduction, Parallel database architecture, speedup, scale-up I/O parallelism, Inter-query and
Intra-query parallelism, Inter-operational and Intra-operational parallelism, parallel query
evaluation, Design of parallel systems, Implementation issues of Parallel query evaluation,
Design of parallel systems, Comparison of Inter-query and Intra-query parallelism.

Unit II
Distributed Databases, Study of DDBMS architectures, Comparison of Homogeneous and
Heterogeneous Databases, Analysis of Concurrency control in distributed databases,
Implementation of Distributed query processing.
Distributed data storage, Distributed transactions, Commit protocols, Availability, Distributed
query processing, Directory systems-ldap, Distributed data storage and transactions.

Unit III
Overview of client server architecture, Databases and web architecture, N-tier architecture,
XML, Introduction, Structure of XML Data, XML Document Schema, DTD, Querying and
Transformation: XQuery, FLOWR, XPath, XML validation, Web server, API to XML, Storage of
XML Data, XML Applications: web services, Web based system, Implementation of XML
validations, Use of web servers. XML and DTD implementation, Use of Web service like
Amazon web service or Microsoft Azure.

Unit IV
Introduction to Decision Support, Data Warehousing, Creating and maintaining a warehouse.
Introduction to Data warehouse and OLAP, Multidimensional data model, Data Warehouse
architecture, OLAP and data cubes, Operations on cubes, Data preprocessing need for
preprocessing, Multidimensional data model, OLAP and data cubes, Data warehousing Concepts,
Study of Data preprocessing need for preprocessing, Simulating and maintaining a Warehouse,
Analysis of Data preprocessing.

Unit V
Introduction to data mining , Data mining functionalities, clustering - k means algorithm,
classification - decision tree, Baysian classifiers, Outlier analysis, association rules - apriori
algorithm, Introduction to text mining, Implementing Clustering - k means algorithm, Analysis of
Decision tree.

Unit VI
Information retrieval - overview, Relevance ranking using terms and hyperlinks, synonyms,
homonyms, ontologies, Indexing of documents, measuring retrieval effectiveness, web search
engines, Information retrieval and structured data. Information Retrieval, Study and Comparison
of Synonyms, Homonyms, Ontologies. Implementation issues of Relevance ranking Algorithm.

1. What Oracle backup and recover file contains user and system data?
a. Control file
b. Datafile
c. OnLine ReDo file
d. Offline ReDo file

2. Better security occurs if Windows-only authentication is selected.

a. True
b. False

3. SQL Server supports INSTEAD OF, AFTER and BEFORE triggers.

a. True
b. False

4. Two basic constructs to link one piece of data with another piece of data: sequential storage
and pointers.
a. True
b. False

5. The driver manager processes ODBC requests and submits specific SQL statements to a given
type of data source.
a. True
b. False

6. To eliminate definition duplication, XML Schemas define:

a. an intersection table.
b. global elements.
c. a normalized definition table.
d. None of the above is correct.

7. The most popular way to materialize XML documents is to use:

a. DTD.
b. XSLT.
c. HTML.
d. SOAP.

8. The SQL CHECK constraint is fully defined by the SQL-92 standard, and is consistently
implemented by all DBMS vendors.
a. True
b. False
9. In a relation, the order of the columns does not matter.
a. True
b. False

10. Enterprise data modeling typically occurs during information systems planning.
a. True
b. False

11. Business Intelligence (BI) systems do not obtain their data by which of the following means?
a. Read and process data from an operational database
b. Process transactions
c. Process extracts from operational databases
d. Process data purchased from data vendors

12. The wildcard in a WHERE clause is useful when?

a. An exact match is necessary in a SELECT statement.
b. An exact match is not possible in a SELECT statement.
c. An exact match is necessary in a CREATE statement.
d. An exact match is not possible in a CREATE statement.

13. ON UPDATE CASCADE ensures which of the following?

a. Normalization
b. Data Integrity
c. Materialized Views
d. All of the above.

14. One common design problem when designing a database from existing data is the use of a
general-purpose remarks column in the received data.
a. True
b. False

15. Legacy data is which of the following?

a. Data contained in a newly-installed system
b. Data rejected during the installation of a new system
c. Data contained in a file system
d. Data contained by a system used prior to the installation of a new system

16. Some advantages of the database approach include all, but:

a. minimal data redundancy.
b. improved data consistency.
c. improved data sharing.
d. program-data dependency.

17. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is secure.

a. True
b. False
18. In SQL Server 2000, which of the following makes a copy of the changes that have been
made to the database since the last complete backup?
a. Complete backup
b. Transaction Log
c. Differential backup
d. None of the above is correct.

19. Microsoft Access has become ubiquitous, and being able to program in Access is a critical
skill.
a. True
b. False

20. The condition in a WHERE clause can refer to only one value.
a. True
b. False

21. Reverse engineering is the process of reading a database schema and producing a data model
from that schema.
a. True
b. False

22. The lost update problem is when User A reads data that have been processed by a portion of a
transaction from User B.
a. True
b. False

23. The degree of a relationship refers to the number of entity classes in the relationship.
a. True
b. False

24. A bitmap index is an index on columns from two or more tables that come from the same
domain of values.
a. True
b. False

25. An application program interface (API) is which of the following?

a. The same thing as ODBC.
b. Middleware that does not provide access to a database.
c. Middleware that provides access to a database.
d. The same thing as JDBC.

26. A unique, DBMS-supplied identifier used as the primary key of a relation is called a(n):
a. primary key.
b. foreign key.
c. composite key.
 d. surrogate key.

27. A proxy server is used for which of the following?

a. To provide security against unauthorized users
b. To process client requests for Web pages
c. To process client requests for database access
d. To provide TCP/IP

28. An attribute that names or identifies entity instances is a(n):

a. entity.
b. attribute.
c. identifier.
d. relationship.

29. MySQL is pronounced "my See-quel."

a. True
b. False

30. A ________ is a stored program that is attached to a table or a view.

a. pseudofile
b. embedded SELECT statement
c. trigger
d. None of the above is correct.

31. The terms alternate key and candidate key mean the same thing.
a. True
b. False

32. A correlated subquery is where the outer query depends on data from the inner query.
a. True
b. False

33. Triggers are stored blocks of code that have to be called in order to operate.
a. True
b. False

34. The reports generated by a reporting system are usually not delivered in which of the
following media?
a. Web portal
b. Commercial courier service
c. Digital dashboard
d. E-Mail

35. Literals do not have identifiers, and, therefore, cannot be individually referenced like objects.
a. True
b. False
36. A foreign key is which of the following?
a. Any attribute
b. The same thing as a primary key
c. An attribute that serves as the primary key of another relation
d. An attribute that serves no purpose

37. The condition in a WHERE clause can refer to only one value.
a. True
b. False

38. A dynamic view is one whose contents materialize when referenced.

a. True
b. False

39. The SELECT command, with its various clauses, allows users to query the data contained in
the tables and ask many different questions or ad hoc queries.
a. True
b. False

40. In this instance, dirty reads are disallowed, while nonrepeatable reads and phantom reads are
allowed.
a. Read committed
b. Read uncommitted
c. Repeatable read
d. Serializable

41. In a 1:N relationship, the parent is the entity on the one side of the relationship and the child
is the entity on the N side of the relationship.
a. True
b. False

42. Database redesign is not terribly difficult if the:

a. database is structured.
b. database is well-designed.
c. database has no data.
d. database is relatively small.

43. An enterprise data model is a relational model that shows the high-level entities for the
organization and associations among those entities.
a. True
b. False

44. Which of the following is the original purpose of SQL?

a. To specify the syntax and semantics of SQL data definition language
b. To specify the syntax and semantics of SQL manipulation language
 c. To define the data structures
d. All of the above.

45. When the child entity is required, we are restricted from creating a new parent row without
also creating a corresponding child row at the same time.
a. True
b. False

46. The primary key of the new relation in a many-to-many relationship is a composite key
comprised of the primary keys of each of the binary entities.
a. True
b. False

47. The semicolon terminates a SQL statement (and executes it).

a. True
b. False

48. Needing to using more complicated SQL in database applications is a(n) ________ of
normalization.
a. advantage
b. disadvantage
c. either an advantage or disadvantage
d. neither an advantage nor disadvantage

49. BI reporting systems summarize the current status of business activities in order to predict
future activities.
a. True
b. False

50. The size of the lock is referred to as the lock granularity.

a. True
b. False

51. Which of the following allows dirty reads, nonrepeatable reads and phantom reads to occur?
a. Read committed
b. Read uncommitted
c. Repeatable read
d. Serializable

52. SQL Server program code that is executed after an SQL command has been processed is
called a(n):
a. INSTEAD OF trigger.
b. BEFORE trigger.
c. AFTER trigger.
d. BEGIN trigger.
53. SQL provides the AS keyword, which can be used to assign meaningful column names to the
results of queries using the SQL built-in functions.
a. True
b. False

54. A functional dependency is always an equation.

a. True
b. False

55. What is sent to the user via HTTP, invoked using the HTTP protocol on the user's computer,
and run on the user's computer as an application?
a. A Java application
b. A Java applet
c. A Java servlet
d. None of the above is correct.

56. What is invoked via HTTP on the Web server computer when it responds to requests from a
user's Web browser?
a. A Java application
b. A Java applet
c. A Java servlet
d. None of the above is correct.

57. We have done an RFM analysis on our customer data. Mary Jones has a score of "1 1 5". This
series means that Mary ________ .
a. Has ordered recently, orders frequently, and places a large order when she orders.
b. Hasn't ordered recently, orders infrequently, but places a large order when she orders.
c. Has ordered recently, orders frequently, but doesn't place a large order when she orders
d. Hasn't ordered recently, orders infrequently, and doesn't place a large order when she
orders.

58. For what purposes are views used?

a. To hide columns only
b. To hide rows only
c. To hide complicated SQL statements only
d. All of the above are uses for SQL views.

59. Query-by-Example (QBE) is the most widely available direct-manipulation database query
language.
a. True
b. False

60. A database has a built-in capability to create, process and administer itself.
a. True
b. False
61. The way a particular application views the data from the database that the application uses is
a
a. module
b. relational model
c. schema
d. sub schema

62. The relational model feature is that there

a. is no need for primary key data
b. is much more data independence than some other database models
c. are explicit relationships among records.
d. are tables with many dimensions

63. Which of the following are the properties of entities

a. Groups
b. Table
c. Attributes
d. Switchboards

64. Which database level is closest to the users

a. External
b. Internal
c. Physical
d. Conceptual

65. ........data type can store unstructured data

a. RAW
b. CHAR
c. NUMERIC
d. VARCHAR

66. DBMS is a collection of___ that enables user to create and maintain a database.
a. Keys
b. Translators
c. Program
d. Language Activity

67. In a relational schema, each tuple is divided into fields called

a. Relations
b. Domains
c. Queries
d. All of the above

68. In an ER model___. is described in the database by storing its data.

a. Entity
b. Attribute
 c. Relationship
d. Notation

69 DFD stands for

a. Data Flow Document
b. Data File Diagram
c. Data Flow Diagram
d. Non of the above

70. A top-to-bottom relationship among the items in a database is established by a

a. Hierarchical schema
b. Network schema
c. Relational Schema
d. All of the above

71. ____table store information about database or about the system.

a. SQL
b. Nested
c. System
d. None of these

72. _____ clause is an additional filter that is applied to the result.

a. Select
b. Group-by
c. Having
d. Order by

73. A logical schema

a. is the entire database
b. is a standard way of organizing information into accessible parts.
c. Describes how data is actually stored on disk.
d. All of the above

74. ____is a full form of SQL.

a. Standard query language
b. Sequential query language
c. Structured query language
d. Server side query language

75. A relational database developer refers to a record as

a. a criteria
b. a relation
c. a tuple
d. an attribute

76. .......... keyword is used to find the number of values in a column.

 a. TOTAL
b. COUNT
c. ADD
d. SUM

77. An advantage of the database management approach is

a. data is dependent on programs
b. data redundancy increases
c. data is integrated and can be accessed by multiple programs
d. none of the above

78. The collection of information stored in a database at a particular moment is called as ......
a. schema
b. instance of the database
c. data domain
d. independence

79. A......... is used to define overall design of the database

a. schema
b. application program
c. data definition language
d. code

80. Key to represent relationship between tables is called

a. primary key
b. secondary key
c. foreign key
d. none of the above

81. Grant and revoke are ....... statements.

a. DDL
b. TCL
c. DCL
d. DML

82. .......... command can be used to modify a column in a table

a. alter
b. update
c. set
d. create

83. Which of the following gives a logical structure of the database graphically
a. Entity-relationship diagram
b. Entity diagram
c. Database diagram
d. Architectural representation
84. The entity relationship set is represented in E-R diagram as
a. Double diamonds
b. Undivided rectangles
c. Dashed lines
d. Diamond

85. The Rectangles divided into two parts represents

a. Entity set
b. Relationship set
c. Attributes of a relationship set
d. Primary key

86. Consider a directed line(->) from the relationship set advisor to both entity sets instructor and
student. This indicates _________ cardinality
a. One to many
b. One to one
c. Many to many
d. Many to one

87. We indicate roles in E-R diagrams by labeling the lines that connect ___________ to
__________
a. Diamond , diamond
b. Rectangle, diamond
c. Rectangle, rectangle
d. Diamond, rectangle

88. An entity set that does not have sufficient attributes to form a primary key is termed a
__________
a. Strong entity set
b. Variant set
c. Weak entity set
d. Variable set

89. For a weak entity set to be meaningful, it must be associated with another entity set, called
the
a. Identifying set
b. Owner set
c. Neighbor set
d. Strong entity set

90. Weak entity set is represented as

a. Underline
b. Double line
c. Double diamond
d. Double rectangle
91. If you were collecting and storing information about your music collection, an album would
be considered a(n) _____
a. Relation
b. Entity
c. Instance
d. Attribute

92. What term is used to refer to a specific record in your music database; for instance;
information stored about a specific album
a. Relation
b. Instance
c. Table
d. Column

93. Consider money is transferred from (1)account-A to account-B and (2) account-B to account-
A. Which of the following form a transaction
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 and 2 individually
d. Either 1 or 2

94. A transaction is delimited by statements (or function calls) of the form __________
a. Begin transaction and end transaction
b. Start transaction and stop transaction
c. Get transaction and post transaction
d. Read transaction and write transaction

95. Identify the characteristics of transactions

a. Atomicity
b. Durability
c. Isolation
d. All of the mentioned

96. Which of the following has all-or-none property

a. Atomicity
b. Durability
c. Isolation
d. All of the mentioned

97. The property of transaction that persists all the crashes is

a. Atomicity
b. Durability
c. Isolation
d. All of the mentioned
98. __________ states that only valid data will be written to the database
a. Consistency
b. Atomicity
c. Durability
d. Isolation

99. Transaction processing is associated with everything below except

a. Producing detail summary or exception reports
b. Recording a business activity
c. Confirming a action or triggering a response
d. Maintaining a data

100. The Oracle RDBMS uses the ____ statement to declare a new transaction start and its
properties
a. BEGIN
b. SET TRANSACTION
c. BEGIN TRANSACTION
d. COMMIT

Answer Keys:
1. b 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. b 6. b 7. b 8. b 9. a 10. a
11. b 12. b 13. b 14. a 15. d 16. d 17. b 18. c 19. b 20. b
21. a 22. b 23. a 24. b 25. c 26. d 27. a 28. c 29. b 30. c
31. a 32. b 33. b 34. b 35. a 36. c 37. b 38. a 39. a 40. a
41. a 42. c 43. b 44. d 45. a 46. a 47. a 48. b 49. b 50. a
51. b 52. c 53. a 54. b 55. b 56. c 57. c 58. d 59. a 60. b
61. d 62. b 63. c 64. a 65. a 66. c 67. b 68. a 69. c 70. a
71. c 72. c 73. b 74. c 75. c 76. b 77. c 78. b 79. a 80. c
81. c 82. a 83. a 84. d 85. a 86. b 87. d 88. c 89. a 90. d
91. b 92. b 93. c 94. a 95. d 96. a 97. b 98. a 99. c 100. b