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The document discusses data independence and why it is lacking in file systems. It explains that data independence means being able to change data properties without affecting applications that use the data. File systems lack data independence because applications that access file data are dependent on the file's data characteristics, so any changes to things like data types require modifying the applications. The document provides an example of how changing a data type in a file system would require changing the programs that access that data.

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Shaurya Joshi
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27 views

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The document discusses data independence and why it is lacking in file systems. It explains that data independence means being able to change data properties without affecting applications that use the data. File systems lack data independence because applications that access file data are dependent on the file's data characteristics, so any changes to things like data types require modifying the applications. The document provides an example of how changing a data type in a file system would require changing the programs that access that data.

Uploaded by

Shaurya Joshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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https://lms.monash.edu/mod/hvp/view.php?

id=12100522

R3: What is data independence, and why is it lacking in file systems?


Data independence means changing the properties of data without affecting the applications using the stored
data. It is lacking in file systems as it focuses more on physical data independence rather than logical data
independence even though applications depend on logical data instead of physical data.
Solution: Data independence is a condition in which the programs that access data are not dependent on the
data storage characteristics of the data.  Systems that lack data independence are said to exhibit
data dependence.  File systems exhibit data dependence because file access is dependent on a file's
data characteristics. Therefore, any time the file data characteristics are changed, the programs that access the
data within those files must be modified. Data independence exists when changes in the data characteristics
don't require changes in the programs that access those data. File systems lack data independence because all
data access programs are subject to change when any of the file system’s data storage characteristics (such as
changing a data type) change.

P1. How many records does the file contain? How many fields are there per record?
The file contains 7 records and each record consists of 5 fields.
Solution: The file contains seven records (21-5Z through 31-7P) and each of the records is composed of five
fields (PROJECT_CODE through PROJECT_BID_PRICE.)

P2. What problem would you encounter if you wanted to produce a listing by city? How would you solve this
problem by altering the file structure? 
The problem presented here is that we won't be able to extract the records specifically by city as there is no field
for city individually. To solve this issue, we need to create a separate column for city.
Solution: The city names are contained within the MANAGER_ADDRESS attribute and decomposing this
character (string) field at the application level is cumbersome at best. (Queries become much more difficult to
write and take longer to execute when internal string searches must be conducted.) In addition, searching for
"Franklin" may return a city (Franklin) or street (eg. Franklin Rd) match, which cannot easily be differentiated.
If the ability to produce city listings is important, it is best to store the city name as a separate attribute.

P4. What data redundancies do you detect? How could those redundancies lead to anomalies?
The data redundancies can be seen in the following 3 fields - PROJECT_MANAGER, MANAGER_PHONE,
MANAGER_ADDRESS. If such redundancies are there, then data errors, data inconsistency and data integrity
issues can occur.
Solution: Note that the manager named Holly B. Parker occurs three times, indicating that she manages three
projects coded 21-5Z, 25-9T, and 29-2D, respectively. (The occurrences indicate that there is a 1:M relationship
between PROJECT and MANAGER: each project is managed by only one manager but, apparently, a manager
may manage more than one project.) Ms. Parker's phone number and address also occur three times. If Ms.
Parker moves and/or changes her phone number, these changes must be made more than once and they must all
be made correctly... without missing a single occurrence. If any occurrence is missed during the change, the data
are "different" for the same person. After some time, it may become difficult to determine what the correct data
are. In addition, multiple occurrences invite misspellings and digit transpositions, thus producing the same
anomalies. The same problems exist for the multiple occurrences of George F. Dorts. Solution: Q5. Evolution
of Data Models First generation: File System Second generation: Hierarchical and Network
Third generation: Relational Fourth generation: Object Oriented Fifth generation: XML Hybrid
Emerging: Key-value store (NoSQL)

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