| Lesson 8 | Database design tools |
| Objective | Explain the use of CASE tools in database design. |
CASE (computer-aided-software-engineering) tools are software packages used to design and implement an information system.
(Databases, of course, are at the center of an information system.) There are many CASE tools available on the market, ranging from easy-to-use (intuitive) to extremely sophisticated (and not at all user-friendly).
Database designers find the drawing capabilities of CASE tools especially useful for creating database diagrams.
The most common diagrams are:
(Databases, of course, are at the center of an information system.) There are many CASE tools available on the market, ranging from easy-to-use (intuitive) to extremely sophisticated (and not at all user-friendly).
Database designers find the drawing capabilities of CASE tools especially useful for creating database diagrams.
- Data flow diagrams, which display how data travel through an organization.
- Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams, which illustrate business objects , their characteristics, and how these objects relate to each other.
Some advanced CASE tools are capable of translating ER diagrams directly into SQL statements. Others are used to help design the user applications that interact with databases.
A CASE tool can not design a database.
Only a database designer can examine a database environment and decide which business objects and business rules ought to be represented in a database.
Business rules:
Only a database designer can examine a database environment and decide which business objects and business rules ought to be represented in a database.
A set of rules or conditions describing the business polices that apply to the data stored on a company databases.
The next lesson concludes this module.
The next lesson concludes this module.
