What is a Database And Explain its Limitations And Advantages?

A data base is a collection of organized information in the form of rows columns in a table. The information that is stored in the data base is meaningful, coherent and useful.

The columns are known as fields and they are the individual data items. The fields are interrelated to each other and the collection of fields together is known as a record. The collection of records is called a data base file.

When you want to have a data base, you need to plan the structure of the data base. Such a data base requires to perform some of the operations such as

1) Inserting the new records into the data base

2) Modifications and updations are to be done to some of the records in the data base.

3) Processing the records stored in the data base.

4) Deletion of the records, if the records are not required any more.

5) Re organize the data base.

6) Query the data base depending on a condition etc…..

When you perform such frequently required operations then it is known as data base management system (DBMS).

The English dictionary is one of the examples of a database, where the words are arranged alphabetically. Another example of database is a telephone directory in which the subscriber list is arranged in chronological order. Some of the examples of databases are,

® Student information database

® Employee information database

® Hospital management database

® Library information database

® Production and planning database

® Inventory control information database

Features and advantages of database:-

MS access is one of the important application in MS office and it is considered as a data base used to create tables, query the information and generating reports etc………..other than the advanced database software like fox pro visual basic, Oracle, Ingress, Sybase, Informix etc………….

1. Simple database:- MS access is highly suitable for small data bases. They are easy to use and  we need not go for high end data base software.

2. Easy to understand the structure:- MS access is used to learn and understand about the tables, creation of forms, making any quarries and generating reports etc…….we can view and analyse the relationships in between the tables.

3. Wizards:- MS access provides many types of wizards that the user can choose to create data bases easily.

4. Easy programming:- The users can use simple programming techniques to get the tasks done. Therefore we need not write large programs.

5. Dynamic exchange:- In MS access, we can exchange the data from some other application such as MS word, MS excel and other data base languages.

6. No duplication of data:-In MS access tables, there is no possibility of repetition of data or duplication of data. Also it is possible to establish relationships among the tables.

Limitation of database:-

1) MS access is slow when compared with higher data bases like oracle software.

2) MS access is suitable only for small data bases.

3) Simple programming instructions can be used to achieve the task.

 The various components of MS Access data base can be mentioned as below.

1. Table:-If you can store the data in a table in the form of columns and rows each field contains the data against the field name. The fields have different data types.

2. Query:- Query means searching the information (record) from the entire data base, depending upon a condition. A query is a simply filtering the information on some criteria so that you get the specific information.

3. Forms:- Forms are the convenient way to arrange the fields in a required manner or to enter the data into the tables. Thus forms are just like data entry screen.

4. Report:- To keep the information in a meaningful way, we generate reports as per the users requirements from the table. Thus reports are generated as a hard copy which is useful to the management to take some decisions.

5. Macros:- Macros are the small programs to carry out the predefined tasks. It means the repeated active tasks can be recorded as a macro and the recorded macros can be executed any number of times.

6. Modules:- For small repetitive tasks, you use macro programming where as for complex calculations we use modules

As there is no special language to write program in MS Access, we use visual basic application.