Assignment
Objectives
This assessment item relates to the unit learning outcomes numbers 1, 2 and 3 as stated in the unit profile.
Introduction
The sample solution of assignment 1 will be released on the unit website approximately two
(2) weeks after the assignment 1 due date. You must use that sample solution of assignment 1 only for the following tasks:
Assessment task
1 Normalization
a) Map the ERD, from the sample solution, into a set of relations in at least Third Normal Form (3NF). You must ensure that your relations meet 3NF. There is no need to show your working.
b) Select any two (2) of your relations from the previous step, 1a), and perform the following for each of those two relations:
- List all the functional dependencies exist in the relation.
- Demonstrate that the relation meets Third Normal Form (3NF).
For your help, an example for a Student relation's 3NF justification has been provided below: STUDENT (StudentID, Name, Address, DateOfBirth)
i. The primary key is StudentID which identifies a student. There will be one student name per Student ID because only one name is recorded for each student. Even though a student may have multiple addresses (e.g. a home address and a work address), the case study states that there is a need to record the home address only and hence there will be only one address for each student. There will be only one date of birth for each student. Thus, there are no repeating groups. Hence, this relation is in 1NF.
ii. The primary key is StudentID. This is the only candidate key since Name is not guaranteed to be unique (two different students may have the same name). Address is also not guaranteed to be unique. This means that Student ID functionally determines every other attribute in the table. There is a single valued simple candidate key (StudentId) and therefore no partial dependencies are possible. Hence, the relation is in 2NF.
iii. Name cannot be used to functionally determine any other attribute in the table since two different students may have the same name; likewise for address and date of birth. Therefore there are no transitive dependencies in the table. Therefore it meets the requirements of first, second and third normal form.
2 Relational database implementation
Note: Use the relations that you created in the above step 1-Normalization to create a database. The recommended tool for this work is Microsoft Access, version 2010 or later. One reason for recommending Microsoft Access is that your unit lecturer/tutor will be able to provide adequate support to you in the use of this tool. If you choose to use a different DBMS, then there is no guarantee that your lecturer/tutor will be able to provide enough support to you. The remainder of this document assumes that you are using MS-Access.
In implementing the ER model provided, you must complete the following tasks:
- Create all the relations in a Microsoft Access database. Consider each attribute in every table and make appropriate choices regarding data types & sizes, indexes, required/not required and validation rules. Your choices should be appropriate for each attribute and should support data integrity. (Note: see the Data Integrity section below for specific data integrity requirements)
- Create relationships as appropriate. Enforce referential integrity for all appropriate relationships in the database. Apply cascade update and/or delete options wherever necessary.
- Review the default index created by Access for each table. You should ensure that the indexes follow the guidelines given in the unit textbook.
- Populate the database with sample data of your own. You must include sufficient sample data to test your queries and report. Please note that the expected result of query questions may depend on the actual sample data populated.
Data integrity
You are required to implement integrity constraints within the database to enforce the following requirements:
- Part cost and labor cost should be positive currency and expressed in 2 decimals only.
- The service date and the lodged date of a complaint can't be future-dated.
- Name of client/employee should not be null.
- State values in the address attribute should be limited to Australian States/Territories only. (Note: The address attribute is a composite attribute which contains street, city, state and postal code.)
- Registration number of a car must contain six characters. The first three characters have to be alphabets and the last characters have to be numerical only.
- Total cost of a service job should be positive and cannot exceed $5000.
Information requests
Create queries to answer the following information requests. Note: Do not use the Access query builder (QBE) to create your queries - you should type the queries manually using SQL view/editor.
The marking process of the queries for information requests may also consider the effectiveness of your SQL statements that have been used in the queries. It is important that your SQL statement must reflect the correct business logic & SQL syntax. (Use enough sample data so that the output is produced by each and every query).
1. Which services didn't require the replacement of any parts? List those service details that include job number, job description, service date, total cost and the corresponding car's registration number, make, model and produced year.
2. Which mechanics have worked on any service job with charging labor cost more than
$300? List the mechanics name and phone number as well as the labor cost. Order the result by the labor cost in ascending.
3. Find the service(s) that has/have the most expensive total cost. This includes the client name and car registration number, make, model, year, service date and the total cost.
4. How many complaints were made by each client? Show the client's name, phone, and the number of complaints. Order the list so that the client with the most complaints appears first.
5. List details of clients who own more than one Ford vehicle. That is, list details of clients who have more than one car with the make of "Ford". The output should include the Client's ID, name and the number of Ford cars that they own. Order the result by client last name.
6. Show details of services that have been done during the last 3 months. Be sure that upcoming services do not appear in your output but the current day's service are included. You should show the registration number, make and model of the car involved, as well as the date of service and the total cost. Order the output by the date of service.
Note: (1)You may need using MS Access Date( ) and DateAdd( ) functions for Question 6, please make an online search on this. (2)The word ‘name' is a reserved word in MS Access. If you use it for SQL query, you need to put a bracket like [name]. Follow the same technique for other reserved words too.
Report
Create a simple report object showing the details of the each service job performed after 1st May 2017. The details include the job number, job description, service date, total cost and the registration number. At the end of report, display the average value of total cost for these service jobs.
Hints:
- Create a query that lists all details needed for a report. If you are unable to formulate this query, then create a report that is based directly on the table(s). [Note: you will not be able to obtain full marks for the report creation if you base your report directly on
the table(s) and some criteria are not met in your reports.]
- Use the report wizard to generate a basic report based upon your query [or the table(s) if you were unable to formulate the query].
- Once the report wizard finishes, switch to design view and rename the labels appropriately; for example, change the label ‘ServiceDate' to ‘Service Date'.
Implementation Report
You must also provide a short implementation report describing your experiences with this assignment. You may discuss any of the following:
1. Any two interesting things/procedures you learnt by doing this assignment.
2. Any one requirement of the assignment that was relatively difficult / complex to solve but successfully completed by you.
Use the implementation report to demonstrate that you have thought carefully about the issues that arise when implementing a relational database.
What you should submit
Microsoft Access databases file containing:
1. Tables with sample data
2. Relationships
3. Queries
4. Integrity constraints
5. Report (object).
A Microsoft Word document containing:
1. A set of relations mapped from E-R diagram (3NF)
2. Two relations with functional dependencies and demonstration of normalization
3. Implementation report
Your document should contain appropriate identification information (your student number, name, unit number, etc.) and should contain the relevant headings for each section.