|=--------------------------------------------------=| _________________ .____ ___________________ / _____/\_____ \ | | \_ _____/\______ \ \_____ \ / / \ \| | | __)_ | | \ / \/ \_/. \ |___ | \ | ` \ /_______ /\_____\ \_/_______ \/_______ //_______ / \/ \__> \/ \/ \/ |=--------------------------------------------------=| . |02.01 - DBMS and Database Layers . |=--------------------------------------------------=| Previously it was shown where the database systems came from. In the beginning there was need to process natural language questions and get natural language answers from computers. On the basis of Deduction Systems the Data-base systems were built by separating data storage implementation from data processing algorithms. We will now try to show some basic terms and principles needed for databases understanding. In the core of the standard database is a Database Management System (DBMS). It's designed to manage data sentences and it's capable to handle the database growth and it's structure change. DBMS enables data structure specification. It takes in account the type of stored information. It provides mechanism for data manipulation. If there's need to share information among many users it's task is to avoid anomalies caused by concurrent access by many users to the same data. Database System enables abstract view on the data by giving abstract layer above the data storage and data management details. Data in data base can be stored in complex data structures. But yet DBMS provides effective interface for stored data access. Typical database model provides 3 main views on the stored data. It can be sorted from the lowest to the highest from the abstraction point of view. The levels can be called physical, logical and user's. On the lowest level of abstraction, physical level, there is description on how the data are stored and there are details on the data structure. In the middle layer, logical level, there is described what data are stored and what's the relation among it. In the highest level of abstraction, user's level view, the users access is allowed and provides user's own view to the data. Application program is a program using access to the database and sometimes is placed in it's own application layer. |=--------------------------------------------------=| |=--------------------------------------------------=|