Page 206 - Using MIS

174 Chapter 5 Database Processing

Organizational
Network

• Forms
• Reports Database
• Queries Management • Tables
• Application System • Relationships
Programs (DBMS) • Metadata

Database
Application

Users Users’ Computers Database Server

Figure 5-10
Components of a Database
Application System those applications; the ERP system SAP (discussed in Chapter 7) is a good example of this con-
cept. You should expect to see these kinds of applications during the early years of your career.
Today, however, many database applications are based on newer technology that employs
browsers, the Web, and related standards. These browser-based applications can do everything
the older ones do, but they are more dynamic and better suited to today’s world. To see why,
consider each type.

Traditional Forms, Queries, Reports, and Applications

In most cases, a traditional database is shared among many users. In that case, the application
shown in Figure 5-10 resides on the users’ computers and the DBMS and database reside on a
server computer. A network, in most cases not the Internet, is used to transmit traffic back and
forth between the users’ computers and the DBMS server computer.
Single-user databases like those in Microsoft Access are an exception. With such databases,
the application, the DBMS, and the database all reside on the user’s computer.
Traditional forms appeared in window-like displays like that in Figure 5-2. They serve their
purpose; users can view, insert, modify, and delete data with them, but by today’s standards,
they look clunky.
Figure 5-11 shows a traditional report, which is a static display of data, placed into a for-
mat that is meaningful to the user. In this report, each of the emails for a particular student is
shown after the student’s name and grade data. Figure 5-12 shows a traditional query. The user

Figure 5-11
Example of a Student Report