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ABSTRACT: As software applications become more and more complicated, it is essential to capture the requirements, model the system design in different phases, and communicate frequently among end users, business analysts and developers. Relational database management systems (RDBMS) are the dominant database technology and play an important role in enterprise software applications. We used MS Access to develop an application which underlines the finite products flux beginning with the execution stage to the sale stage.
KEY WORDS: software applications; database; relational database management systems.
JEL CLASSIFICATION: M15.
1.INTRODUCTION
It is important to have a properly designed database so that accurate information can be provided to an organization. It is much easier to create an effective design initially so that necessary modifications to the database are kept at a minimum. Discovering problems after a database has been put into operation can be detrimental to a business, institution or organization.
There is a three-phase process in developing a database (Benaroch & Kauffman, 2000):
* Logical design: defining tables, fields, Primary and Foreign keys, establishing table relationships and levels of data integrity.
* Implementation of the logical design: using a DBMS to create tables and their relationships, using the tools to implement levels of data integrity.
* Development of end-user application.
Relational databases have a strong (mathematical) theoretical foundation (Codd, 1970; Chen, 1976), and a wide range of database software products available for implementing relational databases. Dr. E. F. Codd applied mathematical theories known as first order predicate logic and set theory to design relational databases. These theories are the foundation for the Relational Database Model (RDM). They are important because they makes the RDM predictable and reliable. It is not necessary to fully understand these theories to develop a sound database design.
But why we should use a relational database? The purpose of a database is to organize data so it can be easily selected, sorted, managed, and updated. By using a relational database, each piece of information only needs to be stored once. The benefit is that if a piece of data is updated it needs to be updated in only one place and the update will then be recognized throughout the database. Otherwise, several updates would need to be made in several different places,...