[Informatics] An ERD challenge for you

Thu Aug 25 13:40:06 AEST 2016

I'm sure VCAA already has plans for a logical revision history scheme for
its official online publications...

however, just to be safe, I have taken the precaution of setting up a
monitor at versionista.com to notify me of any changes to the Digipubs
files.

Mark

On 25 August 2016 at 13:13, Heath, Natalie <
Natalie.Heath at marcellin.vic.edu.au> wrote:

> Thanks for doing that Mark – I’ve been comparing on an ad-hoc basis out of
> fear, convinced that I’ll miss something important.
>
>
>
> *Mrs Natalie Heath*
>
> ICT Learning Coordinator
>
>
>
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> *From:* informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces@
> edulists.com.au] *On Behalf Of *Mark
> *Sent:* Thursday, 25 August 2016 12:57 PM
> *To:* Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List
> *Subject:* Re: [Informatics] An ERD challenge for you
>
>
>
> Hi, file-comparers
>
>
>
> Out of idle curiosity, I wondered whether the Digipubs' *Advice for
> Teachers* pages
> <http://www.digipubs.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce-computing/vce-computing-introduction>
> had changed since they were first uploaded .
>
> I archived them on 16 December 2015 so I had a handy reference against
> which to compare a fresh download of the files.
>
>
>
> Results:
>
>
>
> A minor point : the original
> *vce-computing-units-3-and-4-software-dev-unit-3-learning.htm*
> had been deleted. I suspect it had always been orphaned, since there is
> *vce-computing-unit-3-software-dev-unit-3-learning2.htm*
>
> which is named inconsistently ; all of the other related files start with
> "vce-computing-units-*3-and-4*" but this one doesn't, so it sits
> awkwardly out of place in the file list.
>
>
>
> I did a byte-by-byte comparison between all of the archived files and the
> freshly-downloaded versions (using a handy online file-comparison website
> <https://www.diffchecker.com>) and found no differences in the body text,
> which was reassuring.
>
>
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 25 August 2016 at 11:29, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>
> The previous study design had ERDs, but their mandated style was an
> unnamed and incomplete mish-mash VCAA version of Chen with no cardinality
> indicators.
>
>
>
> I believe Crow's feet is the more common type of ERD used in real database
> development. Real database schema look very 'crowy'.
>
>
>
> It is good that VCAA is adopting Real World Models rather than half-baking
> their own.
>
>
>
> I am curious, however, why VCAA publishes a precise model for ERDs, but
> the style of UFD is left completely open.
>
>
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
> On 25 August 2016 at 09:37, Stephen Trouse <Stephen.Trouse at flinders.vic.
> edu.au> wrote:
>
> Let me display my utter ignorance here.  The first time I had ever seen
> the terms “Chen” and “Crows-foot” notation was in the trial exam
>
>
>
> *From:* informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:informatics-bounces@
> edulists.com.au] *On Behalf Of *Mark
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 23 August 2016 12:16 PM
> *To:* Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List <
> informatics at edulists.com.au>
> *Subject:* [Informatics] An ERD challenge for you
>
>
>
> Hi, entities.  Thanks to those who responded for my call yesterday for a
> reality check.
>
>
> The problem I had was that I got the ERD conventions document from the
> VCAA site as soon as it was announced in April.
>
>
>
> This is what was in the section on cardinality:
>
>
>
> [image: cid:ii_is6slf261_156b5035534f7c31]
> 
>
> It's obviously wrong. Puzzled, I downloaded a new copy from the VCAA site
> yesterday and found this:
>
>
>
> [image: cid:ii_is6smnlf2_156b50436b2b34ac]
> 
>
> But other people who downloaded the ERD document *on the same day I did*
> got the 'proper' version. I can't imagine a corrupted download neatly
> cropping parts of an image like that.
>
>
>
> The only explanation I could see is that VCAA uploaded the dodgy version
> (which I got), noticed the fault and quickly amended and re-uploaded the
> doc (which others got.)
>
>
>
> If this is the case, I would beg of VCAA to include version numbers in
> their documents - and a revision history - so users can be sure they are
> not using outdated documents. And I certainly hope VCAA announces document
> updates in the bulletin.
>
>
>
> Thanks again
>
>
>
> P.S. The reason for the close inspection of the document was to update my
> ERD powerpoint for the new study design.
>
> It is on my site at http://vceit.com/ppt2016/Design-Tools-ERD.pptx
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Mark Kelly
>
>
>
> mark at vceit.com
>
> http://vceit.com
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Mark Kelly
>
>
>
> mark at vceit.com
>
> http://vceit.com
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Mark Kelly
>
>
>
> mark at vceit.com
>
> http://vceit.com
>
> Natalie Heath
> Marcellin Staff
>
> [image: Marcellin College Logo]
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-- 

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com
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