[Year 12 SofDev] DFD question

Thu Sep 18 13:22:12 EST 2008

If you consider Oracle DBMS to be the "real world" then one of the data dictionary "views" called "USER_SOURCE" or "DBA_SOURCE" - depending on your level of access - contains the source code of all procedures and functions.
However, this just goes to show that nothing is ever clear cut in this discipline - there are just lots of shades of grey.
I would incline to the view that (to a first approximation) the data dictionary stores only the field (or column) names and their details ... however, if you include validation rules in here then logically that includes what SQL calls "constraints" - which in Oracle are stored in a data dictionary view called "USER_CONSTRAINTS" or "DBA_CONSTRAINTS" (they sat up all night thinking up the name for that view).

Happily I don't have to convey this information to Year 12 students, so I can afford to be flippant.

Cheers - John

Better a semi-colon than to come to a full stop.
John de Figueiredo - 9564 2647
Technology Services Department
Staff Computer Applications Trainer
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE (VC Administrator)
johnde at holmesglen.vic.edu.au

>>> On 18/09/2008 at 12:59 pm, in message <48D1C413.7080105 at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>, Mark Kelly <kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au> wrote:
Hi Robert.  I agree that processes might be useful data, but I'd 
maintain they don't belong in a data dictionary any more than my useful 
cheese sandwich should be stored in my fish tank.

Robert Mercer wrote:
> Hi Mark,
> 
> Yep sorry page 73 near the bottom. I guess I will assume it is an error or at least a convention not used by the VCAA. Although that being said I am not sure what the advantage of leaving processes out of a Data Dictionary is, seems to contain some possibly useful data.
> 
>>>> Mark Kelly <kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au> 18/09/2008 12:24 pm >>>
> Did you mean page 73, or am I using the wrong book?
> 
> It's interesting how they explicitly include processes in a data 
> dictionary (page 72) - I never have.
> 
> I see a data dictionary as a pure and simple table of field names, field > types, lengths, validation rules perhaps.  Not processes, however: 
> that's more for an N-S chart, for example.
> 
> Interesting though... might do a bit of digging around in the 'real' IT > world and see what the conventions are there.
> 
> Then again, I really don't like their version of IPO charts on p74.  I 
> like IPO to be pure "data / processing / information produced" e.g.
> 
> INPUT = Date of birth, Today's date
> PROCESSING = (Today-DOB)/365.25
> OUTPUT = Age
> 
> I really dislike using IPO charts as a uselessly vague version of a 
> flowchart e.g. (from page 74)
> 
> INPUT = Personal details
> PROCESSING = Check details
> OUTPUT = Checked details
> 
> How pointless is that?
> 
> yuk.
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Mercer wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am looking at the data dictionary on page 25 of the Thomson SD text book and there appears to be process listed "Add New Member". I was of the understanding processes do not get listed in data dictionaries as is indicated by the 2007 exam Section C Question 2 c. Anyone have any thoughts?
>>
>> Regards,
>>  
>> Rob Mercer
>> ICT Outreach - Project Officer
>> Faculty of Information & Communication Technologies
>> Swinburne University of Technology
>> PO Box 218
>> Hawthorn VIC 3122 Australia
>>  
>> PH:  +61 3 9214 8768
>> FAX :+61 3 9819 0823
>> rmercer at swin.edu.au 
>>
>>
>> -----
>> Swinburne University of Technology
>> CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D
>>

-- 
Mark Kelly
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McKinnon Secondary College
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Direct line / Voicemail: 8520 9085
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