A transportation company wants to analyze its freight data. It has a fact table containing shipment weights, distances traveled, and delivery dates. How would you ensure that the fact table is appropriately linked to dimension tables representing locations, products, and time periods?

  • Connect the fact table to location, product, and time dimensions using foreign keys
  • Link the fact table only to location and product dimensions, omitting time dimensions
  • Use natural keys for the fact table and dimension tables
  • Use surrogate keys for all tables to ensure a unified link
To ensure appropriate linkage in a transportation company's scenario, foreign keys should be used to connect the fact table to dimension tables representing locations, products, and time periods. This enables comprehensive analysis by location, product, and temporal factors.

A financial institution is required to store transaction logs for regulatory compliance purposes. However, they have limited storage capacity. How can compression techniques help them manage their storage effectively while ensuring data integrity?

  • Bitrate Reduction
  • Block Compression
  • Delta Encoding
  • Lossless Compression
For financial transaction logs where data integrity is paramount, employing Lossless Compression techniques such as Delta Encoding or Block Compression is advisable. These methods reduce storage size without compromising data accuracy, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements while managing limited storage effectively.

The connections between nodes in a graph database are called _______.

  • Links
  • Paths
  • Relationships
  • Ties
The connections between nodes in a graph database are called "Relationships." These relationships define the associations between different entities represented by the nodes. In a graph structure, relationships play a crucial role in establishing connections.

Scenario: A retail company wants to track changes in product prices over time. Which type of Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD) would you recommend and why?

  • Type 1 SCD
  • Type 2 SCD
  • Type 3 SCD
  • Type 4 SCD
For tracking changes in product prices over time, Type 2 Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD) would be recommended. This type maintains a history of changes by creating new records for each change, preserving the old ones. It allows for accurate tracking of product price changes without altering existing records.

What is collaboration in data modeling?

  • A method for data validation
  • A process of creating data models individually
  • Documenting data models after completion
  • The act of working together on developing data models
Collaboration in data modeling refers to the process of working together to develop data models. This involves input from various stakeholders to ensure that the model accurately represents the organization's requirements. It fosters teamwork and a shared understanding of data structures.

What is the role of an attribute in a database entity?

  • Characteristic of the entity
  • Data type of the entity
  • Identifier of the entity
  • Relationship with other entities
An attribute in a database entity represents a characteristic or property of the entity, such as a name, age, or address. It provides details about the entity and contributes to defining its structure.

In class-table inheritance, each subclass is represented by a _______ table.

  • Common
  • Derived
  • Separate
  • Superclass
In class-table inheritance, each subclass is represented by a separate table. This design approach allows for a clear distinction between the attributes specific to each subclass while maintaining a connection to the superclass.

MySQL Workbench provides features for _______ database design and management.

  • Graphical
  • Presentation
  • Spreadsheets
  • Text-based
MySQL Workbench primarily offers graphical features for database design and management. Users can visually design, model, and manage databases, allowing for an intuitive and user-friendly approach to database development.

What is the purpose of GROUP BY clause in SQL?

  • To filter rows based on a condition
  • To group rows based on the values in one or more columns
  • To perform a join operation
  • To sort the result set in ascending or descending order
The GROUP BY clause in SQL is used to group rows based on the values in one or more columns. It is often used in conjunction with aggregate functions to perform operations on each group separately, providing a way to analyze and summarize data.

In Reverse Engineering, what challenges might arise when inferring a conceptual data model from an existing database schema?

  • All of the above
  • Ambiguity in relationships
  • Inconsistencies in data types
  • Loss of information
Challenges in Reverse Engineering include the potential loss of information, ambiguity in relationships, and inconsistencies in data types. Inferring a conceptual data model from an existing schema can be complex due to these factors, requiring careful analysis and interpretation.

Forward Engineering typically involves the creation of _______ scripts to generate a database schema from a conceptual model.

  • JavaScript
  • PHP
  • Python
  • SQL
Forward Engineering involves the generation of SQL scripts to create a database schema based on a conceptual model. This process translates the high-level design into a working database with tables, relationships, and constraints. SQL is commonly used for this purpose.

What are some challenges associated with implementing compression techniques in database systems?

  • Difficulty in implementing parallel compression
  • Increased computational overhead
  • Limited applicability to certain data types
  • Loss of data during compression
Implementing compression techniques in database systems poses challenges such as increased computational overhead. While compression reduces storage requirements, the process of compressing and decompressing data can be resource-intensive, impacting system performance. It's crucial to balance the benefits of compression with its computational costs.