Progress
Database Design
Guide


Computerized Databases

Let’s take a closer look at the example of the filing cabinet database. When a customer calls you to place an order, you go through a series of steps. First, you pull out the customer’s file from the customer cabinet to determine whether the customer is a current account. Then you rummage through the inventory cabinet and pull out the appropriate item files to see whether you have the ordered items in stock. After that, you fill out an order form by listing each item, its price, and the grand total for the order. Finally, you make appropriate changes to the item files in inventory to reflect the current quantity.

Imagine how tedious and unmanageable these repetitive tasks can become if you have several hundred customers calling you each day. In this situation, automating your database makes a lot of sense. A computerized database offers you many advantages, including:

Now that you understand the benefits of a computerized database system, let’s take a look at the elements of relational databases.


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