Handling of information systems using SQL
The electronical course material is developed at the chair Wirtschaftsinformatik at the University of Dortmund. Its goal is to introduce the user to SQL, the standard language for relational databases. The introduction involves the commonly applied constructs for design, construction and modification of a relational database as well as for data retrieval. The authors are using the medium CD to offer a quite interactive course with a user controlled reply to his/her actions. The user has to answer questions about the study subject; He/she has to practice study tasks and realize exercises. The user will get a reply about the correctness of the answer or solution and an explanation of the right answer or solution. It is possible to use cross links to explain terms and to get supporting information from another part of the material in a simple way. Furthermore, it is enabled to partition a text and to support the reader to concentrate on a small piece of the following study content. This kind of presentation looks quite similar to the style of power point presentations. The style of presentation is applied to plain text, tables, but also for illustrations (images and examples e.g. database tables). Animation is applied to illustrate the working of constructs, among others it is illustrated how more complex SQL-commands process the data in the context of their tables. Such electronical means are applied with didactical feeling and skills: they have a reason to be there, which is different from just to be fancy. The study text is explained by several examples and a case study on the order processing of a dispatcher. The reviewer had some problems with the navigation within the material especially to know always at which place in the material she is stranded, especially when she had applied several links after each other. However the naviagation symbols themselves are clear. The content of the material is as follows: Introduction: an overview on the subject and an explanation of the case study. Database concept: the basis of the database concept with the focus of relational databases. Data models and data modeling: introduction to data models and modeling. For the conceptual modeling, the Structured Entity-Relationship Model (SERM) is used. DDL: data definition language introduction. DML: data manipulation language introduction. More advanced functions: views (virtual tables) and event controlled functions (triggers). Collection of exercises: 50 exercises to apply the gained knowledge. The range of the exercises well represents the content of the material. The course is written in German. The material is well balanced between depth and correctness of information on the one hand and the abstraction level of an introduction with an overview character on the other hand. It seems to be a solid course material for self study; In case of students, to acompany a thought database course; In case of practitioners, to channel a beginners knowledge of SQL and to deepen it out in an organized way.
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