Databases, Cartography, and Geographic Information - A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts - page 134

Review Questions

1. What is a database “join” operation?
2. What are the common field types used to store data?
3. What is a flat-file database?
4. What is the relationship between database representation and geo-
graphic representation?
5. What is the difference between logical and symbolic representation?
6. What is tabular information?
7. What is a relational database?
8. What does “database normalization” refer to?
9. What is an entity-relationship diagram?
10. How are cartographic symbols stored in databases?

Answers
1. What is a database “join” operation?
A “join” operation permanently links two database tables based on a com-
mon record value.
2. What are the common field types used to store data?
Common field types are character, integer, real, binary, exponential, and
image.
3. What is a flat-file database?
A flat-file database stores values in rows and attributes by columns. It is one
way of representing entities in a database.
4. What is the relationship between database representation and geo-
graphic representation?
Database representation is how items are symbolically stored and manipu-
lated in a database. It is based on a geographic representation. For exam-
ple, a road, geographically represented as two lines, with each line with
attributes indicating the number of lanes in a constant direction, can be
represented in another database as a single geometric line with two values
indicating the number of lanes in each direction.
5. What is the difference between logical and symbolic representation?
Logical representation is how symbolic representation is systematically

recorded and stored in a database.
6. What is tabular information?
Tabular information is database data represented in a meaningful tabular
form.
7. What is a relational database?
A relational database is a database system that allows for the association of
data from different tables.