BoxTop Sponsors BIFA Awards
Monday, January 22, 2007
BoxTop Technologies, sponsors of the annual British International Freight Association (BIFA) Special Services Award, is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2006 Special Services Award is GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd.
This well-established competition, is recognised as one of the most prestigious in the industry, and the Awards themselves become more coveted each year. They encourage and reward high standards and professionalism, and recognise special achievements in different sectors of the industry.
BoxTop would also like to congratulate the other 3 finalists, X-Pand International Freight Ltd, WTA and Premier Showfreight Limited, all demonstrated exceedingly high standards and professionalism in the highly competitive international freight industry.
This well-established competition, is recognised as one of the most prestigious in the industry, and the Awards themselves become more coveted each year. They encourage and reward high standards and professionalism, and recognise special achievements in different sectors of the industry.
BoxTop would also like to congratulate the other 3 finalists, X-Pand International Freight Ltd, WTA and Premier Showfreight Limited, all demonstrated exceedingly high standards and professionalism in the highly competitive international freight industry.
Relational databases homework
Georgina Hewlett 11AB
A relational database is created using a relational database management system (RDMS), such as MS Access.
You need to input the information and design the database before using the software.
Fields are used to sort the data that is collected. Examples of fields are: first name, surname, address etc.
A table is used to show a set of data that spans all fields.
A column usually contains fields, and a row usually contains records. A record is one set of data, including things like first name, surname, address. A field contains lots of the same type of data.
The primary key field contains the unique data, the data that is specific to that person, for example a car registration number is the primary key as there can only be one with that data in each database.
To create a relationship between two tables, you need to link them with an arrow. The arrow must start on the primary key field and lead to the other table. This is used to link tables.
Types of mistake when keying in data:
Keying-in errors - when the wrong keys are hit on the keyboard, or human error spells words incorrectly.
Incorrect data - when we enter false data unknowningly.
Valid data
This is data which makes sense when it is input. It is reasonable. For example, a reasonable entry in a Year field would be 2007, however not 3.14159.
However valid data mustn't be confused with correct data. You could enter the wrong year, however it would still be valid. However this validation process can help to remove some errors.
Data validation
This is a safety net for mistakes. All the data is checked by the database, and if it isn't valid, it will ask you to re-enter the data.
Presence check
This checks to see whether all the vital pieces of information have been input. For example, you must always have data in the primary key field. Access will not allow you to enter a Null ('nothing') value. You can also change the settings for different fields so that they have to be filled in.
Data type check
A data type validation check checks the type of data to see if it 'makes sense' in the field, i.e. that you have entered letters where there ought to be numerical data. When you are creating tables in databases you choose which type of data you are going to require.
In Access, these types are:
Text - words and phrases with up to 255 characters
Memo - words and phrases with more that 255 characters
Number - whole numbers or decimals
Date/Time - dates and times e.g. 15:30:00 on 21/11/2007
Currency - money values with a currency symbol e.g. £89.67
AutoNumber - a special data type which automatically gives a number to a field
Yes/No - used for tick boxes. Checked means yes, blank, no.
Error messages will appear if invalid data is entered.
Range check
This checks that the data you enter lies between sensible limits. e.g. if you had Age as a field, you would not expect anyone to enter an age outside of 0-110. Therefore to prevent mistakes you can send error messages to check if the data is in a sensible range.
Check digit
This is an extra digit on the end of a long number code (e.g ISBN). Complex calculations are carried out on all the other digits, and the check digit should be the result.
People can often make mistakes when keying in long numbers, so this is a checking system. If a mistake is make, the calculation does not produce the same check digit and therefore you will be told to key the whole number in again. Examples are a credit card number, and an ISBN.