Learning Objectives • Discuss the steps for designing and implementing a database system. • Use the REA data model to design an AIS database. • Draw an REA diagram of an AIS database. • Read an REA diagram and explain what it reveals about the business activities and policies of the organization being modeled.
17-3 Data Modeling • Process of defining a database so that it faithfully represents all aspects of the organization, including its interactions with the external environment. ▫ Entity-relationship (E-R) diagrams ▫ REA data model
17-4 REA Modeling • Resources ▫ Things that have economic value to the organization (e.g., inventory, cash) • Events ▫ Various business activities that management wants to collect information on • Agents ▫ People and organizations that participate in events (both internal (e.g., employees) and external (e.g., customers/vendors) to the organization)
▫ Give-get exchange (economic duality) • Identify resources and agents ▫ Resource reduced in give event ▫ Resource acquired in get event • Determine cardinalities of relationships ▫ Nature of the relationship between the two entities