What are the Components of a DBMS??

If you will remember, we initially viewed a DBMS as a filter between the User/Designer/DBA and the Database:

Well, that really hasn't changed too much. Some of the terms we will use here are slightly different, but the intent remains the same. All we are really doing is refining the system components.

A DBMS contains the following components (three of these components have links which will give you more information):

1. Database Development (Data Creation tools)

2. Database Interrogation Facilities (Data Manipulation Tools)

3. Database Maintenance (Data Maintenance Tools)

4. Report Generation (Report Generation Tools).
   
   While this is not part of the standard portfolio of tools, the DBMS makes sure that the data required by the report generator is available to the user in the format that s/he wants it in.

As you can see, the DBMS performs a large number of functions (without the user ever knowing it). It actually performs a number of additional functions that we will talk about later.

Our "refined" view of a DBMS might now appear as:

??? What types of DBMS are there ???

That is our next topic.

This page was last updated on 02/26/04.