INTRODUCTION ,FUNCTIONS,CHARACTERISTICS AND GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

What is a (Digital) Computer?

A computer is an electronic device system that accepts raw data as inputs, processes and manipulates them in digital form to give outputs (results) and store them for future use.

 

Functionality of a computer: 

• Inputs from Input devices. 
• Store or hold the input data. 
• Process by CPU (Central Processing Unit). 
• Output from Output devices. 
• Store in memory.

Characteristics of Computer

 

• Speed
• Accuracy
• Diligence
• Versatility
• Storage and memorizing
• Automatic
• Processing
• Non-intelligent

Speed: 

 

• A computer can do numbers of tasks with in a fraction of time for which a human takes a longer period of time even days or month.
• Capable of processing a very large amount of data.
• Speed in terms of microsecond, nanosecond and pico-second.

Accuracy:

 

• The result produced by a computer can be of higher precision and accuracy.
• Its accuracy can be increased higher as requirements.
• Provide outputs based on inputs.

Diligence (Carefulness):

 

• It is hard-working and keeps working until it is stopped.
• It keeps on working according to the program and do not feel tiredness or being lazy.

Versatility:

 

• Flexibility, changeability.
• Same computer can be used for different jobs or work.
• More usefulness.
• Same computer for different task.

Storage and Memorizing:

 

• A computer can store large amount of data.
• Once stored, it can be used any time as needed and don’t forget the data.
• Can store different types of data (Image, Text, audio etc).

Automatic:

 

• Once programmed, it automatically keeps doing the task.

Processing:

 

• Large amount of data and commands are processed in the computer.
• As requirement data are processed and gives an output.
• Every task need to be processed.

Non-intelligent:

 

• Absence of intellectualism.
• It can not decide what to do.
• It keeps working how it has been programmed to do.
• No logical thinking if not programmed.

Applications of Computer

• Education, Library and Design
• Industries and Manufacturing
• Research, Survey and Simulation
• Hospital and Health
• Data Processing
• Science and Engineering
• Offices and Hotel Management
• Advertisement and Marketing.
• Entertainment and Communication.
• Weather Forecasting
• Airlines and Navigation

Advantages of Computer

 

• Computers are much more accurate and reliable than any other devices and human beings.
• They are very much useful for repeated jobs which are difficult and tedious for humans to do.
• Computers are much faster than humans.
• With the help of computer, complicated things are easy to simulate and show.
• It is versatile and can perform various types of works.
• It can be used in multiple fields so it is called general purpose machine.
• Because of the availability of storage, data can be store for future use and programs can be modified to add features for different purpose.
• No repeated jobs so save time, labor and physical wastage (Draft) material. 
• Communications technologies have advanced a lot with the use of computers.

Disadvantages Of Computer:

• It is expensive and is beyond the reach of poor people. This limitation is being overcome because its cost is drastically decreasing day by day. 
• It is an electronic machine, so there is much danger of electric shock and other physical damage. 
• Since people are getting more relied upon computer, sometimes the failure in devices and programs can produce unreliable information and cause loss of data in a great extent. 
• It increases dependency on machine. Even for every simple calculation people need them. 
• Although it helps in faster and cheaper communication, there is much danger for security leakage. 
• It increases piracy of intellectual properties (movies, publications etc) in big volume. 
• Since computers are used in sensitive areas like national defense, civil aviation, banking, even a simple fault can cause loss of life and property. 

Generations of Computers

 

• First Generation (Vacuum tube based).
• Second Generation (Transistor based.)
• Third Generation (Integrated Circuit based.)
• Fourth Generation (VLSI microprocessor based.)
• Fifth Generation(Bio-Chips & Artificial Intelligence)

First Generation:

 

• The period of first generation was 1942-1954.
• Vacuum tubes (Valves) as basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU.
• Very large in size occupying entire room.
• Consume large amount of power (electricity) and produce large amount of heat.
• Punch cards and Paper tapes were used as Input and Outputs were limited on printouts.
• Use of machine level language.
• Storage capacity was limited to 1KB-4KB.
• Slow operating speeds and slowest than all of the other generations’ computers..

fig:First generation computer

• Example: UNIVAC and ENIAC.

Second Generation:

• The period of second generation was 1952-1964. 
• Transistors were used instead of vacuum tubes. 
• Smaller in size as compared to First generation computers. 
• Consumed less power and generate less heat compare to First generation computers. 
• Faster and reliable than First generation computers. 
• Assembly language and high level programming like FORTAN, COBOL were used. 
• Use of magnetic core technology in place of magnetic drum. 
• Magnetic core memories for internal storage, and magnetic disk and tapes for auxiliary memory. 

fig:Second generation computer

• Example: ATLAS , Mark III, IBM 7000

Note: A transistor is a small electronic device made up of semiconductor material like germanium and silicon. It is much smaller in size as compared to vacuum tubes and consumes less power. In 1947, Bell Laboratory introduces the first transistor and was used in computer in 1958.

Third Generation:

• The period of third generation was 1964-1972.
• Integrated Circuits (ICs) were used in place of transistors.
• Smaller in size than second generation as many transistors can be integrated in an IC.
• Low power consumption than previous generation.
• High level language like FORTAN-II, ALGOL-68 were used.
• More reliable and efficient than previous generation computers.
• Keyboard and monitor as input and output device.
• Real-time and multi-programming Operating system were used.

fig:Third generation computer

• Example: IBM-360 series, IBM-370/168

Fourth Generation:

• The period of Fourth Generation was 1972-present.
• Use of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology and microprocessor.
• Since thousands of transistors and other circuits were integrated in a single chip, size of computer drastically decreased.
• Cheaper in price and lower power consumption.
• Major achievement in computer technology took place in this era including hardware and software.
• Still using the computer from this generation.
• Highly accurate, reliable & operation speed.
• Massive use of magnetic and optical storage device.
• Multiprocessing, Multiprogramming, multimedia and distributed computing possible.
• Concept of internet was introduced.
• Introduction of PC’s for general people.

fig:Fourth generation computer

• Example : IBM PC, Pentium PC

Fifth Generation:

• The period of Fifth generation is present –future. 
• Based on artificial intelligence and still in development. 
• Some applications such as voice recognition are introduced. 
• The use of parallel processing and superconductors. 
• More user friendly interface with multimedia features. 
• Quantum computation, molecular and nanotechnology uses that will change the face of computer. 
• Development of devices to respond to natural language input. 

fig:Fifth generation computer

• Self learning and organization capability.

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Wordprocessing,Features,Advantages,Disadvantages,Linking and Embedding

Word Processor:

A word processor is an electronic device or computer software application, that performs the task of composition, editing, formatting, and sometimes printing of documents.A word processor is a type of application software. Just as the word ‘application’ sounds, Word processors as spreadsheets, databases etc. allow users to accomplish a task with the computer. These tasks are the ones that differentiate word processors with other application software.

Word Processing:

Word processing is the act of creating, saving, editing, formatting and printing text and graphic documents using an electronic word processor.

Examples of Word Processors

1. Microsoft Word
2. Google Docs
3. Open Office Writer
4. Ami Pro
5. Corel Word Perfect
6. Lotus Word Pro
7. Apple Works

Common features in word processing 

Most word processors, have the following features:

1. They allow the use to create, save, edit, format and retrieve files.
2. Have editing tools such as spelling checkers.
3. Have predefined features such as generating headers, footers, indexes, footnotes and references.
4. They can be used to create and import tables, graphics, text etc.
5. Have a user friendly layout that allows the user to do an action easier and efficiently.

Advantages of  Word Processors:

There are numerous advantages of word processors over traditional word processors like typewriters and they include:

1. Provision of storage area
2. Its more easier and efficient because of automated features like word wrap, auto complete, auto text etc.
3. Have superior editing tools such as thesaurus , auto-correct, spelling and grammar checkers
4. Have superior document formatting features like Bolding, italics, underline, emboss etc
5. Ability to create tables and organize information in an organized manner
6. Its possible to print multiple copies
7. Produce neat work
8. Easier to deal with graphics
9. Can be reconfigured to correspond with user needs like indenting, setting gutters, paper size etc.
10. Are flexible and portable- i.e can be used from one machine to another and text format can easily be converted.

Disadvantages of Word Processors:

1. Require skills to use
2. Require electric power to function
3. They are expensive to acquire

How to choose a correct word processor?

To be able to choose a correct word processor, consider the following points:

1. Check the type of operating system you are using and check whether it can support which word processors
2. If its user friendly
3. Consider your user needs
4. Consider the cost of purchase
5. Whether it has most common features available with most word processors
6. Whether it comes with a warranty
7. Whether it has inbuilt automatic updates
8. Whether it comes with a documentation that has help and support.

Editing And Formatting a Document:

Editing refers to making necessary changes to an existing document. e.g deleting, inserting, overtype, typeover etc. The tools that can be used to edit include: find, replace, thesaurus, undo and redo, spelling and grammar checkers, autocorrect, autocomplete etc.

Block operations

block operation is used to refer to working with a subset of data Highlighting a block of text: To highlight means to select a subset of data you want to work with and this is done with either a mouse or a keyboard. To select a character:

1. drag the mouse on the character or
2. use shift+left or right arrow keys

To select a word/phrase:

1. Double click on the word/phrase or
2. Drag the mouse on the word/phrase or
3. Use shift+up or down arrow keys

To  select a sentence:

1.  Drag the mouse on the paragraph or
2. use Shift+Home or End keys or Shift+up or down arrow keys

To select a page:

1. Drag the mouse on the entire page or
2. use Shift+Page Down or Page Up arrow keys

To select the entire document:

1. Drag the mouse over the document or
2. Press Ctrl+A or Shift+Ctrl+End or Shift+Ctrl+Home

Editing Modes

Editing modes provides the user with a variety of editing options. There are two types of editing modes namely: Insert mode and typeover mode

Insert Mode

Implies that when text is inserted between words or characters, it pushes the existing text to the right as you type.

Typeover Mode

Also known as Overtype implies that when text is typed between existing words or characters, the new text automatically replaces the characters on the right of the insertion pointer as you type.

To turn on/off Overtype Mode  (Office 2010)

1. Click the file tab , and then at the bottom of the dialog, click Word Options.
2. In the left pane, click Advanced.
3. Under Editing options, select or clear the Use overtype mode check box or select “Use insert key to control overtype mode” to switch the mode from the insert key.

Deleting Text

To delete a character, a line, sentence or a block of text;

1. Use the delete key or backspace key on the keyboard depending on the position of the cursor

To restore deleted text, use the undo command (Ctrl+V) either use the undo control from the quick launch toolbar

Find and Replace Command

The Find Command

The find command and is a feature that searches for a word or phrase in a block of text To use the find command;

1.    On the home tab under editing group select the find control option

2.    On the task window that appears, type the phrase you want search; the phrase will automatically highlight the searched phrase

3.    To customize advanced search, click on the down arrow right of the text box then choose options option oradvanced search option then more button

a)    Match case option; Searches for a phrase that matches the case of the search phrase

b)    Find whole words only; searches for a phrase that holistically matches the searched phrase

c)    Use wildcards; a wildcard is a character that will match any character or sequence of characters in a search e.g. k* searches for any word that begins with k

d)    Sound like; searches for phrases that sounds same in pronunciation

e)    Find all word forms; Check this option to find singular, plural, present tense, past tense, and participle forms of the word you’re searching for.

 

Linking and Embedding:

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Protect a document using password:
Password: Password is a word or other string of characters, sometimes kept secret or confidential, that must be supplied by a user in order to gain full or partial access to a multi user computer system or its data resources.

Document: Document is a piece of written, printed, or electronic matter that provides information or evidence or that serves as an official record.

Steps:

step:1

Click the Microsoft Office Button ,point to Prepare, and then click Encrypt Document.

step:2

In the Encrypt Document dialog box, in the Password box, type a password, and then click OK.You can type up to 255 characters. By default, this feature uses AES 128-bit advanced encryption. Encryption is a standard method used to help make your file more secure.

step:3
In the Confirm Password dialog box, in the Reenter password box, type the password again, and then click OK.

step:4
To save the password, save the file.

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SOME EXAMPLES OF FLOWCHART

1)Input any three numbers then find the greater no among them.

ANS)

 

 

 

2)Find the factorial of the given number.

ANS)

 

3)Input any number and find whether the no. is even or odd.

ANS)

 

 

4)Draw a flowchart to find a quadratic equation.

ANS)

 

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Database Management System,Advantages and disadvantages of DBMS,Types of DBMS,File processing system ,disadvantages,Database languages,Entity relationship diagram.

Database management system:

A database management system is the software system that allows users to define, create and maintain a database and provides controlled access to the data. A Database Management System (DBMS) is basically a collection of programs that enables users to store, modify, and extract information from a database as per the requirements. DBMS is an intermediate layer between programs and the data. Programs access the DBMS, which then accesses the data. There are different types of DBMS ranging from small systems that run on personal computers to huge systems that run on mainframes. The following are main examples of database applications: • Computerized library systems • Automated teller machines • Flight reservation systems • Computerized parts inventory systems A database management system is a piece of software that provides services for accessing a database, while maintaining all the required features of the data. Commercially available Database management systems in the market are dbase, FoxPro, IMS and Oracle, MySQL, SQL Servers and DB2 etc. These systems allow users to create update, and extract information from their databases.Compared to a manual filing system, the biggest advantages to a computerized database system are speed, accuracy, and’ accessibility.  

Advantages of DBMS:

a)Controls Redundancy: In file system, each application has its own private files, which cannot be shared between multiple applications. 1:his can often lead to considerable redundancy in the stored data, which results in wastage of storage space. By having centralized database most of this can be avoided. It is not possible that all redundancy should be eliminated. Sometimes there are sound business and technical reasons for maintaining multiple copies of the same data. In a database system, however this redundancy can be controlled.

b) Integrity can be enforced: Integrity of data means that data in database is always accurate, such that incorrect information cannot be stored in database. In order to maintain the integrity of data, some integrity constraints are enforced on the database. A DBMS should provide capabilities for defining and enforcing the constraints.

c) Inconsistency can be avoided : When the same data is duplicated and changes are made at one site, which is not propagated to the other site, it gives rise to inconsistency and the two entries regarding the same data will not agree. At such times the data is said to be inconsistent. So, if the redundancy is removed chances of having inconsistent data is also removed.

d) Data can be shared: As explained earlier, the data about Name, Class, Father __name etc. of General_Office is shared by multiple applications in centralized DBMS as compared to file system so now applications can be developed to operate against the same stored data. The applications may be developed without having to create any new stored files.

e) Standards can be enforced : Since DBMS is a central system, so standard can be enforced easily may be at Company level, Department level, National level or International level. The standardized data is very helpful during migration or interchanging of data. The file system is an independent system so standard cannot be easily enforced on multiple independent applications.

f) Restricts unauthorized access: When multiple users share a database, it is likely that some users will not be authorized to access all information in the database. For example, account office data is often considered confidential, and hence only authorized persons are allowed to access such data. In addition, some users may be permitted only to retrieve data, whereas other are allowed both to retrieve and to update. Hence, the type of access operation retrieval or update must also be controlled. Typically, users or user groups are given account numbers protected by passwords, which they can use to gain access to the database. A DBMS should provide a security and authorization subsystem, which the DBA uses to create accounts and to specify account restrictions. The DBMS should then enforce these restrictions automatically.

g)Solves Enterprise Requirement than Individual Requirement: Since many types of users with varying level of technical knowledge use a database, a DBMS should provide a variety of user interface. The overall requirements of the enterprise are more important than the individual user requirements. So, the DBA can structure the database system to provide an overall service that is “best for the enterprise”.

h) Provides Backup and Recovery: A DBMS must provide facilities for recovering from hardware or software failures. The backup and recovery subsystem of the DBMS is responsible for recovery. For example, if the computer system fails in the middle of a complex update program, the recovery subsystem is responsible for making sure that the .database is restored to the state it was in before the program started executing.

i)Cost of developing and maintaining system is lower: It is much easier to respond to unanticipated requests when data is centralized in a database than when it is stored in a conventional file system. Although the initial cost of setting up of a database can be large, but the cost of developing and maintaining application programs to be far lower than for similar service using conventional systems. The productivity of programmers can be higher in using non-procedural languages that have been developed with DBMS than using procedural languages.

j) Data Model can be developed : The centralized system is able to represent the complex data and interfile relationships, which results better data modeling properties. The data madding properties of relational model is based on Entity and their Relationship, which is discussed in detail in chapter 4 of the book.

k)Concurrency Control : DBMS systems provide mechanisms to provide concurrent access of data to multiple users.

Disadvantages of DBMS

a) Complexity : The provision of the functionality that is expected of a good DBMS makes the DBMS an extremely complex piece of software. Database designers, developers, database administrators and end-users must understand this functionality to take full advantage of it. Failure to understand the system can lead to bad design decisions, which can have serious consequences for an organization.

b) Size : The complexity and breadth of functionality makes the DBMS an extremely large piece of software, occupying many megabytes of disk space and requiring substantial amounts of memory to run efficiently.

c) Performance: Typically, a File Based system is written for a specific application, such as invoicing. As result, performance is generally very good. However, the DBMS is written to be more general, to cater for many applications rather than just one. The effect is that some applications may not run as fast as they used to.

d)Higher impact of a failure: The centralization of resources increases the vulnerability of the system. Since all users and applications rely on the ~vailabi1ity of the DBMS, the failure of any component can bring operations to a halt.

 e) Cost of DBMS: The cost of DBMS varies significantly, depending on the environment and functionality provided. There is also the recurrent annual maintenance cost.

f) Additional Hardware costs: The disk storage requirements for the DBMS and the database may necessitate the purchase of additional storage space. Furthermore, to achieve the required performance it may be necessary to purchase a larger machine, perhaps even a machine dedicated to running the DBMS. The procurement of additional hardware results in further expenditure.

g) Cost of Conversion: In some situations, the cost oftlle DBMS and extra hardware may be insignificant compared with the cost of converting existing applications to run on the new DBMS and hardware. This cost also includes the cost of training staff to use these new systems and possibly the employment of specialist staff to help with conversion and running of the system. This cost is one of the main reasons why some organizations feel tied to their current systems and cannot switch to modern database technology.

Type of Database System:

On the basis of the number of users:

• Single-user DBMS

• Multi-user DBMS  

On the basis of the site location

• Centralized DBMS

• Parallel DBMS

• Distributed DBMS

• Client/server DBMS

The database system may be multi-user or single-user. The configuration of the hardware and the size of the organization will determine whether it is a multi-user system or a single user system. In single user system the database resides on one computer and is only accessed by one user at a time. This one user may design, maintain, and write database programs. Due to large amount of data management most systems are multi-user. In this situation the data are both integrated and shared. A database is integrated when the same information is not recorded in two places. For example, both the Library department and the Account department of the college database may need student addresses. Even though both departments may access different portions of the database, the students’ addresses should only reside in one place. It is the job of the DBA to make sure that the DBMS makes the correct addresses available from one central storage area.

On the basis of site location

a)Centralized Database System:

The centralized database system consists of a single processor together with its associated data storage devices and other peripherals. It is physically confined to a single location. Data can be accessed from the multiple sites with the use of a computer network while the database is maintained at the central site.

Disadvantages of Centralized Database System

• When the central site computer or database system goes down, then every one (users) is blocked from using the system until the system comes back. • Communication costs from the terminals to the central site can be expensive.

b)Parallel Database System:

Parallel database system architecture consists of a multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs) and data storage disk in parallel. Hence, they improve processing and Input/Output (I/O) speeds. Parallel database systems are used in the application that have to query extremely large databases or that have to process an extremely large number of transactions per second.

Advantages of a Parallel Database System

• Parallel database systems are very useful for the applications that have to query extremely large databases (of the order of terabytes, for example, 1012 bytes) or that have to process an extremely large number of transactions per second (of the order of thousands of transactions per second). • In a parallel database system, the throughput (that is, the number of tasks that can be completed in a given time interval) and the response time (that is, the amount of time it takes to complete a single task from the time it is· submitted) are very high.

Disadvantages of a Parallel Database System

• In a parallel database system, there· is a startup cost associated with initiating a single process and the startup-time may overshadow the actual processing time, affecting speedup adversely. • Since process executing in a parallel system often access shared resources, a slowdown may result from interference of each new process as it completes with existing processes for commonly held resources, such as shared data storage disks, system bus and so on.

c)Distributed Database System:

A logically interrelated collection of shared data physically distributed over a computer network is called as distributed database and the software system that permits the management of the distributed database and makes the distribution transparent to users is called as Distributed DBMS.   It consists of a single logical database that is split into a number of fragments. Each fragment is stored on one or more computers under the control of a separate DBMS, with the computers connected by a communications network. As shown, in distributed database system, data is spread across a variety of different databases. These are managed by a variety of different DBMS software running on a variety of different operating systems. These machines are spread (or distributed) geographically and connected together by a variety of communication networks. \

Advantages of Distributed Database System

• Distributed database architecture provides greater efficiency and better performance. • A single database (on server) can be shared across several distinct client (application) systems. • As data volumes and transaction rates increase, users can grow the system incrementally. • It causes less impact on ongoing operations when adding new locations. • Distributed database system provides local autonomy.  Disadvantages of Distributed Database System • Recovery from failure is more complex in distributed database systems than in centralized systems.

d)Client-Server DBMS:

Client/Server architecture of database system has two logical components namely client, and server. Clients are generally personal computers or workstations whereas server is large workstations, mini range computer system or a mainframe computer system. The applications and tools of DBMS run on one or more client platforms, while the DBMS soft wares reside on the server. The server computer is caned backend and the client’s computer is called front end. These server and client computers are connected into a network. The applications and tools act as clients of the DBMS, making requests for its services. The DBMS, in turn, processes these requests and returns the results to the client(s). Client/Server architecture handles the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and does computations and other programming of interest to the end user. The server handles parts of the job that are common to many clients, for example, database access and updates.

Multi-Tier client server computing models

In a single-tier system the database is centralized, which means the DBMS Software and the data reside in one location and the dumb terminals were used to access the DBMS as shown. The rise of personal computers in businesses during the 1980s, the increased reliability of networking hardware causes Two-tier and Three-tier systems became common. In a two-tier system, different software is required for the server and for the client. Illustrates the two-tier client server model. At the early stages client server computing model was called two-tier-computing model in which client is considered as data capture and validation tier and Server was considered as data storage tier. This scenario is depicted.

Problems of two-tier architecture

 The need of enterprise scalability challenged this traditional two-tier client-server model. In the mid-1990s, as application became more complex and could be deployed to hundreds or thousands of end-users, the client side, now undergoes with following problems: • A’ fat’ client requiring considerable resources on client’s computer to run effectively. This includes disk space, RAM and CPU. • Client machines require administration which results overhead.

Three-tier architecture

By 1995, three-tier architecture appears as improvement over two-tier architecture. It has three layers, which are: • First Layer: User Interface which runs on end-user’s computer (the client) . • Second Layer: Application Server It is a business logic and data processing layer. This middle tier runs on a server which is called as Application Server. • Third Layer: Database Server It is a DBMS, which stores the data required by the middle tier. This tier may run on a separate server called the database server. As, described earlier, the client is now responsible for application’s user interface, thus it requires less computational resources now clients are called as ‘thin client’ and it requires less maintenance.

Advantages of Client/Server Database System

• Client/Server system has less expensive platforms to support applications that had previously been running only on large and expensive mini or mainframe computers • Client offer icon-based menu-driven interface, which is superior to the traditional command-line, dumb terminal interface typical of mini and mainframe computer systems. • Client/Server environment facilitates in more productive work by the users and making better use of existing data. • Client/Server database system is more flexible as compared to the Centralized system. • Response time and throughput is high. • The server (database) machine can be custom-built (tailored) to the DBMS function and thus can provide a better DBMS performance. • The client (application database) might be a personnel workstation, tailored to the needs of the end users and thus able to provide better interfaces, high availability, faster responses and overall improved ease of use to the user. + A single database (on server) can be shared across several distinct client (application) systems.

Disadvantages of Client/Server Database System

• Programming cost is high in client/server environments, particularly in initial phases. • There is a lack of management tools for diagnosis, performance monitoring and tuning and security control, for the DBMS, client and operating systems and networking environments.

Types

a)Data Definition Language (DDL):

It is a language that allows the users to define data and their relationship to other types of data. It is mainly used to create files, databases, data dictionary and tables within databases.It is also used to specify the structure of each table, set of associated values with each attribute, integrity constraints, security and authorization information for each table and physical storage structure of each table on disk.

b)Data Manipulation Language (DML):

It is a language that provides a set of operations to support the basic data manipulation operations on the data held in the databases. It allows users to insert, update, delete and retrieve data from the database. The part of DML that involves data retrieval is called a query language.

c)Data Control Language (DCL):

DCL statements control access to data and the database using statements such as GRANT and REVOKE. A privilege can either be granted to a User with the help of GRANT statement. The privileges assigned can be SELECT, ALTER, DELETE, EXECUTE, INSERT, INDEX etc. In addition to granting of privileges, you can also revoke (taken back) it by using REVOKE command.

File Processing System:

File processing systems was an early attempt to computerize the manual filing system that we are all familiar with. A file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. File systems may use a storage device such as a hard disk or CD-ROM and involve maintaining the physical location of the files. In our own home, we probably have some sort of filing system, which contains receipts, guarantees, invoices, bank statements, and such like. When we need to look something up, we go to the filing system and search through the system starting from the first entry until we find what we want. Alternatively, we may have an indexing system that helps to locate what we want more quickly. For example we may have divisions in the filing system or separate folders for different types of item that are in some way logically related.The manual filing system works well when the number of items to be stored is small. It even works quite adequately when there are large numbers of items and we have only to store and retrieve them. However, the manual filing system breaks down when we have to cross-reference or process the information in the files. For example, a typical real estate agent’s office might have a separate file for each property for sale or rent, each potential buyer and renter, and each member of staff. Clearly the manual system is inadequate for this’ type of work. The file based system was developed in response to the needs of industry for more efficient data access. In early processing systems, an organization’s information was stored as groups of records in separate files.In the traditional approach, we used to store information in flat files which are maintained by the file system under the operating system’s control. Here, flat files are files containing records having no structured relationship among them. The file handling which we learn under C/C ++ is the example of file processing system. The Application programs written in C/C ++ like programming languages go through the file system to access these flat.

Characteristics of File Processing System:

• It is a group of files storing data of an organization. • Each file is independent from one another. • Each file is called a flat file. • Each file contained and processed information for one specific function, such as accounting or inventory. • Files are designed by using programs written in programming languages such as COBOL, C, C++. • The physical implementation and access procedures are written into database application; therefore, physical changes resulted in intensive rework on the part of the programmer. • As systems became more complex, file processing systems offered little flexibility, presented many limitations, and were difficult to maintain.

Limitations of the File Processing System I File-Based Approach:

1.Separated and Isolated Data: To make a decision, a user might need data from two separate files. First, the files were evaluated by analysts and programmers to determine the specific data required from each file and the relationships between the data and then applications could be written in a programming language to process and extract the needed data. Imagine the work involved if data from several files was needed.

2.Duplication of data: Often the same information is stored in more than one file. Uncontrolled duplication of data is not required for several reasons, such as: • Duplication is wasteful. It costs time and money to enter the data more than once • It takes up additional storage space, again with associated costs. • Duplication can lead to loss of data integrity; in other words the data is no longer consistent. For example, consider the duplication of data between the Payroll and Personnel departments. If a member of staff moves to new house and the change of address is communicated only to Personnel and not to Payroll, the person’s pay slip will be sent to the wrong address. A more serious problem occurs if an employee is promoted with an associated increase in salary. Again, the change is notified to Personnel but the change does not filter through to Payroll. Now, the employee is receiving the wrong salary. When this error is detected, it will take time and effort to resolve. Both these examples, illustrate inconsistencies that may result from the duplication of data. As there is no automatic way for Personnel to update the data in the Payroll files, it is difficult to foresee such inconsistencies arising. Even if Payroll is notified of the changes, it is possible that the data will be entered incorrectly.

3. Data Dependence: In file processing systems, files and records were described by specific physical formats that were coded into the application program by programmers. If the format of a certain record was changed, the code in each file containing that format must be updated. Furthermore, instructions for data storage and access were written into the application’s code. Therefore, .changes in storage structure or access methods could greatly affect the processing or results of an application. In other words, in file based approach application programs are data dependent. It means that, with the change in the physical representation (how the data is physically represented in disk) or access technique (how it is physically accessed) of data, application programs are also affected and needs modification. In other words application programs are dependent on the how the data is physically stored and accessed.

  4. Difficulty in representing data from the user’s view: To create useful applications for the user, often data from various files must be combined. In file processing it was difficult to determine relationships between isolated data in order to meet user requirements.

5. Data Inflexibility: Program-data interdependency and data isolation, limited the flexibility of file processing systems in providing users with ad-hoc information requests

6. Incompatible file formats: As the structure of files is embedded in the application programs, the structures are dependent on the application programming language. For example, the structure of a file generated by a COBOL program may be different from the structure of a file generated by a ‘C’ program. The direct incompatibility of such files makes them difficult to process jointly.

7. Data Security. The security of data is low in file based system because, the data is maintained in the flat file(s) is easily accessible. For Example: Consider the Banking System. The Customer Transaction file has details about the total available balance of all customers. A Customer wants information about his account balance. In a file system it is difficult to give the Customer access to only his data in the· file. Thus enforcing security constraints for the entire file or for certain data items are difficult.

8. Transactional Problems. The File based system approach does not satisfy transaction properties like Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability properties commonly known as ACID properties.

9. Concurrency problems. When multiple users access the same piece of data at same interval of time then it is called as concurrency of the system. When two or more users read the data simultaneously there is ll( problem, but when they like to update a file simultaneously, it may result in a problem.

10. Poor data modeling of real world. The file based system is not able to represent the complex data and interfile relationships, which results poor data modeling properties.  

Entity-Relationship Model:

In Entity-Relationship model a database is modeled as a collection of entities and relationship among entities. The ER model views the real world as a construct of entities and association between entities.

Entities

An entity is an object whose information is stored in the database. It is distinguishable from other objects. For example: specific person, company, event, plant. In other words, any thing that may ‘have an independent existence and about which we intend to collect data is known as Entity. It is also known as Entity type. Entities are the principal data object about which information is to be collected. Entities are usually recognizable concepts, either concrete or abstract, such as person, places, things, or events, which have relevance to the database. Some specific examples of entities are EMPLOYEES, PROJECTS, and INVOICES. An entity is analogous to a table in the relational model. Entities are classified as independent or dependent (in some methodologies, the terms used are strong and weak, respectively). An independent entity is one that does not rely on another for identification. A dependent entity is one that relies on another for identification. An entity occurrence (also called an instance) is an individual occurrence of an entity. An occurrence is analogous to a row in the relational table.

Entity Set

An entity set is a set of entities of the same type that share the same properties. For example: set of all persons, companies, trees, holidays. In object oriented terminology entity is considered as an object and entity set is considered as a class. For example, Student is an entity set or class and a particular student is an entity or an object.

Special Entity Types

Associative entities (also known as intersection entities) are entities used to associate two or more entities in order to reconcile a many-to-many relationship. Subtypes entities are used in generalization hierarchies to represent a subset of instances of their parent entity, called the super type, but which have attributes or relationships that apply only to the subset. Associative entities and generalization hierarchies are discussed in more detail in next sections.

Relationships

A Relationship represents an association between two or more entities. Relationships are classified in terms of degree, connectivity, cardinality, and existence. An example of a relationship would be: • Employees are assigned to projects • Projects have subtasks • Departments manage one or more projects

Attributes

Attributes describe the properties of the entity of which they are associated. A particular instance of an attribute is a value. For example, “Ram” is one value of the attribute Name. The domain of an attribute is the collection of all possible values an attribute can have. The domain of Name is a character string.

Attribute

We can classify attributes as following types: • Simple • Composite • Single-values • Multi-values • Derived Simple Attribute: A simple attribute is an attribute composed of a single component with an independent existence. Simple attributes cannot be further subdivided. Examples of simple attributes include Sex, Age, and Salary etc. Simple attributes are sometimes called atomic attributes.  Composite Attribute: An attribute composed of multiple components, each with an independent existence is called a composite attribute. Some attributes can be further divided to yield smaller components with an independent existence of their own. For example, the Address attribute can be composed of components like Street number, Area, City, Pin code and so on. The decision to model the Address, Area, and City etc. is dependent on whether the user view of the model refers to the Address attribute as a single unit or as individual components. Composite attributes are shown. Single-valued Attribute: A single-valued attribute is one that holds a single value for a single entity. The majority of attributes are single-valued for a particular entity. For example, the Classroom entity has as single value for the room_number attribute and therefore the room_number attribute is referred to as being single-valued.   Multi-valued Attribute: A multi-valued attribute is one that holds multiple values for a single entity. Some attribute has multiple values for a particular entity. For example, a student entity can have multiple values for the Hobby attribute-reading, music, movies and so on. A multi-valued attribute may have set of numbers with upper and lower limits. For example, the Hobby attribute of a Student may have between one and five values. In other words, a student may have a minimum of one hobby and maximum of 5 hobbies. Derived Attribute: A derived attribute is one that represents a value that is derivable from the value of a related attribute or set of attributes, not necessarily in the same entity. Some attributes may be related for a particular entity. For example the Age attribute can be derived from the date-of-birth attribute and therefore they are related. We refer the age attribute as a derived attribute, the value of which is derived from the date-of-birth attribute.

Degreeof a Relationship

The degree of a relationship is the number of entities associated with the relationship. The n-ary relationship is the general form for degree n. Special cases are the binary, and ternary, where the degree is 2, and 3, respectively. Binary relationships, the association between two entities are the most common type in the real world. A recursive binary relationship occurs when an entity is related to itself. An example might be “some employees are married to other employees”. A ternary relationship involves three entities and is used when a binary relationship is inadequate. Many modeling approaches recognize only binary relationships. Ternary or n-ary relationships are decomposed into two or more binary relationships.

Connectivity and Cardinality

The connectivity of a relationship describes the mapping of associated entity instances in the relationship. The values of connectivity are “one” or “many”. The cardinality of a relationship is the actual number of related occurrences for each of the two entities. The basic types of connectivity for relations are: • One to One (1: 1). • One to Many (1:M) • Many to One (M:l) • Many to Many (M:M) A one-to-one (1:1) relationship is when at most one instance of an entity A is associated with one instance of entity B. For example, “employees in the company are each assigned their own office. For each employee there exists a unique office and for each office there exists a unique employee. A one-to-many (1:M) relationships is when for one instance of entity A, there are zero, one, or many instances of entity B, but for one instance of entity B, there is only one instance of entity A. Examples of l:M relationships are: • A department has many employees. • Each employee is assigned to one department. A many-to-one (M: 1) relationships is when for one instance of entity A is associated with at most one instances of entity B, but for one instance of entity B, there may be any number of instances of entity A. Examples of M: 1 relationships is • Many employees one department. A many-to-many (M: M) relationship, sometimes called non-specific, is when for one instance of entity A, there are zero, one, or many instances of entity B and for one instance of entity B there are zero, one, or many instances of entity A. Examples are: • Employees can be assigned to no more than two projects at the same time. • Projects must have assigned at least three employees. A single employee can be assigned to many projects; conversely, a single project can have assigned to it many employees. Here, the cardinality for the relationship between employees and projects is two and the cardinality between project and employee is three. Many-to-many relationships cannot be directly translated to relational tables but instead must be transformed into two or more one-to-many relationships using associative entities.

Direction

The direction of a relationship indicates the originating entity of a relationship. The entity from which a relationship originates is the parent entity; the entity where the relationship terminates is the child entity. The type of the relation is determined by the direction of line connecting relationship component and the entity. To distinguish different types of relation, we draw either a directed line or an undirected line between the relationship set and the entity set. Directed line is used to indicate one occurrence and undirected line is used to indicate many occurrences in a relation as shown in next case. To illustrate these different types of relationships consider the following entity sets: DEPARTMENT, MANAGER, EMPLOYEE, PROJECT.   The relationship between a DEPARTMENT and a MANAGER is usually one-to-one; there is only one manager per department and a manager manages only one department. This relationship between entities is shown in figure 4.3. Each entity is represent by a rectangle and a direct line indicates the relationship between them. The relationship for MANAGER to DEPARTMENT and from DEPARTMENT to MANAGER is both 1:1. Note that a one to one relationship between two entity set does not imply that for an occurrence of an entity from one set at any time there must be an occurrence of an entity in the other set. In the case of an organization, there could be times when a department is without a manager or when an employee who is classified as a manager may be without a department to manage. Some instance of one to one relationship between the entities DEP ARTMENT and MANAGER. A one to many, relationship exists from the entity MANAGER to the entity EMPLOYEE because there are several employees reporting to the manager. As we just pointed out, there could be an occurrence of the entity type MANAGER having zero occurrences of the entity type EMPLOYEE reporting to him or her. A reverse relationship, from EMPLOYEE to MANAGER, would be many to one, since a single manager may supervise many employees However, given an instance of the entity set EMPLOYEE, there could be only one instance of the entity set MANAGER to whom that employee reports (assuming that no employee reports to more than one manager). The relationship between entities is illustrated and figure shows some instances of this relationship.     The relationship between the entity EMPLOYEE and the entity PROJECT can be derived as follows: Each employee could be involved in a number of different projects, and a number of employees could be working on a given project. This relationship Between EMPLOYEE and PROJECT is many to many. It is illustrated and shows some instances of such a relationship.  

    Entity Relationship Diagram:

1. Gathering information: This could be a written document that describes the system in question with reasonable amount of details.

2. Producing ERD: ERD or Entity Relationship Diagram is a diagrammatic representation of the description we have gathered about the system.

3. Designing the database: Out of the ERD we have created, it is very easy to determine the tables, the attributes which the tables must contain and the relationship among these tables.

4. Normalization: This is a process of removing different kinds of impurities from the tables we have just created in the above step.

How to Prepare an ERD

 Step 1  Let us take a very simple example and we try to reach a fully organized database from it. Let us look at the following simple statement: A boy eats an ice cream. This is a description of a real word activity, and we may consider the above statement as a written document (very short, of course).

Step 2  Now we have to prepare the ERD. Before doing that we have to process the statement a little. We can see that the sentence contains a subject (boy), an object (ice cream) and a verb (eats) that defines the relationship between the subject and the object. Consider the nouns as entities (boy and ice cream) and the verb (eats) as a relationship. To plot them in the diagram, put the nouns within rectangles and the relationship within a diamond. Also, show the relationship with a directed arrow, starting from the subject entity (boy) towards the object entity (ice cream). Well, fine. Up to this point the ERD shows how boy and ice cream are related. Now, every boy must have a name, address, phone number etc. and every ice cream has a manufacturer, flavor, price etc. Without these the diagram is not complete. These items which we mentioned here are known as attributes, and they must be incorporated in the ERD as connected ovals. But can only entities have attributes? Certainly not. If we want then the relationship must have their attributes too. These attribute do not inform anything more either about the boy or the ice cream, but they provide additional information about the relationships between the boy and the ice cream.

Step 3  We are almost complete now. If you look carefully, we now have defined structures for at least three tables like the following: However, this is still not a working database, because by definition, database should be “collection of related tables.” To make them connected, the tables must have some common attributes. If we chose the attribute Name of the Boy table to play the role of the common attribute, then the revised structure of the above tables become something like the following. This is as complete as it can be. We now have information about the boy, about the ice cream he has eaten and about the date and time when the eating was done.  

Cardinality of Relationship  While creating relationship between two entities, we may often need to face the cardinality problem. This simply means that how many entities of the first set are related to how many entities of the second set. Cardinality can be of the following three types.

One-to-One Only one entity of the first set is related to only one entity of the second set. E.g. A teacher teaches a student. Only one teacher is teaching only one student. This can be expressed in the followingdiagram as:  

One-to-Many   Only one entity of the first set is related to multiple entities of the second set. E.g. A teacher teaches students. Only one teacher is teaching many students. This can be expressed in the followingdiagram as:

Many-to-One Multiple entities of the first set are related to multiple entities of the second set. E.g. Teachers teach a student. Many teachers are teaching only one student. This can be expressed in the followingdiagram as:  

Many-to-Many Multiple entities of the first set is related to multiple entities of the second set. E.g. Teachers teach students. In any school or college many teachers are teaching many students. This can be consideredas a two way one-to-many relationship. This can be expressed in the following diagram as: In this discussion we have not included the attributes, but you can understand that they can be used without any problem if we want to.  

The Concept of Keys  

A key is an attribute of a table which helps to identify a row. There can be many different types of keys which are explained here.  

Super Key or Candidate Key: It is such an attribute of a table that can uniquely identify a row in a table. Generally they contain unique values and can never contain NULL values. There can be more than one super key or candidate key in a table e.g. within a STUDENT table Roll and Mobile No. can both serve to uniquely identify a student.  

Primary Key: It is one of the candidate keys that are chosen to be the identifying key for the entire table. E.g. although there are two candidate keys in the STUDENT table, the college would obviously use Roll as the primary key of the table.

Alternate Key: This is the candidate key which is not chosen as the primary key of the table. They are named so because although not the primary key, they can still identify a row.

Composite Key: Sometimes one key is not enough to uniquely identify a row. E.g. in a single class Roll is enough to find a student, but in the entire school, merely searching by the Roll is not enough, because there could be 10 classes in the school and each one of them may contain a certain roll no 5. To uniquely identify the student we have to say something like “class VII, roll no 5”. So, a combination of two or more attributes is combined to create a unique combination of values, such as Class + Roll.

Foreign Key: Sometimes we may have to work with an attribute that does not have a primary key of its own. To identify its rows, we have to use the primary attribute of a related table. Such a copy of another related table’s primary key is called foreign key.  

Strong and Weak Entity  Based on the concept of foreign key, there may arise a situation when we have to relate an entity having a primary key of its own and an entity not having a primary key of its own. In such a case, the entity having its own primary key is called a strong entity and the entity not having its own primary key is called a weak entity. Whenever we need to relate a strong and a weak entity together, the ERD would change just a little.   Say, for example, we have a statement “A Student lives in a Home.” STUDENT is obviously a strong entity having a primary key Roll. But HOME may not have a unique primary key, as its only attribute Address may be shared by many homes (what if it is a housing estate?). HOME is a weak entity in this case.   The ERD of this statement would be like the following   As you can see, the weak entity itself and the relationship linking a strong and weak entity must have double border.

Different Types of Database  

There are three different types of data base. The difference lies in the organization of the database and the storage structure of the data. We shall briefly mention them here.  

Relational DBMS

This is our subject of study. A DBMS is relational if the data is organized into relations, that is, tables. In RDBMS, all data are stored in the well-known row-column format.  

Hierarchical DBMS

In HDBMS, data is organized in a tree like manner. There is a parent-child relationship among data items and the data model is very suitable for representing one-to-many relationship. To access the data items, some kind of tree-traversal techniques are used, such as preorder traversal. Because HDBMS is built on the one-to-many model, we have to face a little bit of difficulty to organize a hierarchical database into row column format. For example, consider the following hierarchical database that shows four employees (E01, E02, E03, and E04) belonging to the same department D1.   There are two ways to represent the above one-to-many information into a relation that is built in one-to-one relationship. The first is called Replication, where the department id is replicated a number of times in the table like the following.   Replication makes the same data item redundant and is an inefficient way to store data. A better way is to use a technique called the Virtual Record. While using this, the repeating data item is not used in the table. It is kept at a separate place. The table, instead of containing the repeating information, contains a pointer to that place where the data item is stored.   This organization saves a lot of space as data is not made redundant.   Network DBMS  The NDBMS is built primarily on a one–to-many relationship, but where a parent-child representation among the data items cannot be ensured. This may happen in any real world situation where any entity can be linked to any entity. The NDBMS was proposed by a group of theorists known as the Database Task Group (DBTG). What they said looks like this: In NDBMS, all entities are called Records and all relationships are called Sets. The record from where the relationship starts is called the Owner Record and where it ends is called Member Record. The relationship or set is strictly one-to-many.   In case we need to represent a many-to-many relationship, an interesting thing happens. In NDBMS, Owner and Member can only have one-to-many relationship. We have to introduce a third common record with which both the Owner and Member can have one-to-many relationship. Using this common record, the Owner and Member can be linked by a many-to-many relationship. Suppose we have to represent the statement Teachers teach students. We have to introduce a third record, suppose CLASS to which both teacher and the student can have a many-to-many relationship. Using the class in the middle, teacher and student can be linked to a virtual many-to many relationship.          

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Microsoft Excel,Features,Sorting,Filtering,Conditional Formatting,Pivot table,Pivot Charts,Formula and Functions,Graphs

Microsoft Excel:

Microsoft Excel is a spread sheet software. It is an application software developed by Microsoft. The first version of Excel for Widows was launched in November 1987. Microsoft Corporation of USA developed this software for the spreadsheet purpose for micro computers. The files of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 are saved with .xlsx extension. MS-Excel is one of the most advanced spreadsheet packages. This is used for multiple purposes for creating calendars, bills, tables, salary sheet, balance sheet, result sheet, mark sheet, routine, etc.

Features:  Some of the remarkable features of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 are as listed below:

• Faster operation
• Easier to use
• Users friendly package
• Larger worksheet (working area)
• Based on Windows
• Related with other packages
• Charts and graphs available
• Use of different formulas
• Sorting and filtering of data

MS-Excel Basics:

1 Ribbon: Excel selects the ribbon’s Home tab when you open it. Learn how to minimize and customize the ribbon. 2 Workbook: A workbook is another word for your Excel file. Excel automatically creates a blank workbook when you open it. 3 Worksheets: A worksheet is a collection of cells where you keep and manipulate the data. By default, each Excel workbook contains three worksheets. 4 Format Cells: When we format cells in Excel, we change the appearance of a number without changing the number itself. 5 Find & Select: Learn how to use Excel’s Find, Replace and Go To Special feature. 6 Templates: Instead of creating an Excel workbook from scratch, you can create a workbook based on a template. There are many free templates available, waiting to be used. 7 Data Validation: Use data validation in Excel to make sure that users enter certain values into a cell. 8 Keyboard Shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts allow you to do things with your keyboard instead of your mouse to increase your speed. 9 Print: This chapter teaches you how to print a worksheet and how to change some important print settings in Excel. 10 Share: Learn how to share Excel data with Word documents and other files. 11 Protect: Encrypt an Excel file with a password so that it requires a password to open it.

Sorting:

Sorting data in Excel basically means that you can arrange the data according to some specific criteria like for example, the numbers in ascending or descending order or ascending order according to the dates. One Column To sort on one column, execute the following steps.

1. Click any cell in the column you want to sort.

2. To sort in ascending order, on the Data tab, click AZ.

Result: Note: to sort in descending order, click ZA. Multiple Columns To sort on multiple columns, execute the following steps.

1. On the Data tab, click Sort.

The Sort dialog box appears.

2. Select Last Name from the ‘Sort by’ drop-down list.

3.Click on Add Level. 4.Select Sales from the ‘Then by’ drop-down list. 5.Click OK. Result. Records are sorted by Last Name first and Sales second.

Filtering:

Filter your Excel data if you only want to display records that meet certain criteria.

1. Click any single cell inside a data set.
2. On the Data tab, click Filter.

Arrows in the column headers appear.

3. Click the arrow next to Country.
4. Click on Select All to clear all the check boxes, and click the check box next to USA.

3. Click OK.

Result. Excel only displays the sales in the USA.

6. Click the arrow next to Quarter.
7. Click on Select All to clear all the check boxes, and click the check box next to Qtr 4.

8.Click OK. Result. Excel only displays the sales in the USA in Qtr 4.

9. To remove the filter, on the Data tab, click Clear. To remove the filter and the arrows, click Filter.

Conditional Formatting:

Conditional formatting in Excel enables you to highlight cells with a certain color, depending on the cell’s value. Highlight Cells Rules To highlight cells that are greater than a value, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:A10.

2. On the Home tab, click Conditional Formatting, Highlight Cells Rules, Greater Than…

3.Enter the value 80 and select a formatting style. 4. Click OK. Result. Excel highlights the cells that are greater than 80.

5. Change the value of cell A1 to 81.

Result. Excel changes the format of cell A1 automatically. Note: you can also highlight cells that are less than a value, between a low and high value, etc.   Clear Rules To clear a conditional formatting rule, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:A10.

2.On the Home tab, click Conditional Formatting, Clear Rules, Clear Rules from Selected Cells. Top/Bottom Rules To highlight cells that are above the average of the cells, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:A10.

2.On the Home tab, click Conditional Formatting, Top/Bottom Rules, Above Average… 3.Select a formatting style. 4.Click OK. Result. Excel calculates the average (42.5) and formats the cells that are above this average. Note: you can also highlight the top 10 items, the top 10 %, etc. The sky is the limit!

Cell refrences:

A cell reference refers to a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and can be used in a formula so that Microsoft Office Excel can find the values or data that you want that formula to calculate.

Types of cell refrences:

Excel uses two types of cell references to create formulas. Each has its own purpose. Read on to determine which type of cell reference to use for your formula.

1. Relative cell refrences
2. Absolute cell refrences

Relative Cell References: This is the most widely used type of cell reference in formulas. Relative cell references are basic cell references that adjust and change when copied or when using AutoFill. Example: =SUM(B5:B8), as shown below, changes to =SUM(C5:C8) when copied across to the next cell. Absolute Cell References: Situations arise in which the cell reference must remain the same when copied or when using AutoFill. Dollar signs are used to hold a column and/or row reference constant. Example:

In the example below, when calculating commissions for sales staff, you would not want cell B10 to change when copying the formula down. You want both the column and the row to remain the same to refer to that exact cell. By using $B$10 in the formula, neither changes when copied.

A more complicated example:

Let’s pretend that you need to calculate the prices of items in stock with two different price discounts. Take a look at the worksheet below.

Examine the formula in cell E4. By making the first cell reference $C4, you keep the column from changing when copied across, but allow the row to change when copying down to accommodate the prices of the different items going down. By making the last cell reference A$12, you keep the row number from changing when copied down, but allow the column to change and reflect discount B when copied across. Confused? Check out the graphics below and the cell results.

Copied Across

Copied Down

Now, you might be thinking, why not just use 10% and 15% in the actual formulas? Wouldn’t that be easier? Yes, if you are sure the discount percentages will never change – which is highly unlikely. It’s more likely that eventually those percentages will need to be adjusted. By referencing the cells containing 10% and 15% and not the actual numbers, when the percentage changes all you need to do is change the percentage one time in cell A12 and/or B12 instead of rebuilding all of your formulas. Excel would automatically update the discount prices to reflect your discount percentage change.

Summary of absolute cell reference uses:

• $A1 Allows the row reference to change, but not the column reference.
• A$1 Allows the column reference to change, but not the row reference.
• $A$1 Allows neither the column nor the row reference to changes.

There is a shortcut for placing absolute cell references in your formulas!

When you are typing your formula, after you type a cell reference – press the F4 key. Excel automatically makes the cell reference absolute! By continuing to press F4, Excel will cycle through all of the absolute reference possibilities. For example, in the first absolute cell reference formula in this tutorial, =B4*$B$10, I could have typed, =B4*B10, then pressed the F4 key to change B10 to $B$10. Continuing to press F4 would have resulted in B$10, then $B10, and finally B10. Pressing F4 changes only the cell reference directly to the left of your insertion point.

Formulas and Functions:

A formula is an expression which calculates the value of a cell. Functions are predefined formulas and are already available in Excel.

For example, cell A3 below contains a formula which adds the value of cell A2 to the value of cell A1.

Charts Used in Excel

1)Column Chart: Column charts are used to compare values across categories by using vertical bars. 

To create a column chart, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:A7, hold down CTRL, and select the range C1:D7.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, choose Column, and select Clustered Column.

Result:

Note: only if you have numeric labels, empty cell A1 before you create the column chart. By doing this, Excel does not recognize the numbers in column A as a data series and automatically places these numbers on the horizontal (category) axis. After creating the chart, you can enter the text Year into cell A1 if you like.

2)Line Chart:

Line charts are used to display trends over time. Use a line chart if you have text labels, dates or a few numeric labels on the horizontal axis. Use a scatter chart (XY chart) to show scientific XY data.

To create a line chart, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:D7.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, choose Line, and select Line with Markers.

Result:

Note: only if you have numeric labels, empty cell A1 before you create the line chart. By doing this, Excel does not recognize the numbers in column A as a data series and automatically places these numbers on the horizontal (category) axis. After creating the chart, you can enter the text Year into cell A1 if you like.

3)Pie Chart:

Pie charts are used to display the contribution of each value (slice) to a total (pie). Pie charts always use one data series.

To create a pie chart of the 2009 data series, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:D2.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, choose Pie, and select Pie.

Result:

3. Click on the pie to select the whole pie. Click on a slice to drag it away from the center.

Result:

Note: only if you have numeric labels, empty cell A1 before you create the pie chart. By doing this, Excel does not recognize the numbers in column A as a data series and automatically creates the correct chart. After creating the chart, you can enter the text Year into cell A1 if you like.

4)Bar Chart: A bar chart is the horizontal version of a column chart. Use a bar chart if you have large text labels.

To create a bar chart, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:B6.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, choose Bar, and select Clustered Bar.

Result:

Pivot Tables:

Pivot tables are one of Excel‘s most powerful features. A pivot table allows you to extract the significance from a large, detailed data set.

Our data set consists of 214 rows and 6 fields. Order ID, Product, Category, Amount, Date and Country.

Insert a Pivot Table

To insert a pivot table, execute the following steps.

1. Click any single cell inside the data set.
2. On the Insert tab, click PivotTable.

The following dialog box appears. Excel automatically selects the data for you. The default location for a new pivot table is New Worksheet.

3. Click OK.

Drag fields

The PivotTable field list appears. To get the total amount exported of each product, drag the following fields to the different areas.

1. Product Field to the Row Labels area.
2. Amount Field to the Values area.
3. Country Field to the Report Filter area.

Below you can find the pivot table. Bananas are our main export product. That’s how easy pivot tables can be!

Sort

To get Banana at the top of the list, sort the pivot table.

1. Click any cell inside the Total column.
2. The PivotTable Tools contextual tab activates. On the Options tab, click the Sort Largest to Smallest button (ZA).

Result.

Filter

Because we added the Country field to the Report Filter area, we can filter this pivot table by Country. For example, which products do we export the most to France?

1. Click the filter drop-down and select France.

Result. Apples are our main export product to France.

Note: you can use the standard filter (triangle next to Product) to only show the totals of specific products.

Change Summary Calculation

By default, Excel summarizes your data by either summing or counting the items. To change the type of calculation that you want to use, execute the following steps.

1. Click any cell inside the Total column.

  2.click and click on Value Field Settings…

3.Choose the type of calculation you want to use. For example, click Count.

4.Click OK.

Result. 16 out of the 28 orders to France were ‘Apple’ orders.

Two-dimensional Pivot Table

If you drag a field to the Row Labels area and Column Labels area, you can create a two-dimensional pivot table. For example, to get the total amount exported to each country, of each product, drag the following fields to the different areas.

1. Country Field to the Row Labels area.
2. Product Field to the Column Labels area.
3. Amount Field to the Values area.
4. Category Field to the Report Filter area.

Below you can find the two-dimensional pivot table.

To easily compare these numbers, create a pivot chart and apply a filter. Maybe this is one step too far for you at this stage, but it shows you one of the many other powerful pivot table features Excel has to offer.

Pivot Chart:

A pivot chart is the visual representation of a pivot table in Excel. Pivot charts and pivot tables are connected with each other.

Below you can find a two-dimensional pivot table. Go back to Pivot Tables to learn how to create this pivot table.

Insert Pivot Chart:

To insert a pivot chart, simply insert a chart.

1. Click any cell inside the pivot table.
2. On the Insert tab, click Column and select one of the subtypes. For example, Clustered Column.

Below you can find the pivot chart. This pivot chart will amaze and impress your boss.

Note: any changes you make to the pivot chart are immediately reflected in the pivot table and vice versa.

Filter Pivot Chart

To filter this pivot chart, execute the following steps.

1a. Use the standard filters (triangles next to Product and Country). For example, use the Country filter to only show the total amount of each product exported to the United States.

1b. Because we added the Category field to the Report Filter area, we can filter this pivot chart (and pivot table) by Category. For example, use the Category filter to only show the vegetables exported to each country.

Change Pivot Chart Type

You can change to a different type of pivot chart at any time.

1. Select the chart.
2. The PivotChart tools contextual tab activates. On the Design tab, click Change Chart Type.

3.Choose Pie.

4.Click OK.

Note: pie charts always use one data series (in this case, Apple). To get a pivot chart of a country, swap the data over the axis. Select the chart. The PivotChart tools contextual tab activates. On the Design tab, click Switch Row/Column.

Steps for Basic Excel Functions

1. Font Formatting

• Select the cell or cells whose font colour needs to be changed

• Click the Home tab in the menu bar.
• Under the Font section,
• Choose the desired font style from the Font drop-down box.
• Select the desired font size from Font Size drop-down box.
• Click the Bold button to make the text bold or normal.
• Click the Italic button to make the text italic or normal.
• Click the Underline button to put or remove underline in the text.
• Click the Font Colour button abd select the desired colour to change the colour of the text.

1. Setting Data Category in a Cell

• Right click the desired cell.
• Select Format Cells. A Format Cells dialogue box appears.
• Click the Number tab and select the category of the data required to be kept in the cell.
• Click the OK

3. Setting Font Alignment

• Select the text which requires alignment to be set.
• Click the Home
• In Paragraph section,
• Click to align text to the left of the cell, click to align text to the centre of the cell, or click to align text to the right of the cell.
• Click to align the text to the top of the cell, click to align the text to the middle of the cell, or click to align the text to the bottom of the cell.
• Click and select desired option to rotate text to different angles.

1. Merging Cells

• Select the cells which need to be merged.
• Click Home 
• In Paragraph section, click drop-down button of and select the required merge style.

1. Inserting Cells, Row, or Column

• Select a cell.
• Click the right mouse button.
• Select Insert.
• Insert dialogue box appears. Select the required option:
• Select Shift cells right to shift the selected cell to the right and insert cell to the left of it.
• Select Shift cells down to shift the cell down and insert cell above it.
• Select Entire row to insert a row above the required cell.
• Select Entire column to insert a column to the left of the selected cell.
• Click OK

1. Adding Border

• Select cell/cells which require border.
• Click Home
• In Font section, click drop-down button of and select the required border format.

1. Filling Cell with Colour

• Select the cell/cells which needed to be filled.
• Click Home
• In Font section, click drop-down button of and select the desired colour.

1. Modifying Column Width

• Position the cursor over the column line in the column head such that a double arrow appears.
• Click the left mouse button and hold. Drag the mouse to left or right to adjust the column width.

1. Modifying Row Height

• Position the cursor over the row line such that a double arrow will appear.
• Click the left mouse button and hold. Drag the mouse up or down to adjust the row height.

1. Inserting Picture

• Click on Insert
• In Illustrations section, click on Picture The Insert Picture dialogue box appears.
• Go to the appropriate directory and click on the desired picture.
• Click on Insert

1. Inserting Clip Art

• Click on the Insert
• In Illustration section, click Clip Art A Clip Art panel appears on the right of the MS-Word window.
• Type the name of the desired clip art, specify search criteria and click on the Go
• Click on the desired clip art.

1. Inserting Shapes

• Click on the Insert
• In Illustration section, click on Shapes A list of various shapes appears.
• Click on the desired type of shape.
• Draw the shape on the desired place in the MS-Word by clicking and holding left mouse button, dragging mouse in the manner to form the shape and releasing the left mouse button when desired shape is formed.

1. Inserting Smart Art

• Click on the Insert
• Under the Illustration section, click on the SmartArt Then Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialogue box appears showing various forms of smart arts.
• Click on the desired smart art form.
• Click on OK

1. Inserting Hyperlink

• Type and select the word or phrase desired to create hyperlink for.
• Click on the Insert
• Click on Hyperlink button under Links The Insert Hyperlink dialogue box appears.
• Select the appropriate options and criteria.
• Select appropriate directory or file or type the address of the desired web page in the Address
• Click OK

1. Inserting Chart

• Select the data in Excel for which chart is to be created.
• Click Insert
• In the Charts section, click on the required chart type and further select the format.

1. Inserting Text Box

• Click on Insert
• In Text section, click on Text Box
• Select the desired type of text box by clicking on it. A text box appears.
• Type the desired text.

1. Inserting Header

• Click on Insert
• In the Text section, click on Header
• Select the desired format.
• Type the desired text to be placed as header.

1. Inserting Footer

• Click on Insert
• In the Text section, click on Footer
• Select the desired format.
• Type the desired text to be placed as footer.

1. Inserting WordArt

• Click on Insert
• In the Text section, click on WordArt
• Select the desired word art format from among the appeared ones. The Edit WordArt Text dialogue box appears.
• Type the desired text, adjust appropriate font, font style and font size.
• Click on OK

1. Inserting Symbol

• Click Insert
• In the Text section, click Symbol A dialogue box appears.
• Select required font and subset.
• Click on required symbol.
• Click Insert

1. Setting Margins

• Click Page Layout
• In Page Setup section, click Margins
• Select required margin format. OR Click on Custom Margins, adjust margins manually, and click OK

1. Setting Page Orientation

• Click Page Layout
• In Page Setup section, click Orientation
• Select required orientation type.

1. Setting Page Size

• Click Page Layout
• In Page Setup section, click Size
• Select required page size.

1. Inserting Image as Background

• Click Page Layout 
• In Page Setup section, click Background 
• A dialogue box appears. Go to the location of the image and select it.
• Click Insert

1. Sorting Data

• Select the cells whose data you want to sort.
• Click Data
• Click Sort

A Sort dialogue box appears.

• Select what you want to sort and in what order.
• Click OK 

1. Filtering Data

• Click the Data
• In Sort and Filter section, click Filter  Drop-down arrows appear besides each column heading.
• Click the drop-down arrow next to the column heading you want to filter.
• Uncheck the items you want to hide.
• Click OK

1. Inserting Formulae/Functions

• Click on the cell to which you want to add function.
• Click Formulas
• In Functions Library section, click the required formula type group.
• Click the required formula.
• Provide appropriate parameters according to the need of the formula.

The post Microsoft Excel-Computer Notes appeared first on Pokhara University Notes.

1. Internet,Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet,Services Provided by internet

   Internet:

   Internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
    

Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet:

Advantages:  1) Information on almost every subject imaginable. 2) Powerful search engines 3) Ability to do research from your home versus research libraries. 4) Information at various levels of study. Everything from scholarly articles to ones directed at children. 5) Message boards where people can discuss ideas on any topic. Ability to get wide range of opinions. People can find others that have a similar interest in whatever they are interested in. 6) The internet provides the ability of emails. Free mail service to anyone in the country. 7) Platform for products like SKYPE, which allow for holding a video conference with anyone in the world who also has access. 8) Friendships and love connections have been made over the internet by people involved in love/passion over similar interests. 9) Things such as Yahoo Answers and other sites where kids can have readily available help for homework. 10) News, of all kinds is available almost instantaneously. Commentary, on that news, from every conceivable viewpoint is also available. Disadvantages:  1) There is a lot of wrong information on the internet. Anyone can post anything, and much of it is garbage. 2) There are predators that hang out on the internet waiting to get unsuspecting people in dangerous situations. 3) Some people are getting addicted to the internet and thus causing problems with their interactions of friends and loved ones. 4) Pornography that can get in the hands of young children too easily. 5) Easy to waste a lot of time on the internet. You can start surfing, and then realize far more time has passed than you realized. Internet and television together of added to the more sedentary lifestyles of people which further exacerbates the obesity problem. 6) Internet has a lot of “cheater” sites. People can buy essays and pass them off as their own far more easily than they used to be able to do. 7) There are a lot of unscrupulous businesses that have sprung up on the internet to take advantage of people. 8) Hackers can create viruses that can get into your personal computer and ruin valuable data. 9) Hackers can use the internet for identity theft. 10) It can be quite depressing to be on the internet and realize just how uneducated so many people have become in today’s society.

A summary of advantages and disadvantages of using a internet:

Ten years ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The Internet is a collection of various services and resources. The Internet’s main components are E-mail and the World Wide Web. Actually, there’s a lot more to the Internet than E-mail, search engines, celebrity web sites, up-to-the-second sports scores, and chat rooms full of discussions. The Net also ranks as one of today’s best business tools. Almost all households contain the Internet; however, before people connect to the Internet, they need to be aware of its disadvantages and advantages.

     Many people fear the Internet because of its disadvantages. They claim to not use the Internet because they are afraid of the possible consequences or are simply not interested. People who have yet connected to the Internet claim they are not missing anything. Today’s technological society must realize that it is up to them to protect themselves on the Internet.

     Children using the Internet have become a big concern. Most parents do not realize the dangers involved when their children connect to the Internet. When children are online, they can easily be lured into something dangerous. For example, children may receive pornography online by mistake; therefore, causing concern among parents everywhere. Whether surfing the Web, reading newsgroups, or using email, children can be exposed to extremely inappropriate material. To keep children safe, parents and teachers must be aware of the dangers. They must actively guide and guard their children online. There are a number of tools available today that may help keep the Internet environment safer for children.

     Musicians are also concerned with disadvantages to the Net such as, accessibility and freedom. They are upset because the Internet provides their music online at no charge to consumers. File-sharing services, such as Napster, provide copyrighted songs to all Internet users. The main concern is the music is free! Musicians feel they are not getting paid for their work. Because of Napster, it is almost impossible to close down all file-sharing services because there are too many of them to count.

     Another major disadvantage of the Internet is privacy. Electronic messages sent over the Internet can be easily tracked, revealing who is talking to whom and what they are talking about. As people surf the Internet, they are constantly giving information to web sites. People should become aware that the collection, selling, or sharing of the information they provide online increases the chances that their information will fall into the wrong hands. When giving personal information on the Internet, people should make sure the Web site is protected with a recognizable security symbol. On the other hand, this does not mean they are fully protected because anyone may obtain a user’s information. In other words, the most common Internet crimes are frauds.

     Today, not only humans getting viruses, but computers are also. Computers are mainly getting these viruses from the Internet, yet viruses may also be transferred through floppy disks. However, people should mainly be concerned about receiving viruses from the Internet. Some of these dangerous viruses destroy the computer’s entire hard drive, meaning that the user can no longer access the computer. Virus protection is highly recommended.

     Despite all of the terrible disadvantages of the Internet, there are numerous advantages. In fact, the advantages weigh out the disadvantages. The most common thing the Internet is used for is research. Children and students are among the top people who use the Internet for research. Nowadays, it is almost required that students use the Internet for research. The Internet has become one of the biggest sources for research. Almost everyday, research on medical issues becomes easier to locate. Web sites have become available for people to research diseases and talk to doctors online at sites such as, America’s Doctor.

Entertainment is another popular reason why many people surf the Internet. Downloading games, going into chat rooms or just surfing the Web are some of the uses people have discovered. There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet at no charge. Chat rooms are popular because users can meet new and interesting people. In fact, the Internet has been used by people to find life long partners. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found on the Internet.

     Another popular thing to do on the Internet is to check out the news. Almost all local news can be obtained through the Internet. Up to date sports scores are probably the most popular looked at news. Sports scores are updated on the Internet as soon as the game ends. Weather is also a popular source to look up on the Internet. Using the Internet to get the weather allows people to view weather all over the world. Live radar all over the country and local forecasts are just to name a few of the things that may be obtained for weather information on the Internet.

     Shopping online has also become a huge success and is considered a great advantage of the Internet. No matter what people are shopping for, it can be found on the Internet. People do not even have to leave their homes. A few companies have collected millions of dollars using the Internet for selling. Clothing is probably one of the most bought items online. Almost every major clothing store has its on Web site. In fact, In US, people can even go grocery shopping online using such sites as Priceline.com. Just one click of the mouse on the items they want to purchase and the items are delivered to their front door. Unfortunately, this kind of service is not yet available in Malaysia for the time being. Groceries and clothing are only a few of the items that may be bought on the Internet.

     In conclusion, today’s society is in the middle of a technological boom. People can either choose to take advantage of this era, or simply let it pass them by. The Internet is a very powerful tool. It has many advantages; however, people need to be extremely aware of the disadvantages as well.

Services Provided By internet:

Internet service providers (ISP – Internet Service Provider) companies or institutions (such as T-Com, Iskon or CARNet in Croatia, AT&T in US and MTNL in India), which satellite or optical connections with several major Internet node abroad (mainly in the direction of America and Europe) and the thus ensuring high capacity connection to the rest of the Internet world. However, practice has shown that it can barely follow the needs of the growing number of members of Internet communities. When selecting an ISP of significance is the number of services that it provides to its customers. All services provided by e-mail, but do not provide any service to FTP, newsgroups, renting space on the disc, certain program support and etc. CARNet allows for almost all university departments.

The Following are the most common service provided by internet.

1)Electronic Mail:

Electronic mail is one of the most popular and basic network services. It’s relatively low risk, but that doesn’t mean it’s risk free. Forging electronic mail is trivial (just as is forging regular postal mail), and forgeries facilitate two different types of attacks: attacks against your reputation and social manipulation attacks (e.g., attacks in which users are sent mail purporting to come from an administrator and advising them to change to a specific password). Accepting electronic mail ties up computer time and disk space, opening you up for denial of service attacks, although with proper configuration, only email service will be denied. Particularly with modern multimedia mail systems, people can send electronic mail containing programs that run with insufficient supervision and may turn out to be Trojan horses .

Although people worry most about the last risk mentioned above, in practice the most common problems with electronic mail are inadvertent floods (including chain letters) and people who put entirely inappropriate confidence in the confidentiality of electronic mail and send proprietary data via electronic mail across the Internet. However, as long as users are educated, and the mail service is isolated from other services so that inadvertent or purposeful denial of service attacks shut down as little as possible, electronic mail is reasonably safe.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ( SMTP ) is the Internet standard protocol for sending and receiving electronic mail. SMTP itself is not usually a security problem, but SMTP servers can be. A program that delivers mail to users often needs to be able to run as any user that might receive mail. This gives it broad power and makes it a tempting target for attackers.

The most common SMTP server on UNIX is Sendmail. Sendmail has been exploited in a number of break-ins, including the Internet worm, which makes people nervous about using it. Many of the available replacements, however, are not clearly preferable to Sendmail; the evidence suggests they are less exploited because they are less popular, not because they are less vulnerable. There are exceptions in programs designed explicitly for security, but these don’t support all the functions necessary to send and receive arbitrary mail messages; some things are still best handled by Sendmail running in a secured space.

2)FTP (File Transfer Protocol):

Before the World Wide Web and FTP was the only way to transfer large files between computers of Internet users. Allows access to a computer on the Internet (if it’s public or available to the password), preview content on its hard disk, finding the necessary files and copy on its own disk. This Internet service is not as simple as the World Wide Web, but it is very useful.

Using program support for FTP will set about establishing communication address is similar as in the previous examples:

 'ftp://ftp.domain.hr'              or
 'ftp://computer.domain.hr'         or
 'ftp://×××.×××.×××.×××'

File transfer function is increasingly taking the WWW, so that with a confirmation copy selected files as needed and the auxiliary program with WWW browser (GetRight or similar) which will take over the task of FTP transmission and after stop using the browser.

3)IRC (Internet Relay Chat):

This service allows the Internet to one or more of Internet users who are hooked to the same channel at the same time see the text that you type on your computer, and the texts of other active users typing on his computer. Channels to ‘talk’ to exist for almost all areas of interest. This system is much faster than e-mail because it is conducted almost simultaneously send and read messages, but it is much more expensive than e-mail, because it requires a long term connection with the Internet, but only for those who pay for this service out of his own pocket.

4)Telnet:

Internet service that allows the user logs on and runs on a remote computer and use programs installed on the remote computer. Of course, the remote computer must be enabled in the user access rights to the computer. For security reasons this service on many servers is not allowed. It is better to say that the Telnet ‘Terminal Emulation’ software support, which to communicate with a computer connected via a TCP / IP stack. Thus, the emulator work former unit called ‘Terminal’ (from the mainframe era). This same role today better performed by programs that use SSH (Secure Shell) connections over TCP / IP as the carrier of connection, but all traffic is encrypted. Although this mechanism provides plenty of security in the work with the server, system administrators are reluctant to make this service available to all users.

5)Voice / Video Communication – Skype:

Internet networking service that allows users to voice / video communication. This implies that the devices that use this service have built-in camera and microphone. Although this service is usually used for that purpose, in addition to communicate written messages, internet calls, sharing information and much more. Can be used as a common telephone communications. This service is based on the free program support allows free calls to anyone who has installed a ‘Skype’ program support on his computer, anywhere in the world. Thanks to the high speed internet communication has increasingly better quality. Can be achieved over a fixed PTT communication lines or cell phones or send text messages at very reasonable prices, without any special setup or subscriptions.

It should be emphasized that this is no communication between user devices (phones), but between two user accounts registered on ‘Skype’ service which includes registration, enter the user_name and password protected some basic personal information. The user can later modify the information in their profiles as needed. ‘Skype’ has just developed that allows retrieval of user account and select the desired action and can be installed on a PC with Windows, Mac or Linux operating system, several kinds of mobile phones, and what is best to communicate between multiple users in a commercial version it’s the conference using the ‘Skype Manager’ program support to be purchased. Provides for the use of TV sets in communication. So, a kind of free video phone, which offers even extra specific services. With this program support the new generation of smartphones and tablets, using the resources of the existing SOHO infrastructure, ‘calling’ becomes really cheap. This service should not be confused with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology that allows the transmission of voice communications over Internet networks for the purpose of protocol design, that ‘Skype’ is used in the sense of some kind of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication.

Something similar is service ‘Viber‘ that allows free calls, SMS and MMS share content with anyone, anywhere, but there is no ability to transfer video as ‘Skype’. Similar to the above mentioned is service ‘WhatsApp‘, multiple platform mobile application to send messages in real time.

6)Social networks:

Social networks are a newer phenomenon and do not belong in a separate category because they contain almost all of the previously mentioned services, unified to work in an easy, friendly way. Not only does it allow communication among users but also represent a form of socializing. There are already quite developed FORUMS, bulletin boards web version, which uses a technology exchange text via the web site, or web sites. It is a debate on a topic initiated by a member of the forum. As a rule, seek enrollment, mostly for free, using the application type USER_NAME  / PASSWORD, typically associated with a user’s address in the e-mail regarding the identification. To service the forum is not abused in any way and to respect the rules of acceptable behavior take care administrators – moderators appointed by the forum owner of the forum members themselves who usually takes this obligation voluntarily reported. These individuals may be excluded from membership and delete and delete malicious content, basically supervise. Depending on the number of members, topic, traffic, and the owner of the forum depends with how the server program to use the forums.

Purpose of writing by arbitrarily selected topics has a BLOG (contraction of the term ‘web log’), a type of website that is usually maintained by an individual, is organized much like a personal diary with respect to input regarding the content of the description of an event or topic, with the possibility of enriching the content and graphics video. As a kind of diary of events, entered contests are usually displayed in reverse chronological order. Usually allows readers can add here your comments on the topic that is currently being processed..

One of the most popular is FACEBOOK, a social network where users can set up their image, disclose your personal information, describe their interests, publish their written and photographic pieces, develop some thematic discussions, etc. with the possibility that any of the members receive in ‘his ‘group or a member of it off. A sort of meeting place, so it is possible even to initiate effective political, protest, humanitarian or some other action. Has a similar purpose, and TWITTER, social networks and mikrobloging service, which uses instant messaging, SMS or web content. There are also ‘LinkedIn‘, ‘Myspace‘, ‘Tumblr‘, ‘Instagram‘ and the other, each with its own characteristics. What made them especially adorned with a tremendously rapid dissemination of information, and misinformation. Thus, the negative effects are possible.

Very specific Internet service YOUTUBE. Used to exchange video content where users can upload, view and evaluate video, up to ‘Full HD’ resolution, respecting copyrights. It is forbidden to support pornography, violence, crime, embarrassment and defamation, and advertising. For your own protection YouTube reserves the right to use, modify and delete content posted. In summary, one can find all sorts of things, from useful to useless content, but also very funny and naughty and critical to everyday events. Whether it is a film and music videos covering YouTube to be a free medium for promoting a filmmaker, musician or politician and there have been cases where people have gained popularity in this way, and then accepted by traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television.

Essentially all of these are web applications that typically require enrollment to confirm the response to the e-mail messages to prospective members. Registration is usually type USER_NAME / PASSWORD or E-MAIL / PASSWORD, and the user alone chooses who will be his personal data are visible in your profile settings. But for one such network services server is usually insufficient. Caring for their functioning in particular computers-servers; datacenter. The forerunner of the above was certainly B.B.S. era of modem communications.

7)Search Engines:

Already these social networks to enable retrieval of content that is stored and monitored, but a special group of interconnected computer servers in a DATACRNTER and interconnected datacenters in a unique system. The basic idea is that all registered facilities are located on one or more servers can be found in some sort of elaborate directory by interest groups (sports, music, movies …). For this purpose, the contents should be reported to the owner who approves the inclusion of datacenter facilities and reported its index. Advanced way of this is that all of the reported content indexes and their keywords are ranked according to their relevance. Through a simple form to enter the desired search term on the basis of which offers all of the titles that describe the content of the list according to the achieved ranking. So, basically it is a huge database that is constantly updated.

Almost every state has its own internal search engine, but the most interesting are those international type as YAHOO!, GOOGLE and BING. Are listed in the order they occurred, although they appear to their versions that preceded them, today its possibilities are not even close. Course and apply them to the desired content complying with the prescribed rules. Basically all are oriented to search HTML text or the images, though some of their skills are recognized and other formats of documents and index them. Currently qualified as a browser web content considered GOOGLE. In addition to enabling the global search and local search free within declared site. Algorithm correspondence of new titles, indexing and ranking their content daily in construction, a mechanism for storing data and their storage is not reduced more on copying disks themselves but to each other constantly copying content themselves datacenter which has quite a few in the world, about forty. Seen from the perspective described something of very great importance should be kept by them.

8)Web-Hosting (DATACENTER):

No long that it is the development of technology, high-speed computers and Internet connections, provided that the user can purchase a server in a datacenter, who cares about the correctness of the service provider, and in which the user via FTP Service set up your web content (web hosting). Of course the service is paid, but in the age of virtualization computing platforms becoming cheaper and more accessible with very reasonable prices. What set the servers and as a server lease depends on the users. This requires the lease currently available domain names and headquarters facilities in which servers become recognizable. ‘IT Alphabet’ uses just one of them and has been reported in the previously mentioned search engines. The basic difference with the search engines is that in these datacenter care about the content (data) leads users, the concern for the safety of equipment and access to available web content leading provider of these services. Impressive is the concept of ‘Google container data center‘ that uses Google.

Electronic versions of NEWSPAPERS and PERIODICALS is also one of the most important services. Main service is not fully available, in addition to the subscription, which is often not expensive and allows access to archived editions. Similar is with the offer of books and multimedia content. In addition to this specialized sites (PORTAL) offers a variety of facilities, from the amendments set out TV content, educational facilities, entertainment facilities to the ××× content. The variety is so great that it is very difficult to share content in a few categories. The above is fundamentally changing habits of users, especially the growing popularity of tablets, which are becoming, for example, an free integral part of restaurants offering. With the morning coffee not to use a paper version of the newspaper rather than a tablet. From the above it is clear why the quality of the program for viewing Internet content (browser) is given more prominence.

What has set up ‘Google’ with its ‘Android’ platform, and skillfully used ‘Facebook’ and others, and is the basis of working at recent ‘Windows’ operating systems – data storage in one location (OneDrive storage), more correctly data centers that are continuously interconnected copy and synchronize data and presented to the user as a single group – CLOUD, somewhere on the Internet, a trend that is increasingly spreading to enable the user to use their data anywhere and anytime, even with different platforms (PC, Tablet , Mobile …). To preserve the privacy of the user traffic to the cloud must be encrypted, so if security required and the data itself is encrypted. On this principle, essentially functioning banks and public institutions that offer customers a variety of services; bill payment, payment processing, issuing various documents and the like.

As usual, the service should be paid, under the principle of ‘How much money – so much music.’, But the services that are beneficial to the general welfare generally are not charged.

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A cell reference refers to a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and can be used in a formula so that Microsoft Office Excel can find the values or data that you want that formula to calculate.

Types of cell refrences:

1. Relative cell refrences

2. Absolute cell refrences

 

Relative Cell References:

 

This is the most widely used type of cell reference in formulas. Relative cell references are basic cell references that adjust and change when copied or when using AutoFill.

 

Example:

 

=SUM(B5:B8), as shown below, changes to =SUM(C5:C8) when copied across to the next cell.

 

 

 

Absolute Cell References:

Situations arise in which the cell reference must remain the same when copied or when using AutoFill. Dollar signs are used to hold a column and/or row reference constant.

 

Example:

 

In the example below, when calculating commissions for sales staff, you would not want cell B10 to change when copying the formula down. You want both the column and the row to remain the same to refer to that exact cell. By using $B$10 in the formula, neither changes when copied.

 

 

 

 

 

A more complicated example:

 

Let’s pretend that you need to calculate the prices of items in stock with two different price discounts. Take a look at the worksheet below.

 

 

Examine the formula in cell E4. By making the first cell reference $C4, you keep the column from changing when copied across, but allow the row to change when copying down to accommodate the prices of the different items going down. By making the last cell reference A$12, you keep the row number from changing when copied down, but allow the column to change and reflect discount B when copied across. Confused? Check out the graphics below and the cell results.

 

Copied Across

 

Copied Down

 

Now, you might be thinking, why not just use 10% and 15% in the actual formulas? Wouldn’t that be easier? Yes, if you are sure the discount percentages will never change – which is highly unlikely. It’s more likely that eventually those percentages will need to be adjusted. By referencing the cells containing 10% and 15% and not the actual numbers, when the percentage changes all you need to do is change the percentage one time in cell A12 and/or B12 instead of rebuilding all of your formulas. Excel would automatically update the discount prices to reflect your discount percentage change.

 

Summary of absolute cell reference uses:

 

 

• $A1 Allows the row reference to change, but not the column reference.
• A$1 Allows the column reference to change, but not the row reference.
• $A$1 Allows neither the column nor the row reference to change.

 

 

There is a shortcut for placing absolute cell references in your formulas!

 

When you are typing your formula, after you type a cell reference – press the F4 key. Excel automatically makes the cell reference absolute! By continuing to press F4, Excel will cycle through all of the absolute reference possibilities. For example, in the first absolute cell reference formula in this tutorial, =B4*$B$10, I could have typed, =B4*B10, then pressed the F4 key to change B10 to $B$10. Continuing to press F4 would have resulted in B$10, then $B10, and finally B10. Pressing F4 changes only the cell reference directly to the left of your insertion point.

Excel uses two types of cell references to create formulas. Each has its own purpose. Read on to determine which type of cell reference to use for your formula.

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