The Hindu Business Line : Let's start at the very beginning

WITH simple truths such as, `database is a collection of interrelated data', begins the book written by John Day and Craig Van Slyke, Starting out with... Oracle. Almost a thousand pages later, after covering SQL, PL/SQL, developer tools and DBA, in `advanced database topics', the authors write: "a data warehouse is capable of pulling data from both internal and external data sources, transforming that data into a common format, consolidating and organising the data, and storing it in a form that supports managerial reports and analyses." Well, that's English and not some mumbo-jumbo one would normally expect from a book on RDBMS. A consistent feature in the book is thus reader-friendliness that you can't miss, even if the discussion is about some esoteric topic. For instance, read this about `normalisation': "Relational databases can be evaluated using a process of normalisation, which involves the determination of the optimal set of tables that minimise redundancy and maximise the integrity of the data being stored... Normal forms are a series of rules that can be applied to tables to ensure an optimal structure for a database."

Or, when discussing advanced SQL queries and views, `correlated subquery' is explained thus: in it, "inner query references a column in the table in the outer query". The outer query is processed, and its results are used to perform the inner query, explain the authors.

Once you are up and running with Oracle, you'd learn, among other things, about creating a `multi-canvas form' - "a way to break a complex application into separate tasks that are handled by separate canvases"; `matrix report' a.k.a. crosstab report displaying information "in a grid with values from one column displayed across the top and another column along the left side, and values from a third column are used to fill in the cells of the grid"; and Oracle Portal that enables a user "to manage and use database applications without the need for any client applications beyond a simple Web browser, thus greatly simplifying the deployment of Web applications."

Ready for one, two, Oracle?

Crack these questions

IF a cipher lock has a door delay option, what does that mean - pick one of the following: "(a) After a door is open for a specific period, the alarm goes off. (b) It can only be opened during emergency situations. (c) It has a hostage alarm capability. (d) It has supervisory override capability"? Tough?

Try some accounting math: "How do you calculate residual risk? (a) Threats x risks x asset value. (b) (Threats x asset value x vulnerability) x risks. (c) SLE x frequency = ALE. (d) (Threats x vulnerability x asset value) x controls gap."

Perhaps there is a gap in knowledge about that, so give a shot to a different question: "If an attacker were to steal a password file that contained one-way encrypted passwords, what type of attack would she perform to find the encrypted passwords? (a) Man-in-the-middle attack. (b) Birthday attack. (c) Denial of service attack. (d) Dictionary attack."

Too much attack, so let's talk about a commonsense topic: "When is the emergency actually over for a company? (a) When all people are safe and accounted for. (b) When all operations and people are moved back into the primary site. (c) When operations are safely moved to the off-site facility. (d) When a civil official declares that all is safe." Or, this: "If sensitive data is stored on a CD-ROM and it is no longer needed, which would be the proper way of disposing of the data? (a) Degaussing. (b) Erasing. (c) Purging. (d) Physical destruction."

To crack these and 800 more questions, hunt out Shon Harris's CISSP Certification Exam Study Guide, second edition.

Designer Dummies

DUMMIES series is always inviting even if the title were about Martians. So, here I have Mark Middlebrook's AutoCAD 2005 for Dummies, though I'm sure it would be tough for me to displace engineers busily designing parts, or edge out architects leading their clients through dream plans. But the author, who I learn is an engineer teaching literature and philosophy, promises in the intro: "With this book, you have an excellent chance of creating a presentable, usable, printable, and sharable drawing on your first or second try without putting a T square through your computer screen in frustration." Don't be baffled by DWG file format. It's no wily dog, but the way AutoCAD saves drawings. As in any dummies book, there are catchy subheads, such as: Looking for Mr. Status Bar, sizzling system variables, delicious dialog boxes, weighing your scales, defending your border, and lost in paper space.

The chapter titled `where to draw the line' hand-holds the reader to `toe the line'; instructs that polyline or pline (rhyming with beeline, though "it sounds like the place you stand when you've drunk a lot of beer at the ball game") is different from line; delves into `arc-y-ology' and ellipses; talks of splines, the sketchy, sinuous curves; and creates donuts, the circles with a difference.

Often, the author comforts the hassled user, with lines such as: "If you're new to AutoCAD, its wide range of precision tools probably seems overwhelming... Rest assured that there's more than one way to skin a cat precisely, and not everyone needs to understand all the ways." Go, get a CAD to skin!

Books courtesy: Wiley Dreamtech (www.wileydreamtech.com)

Tailpiece

"We have a new assistant in the EDP."

"Send him off to number all the machines with inventory stickers."

"But we already finished that work last month on overtime."

"Hmm... we've to first peel off the old ones then."

Books2Byte@TheHindu.co.in

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