WGU Data-Management-Foundations WGU Data Management – Foundations Exam Exam Practice Test

Thecorrect syntaxfor deleting records from a table in SQL is:

sql

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE condition;

This deletesonly the rowsthat match the condition.

Example Usage:

sql

DELETE FROM Employees WHERE Salary < 30000;

Deletesall employees earning less than $30,000.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Incorrect):Missing FROMkeyword. The correct syntax is DELETE FROM table_name.

Option C (Partially Correct):DELETE FROM table_name;deletes all rows, but it lacks a WHERE clause.

Option D (Incorrect):DELETE *is not validin SQL. The correct command is just DELETE FROM.

Thus, the correct answer isDELETE FROM table_name WHERE condition;.

Anattribute typerefers to asingle, specific valuewithin a table, such as Salary, Age, or Price.

Example Usage:

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CREATE TABLE Employees (

EmpID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50),

Salary DECIMAL(10,2)

);

Salary is anattribute typewith individual values for each employee.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Glossary) (Incorrect):Refers todocumentation, not database values.

Option B (Entity type) (Incorrect):Representsa class of objects(e.g., Employees), not individual values.

Option D (Relationship) (Incorrect):Definesconnections between entities, not attributes.

Thus, the correct answer isAttribute type, as it represents anindividual data value.

Analiasis used in SQL to give atemporaryname to a table or column within a query. It makes queries more readable and helps in cases where a table needs to be referenced multiple times (e.g., in aself-join).

Example Usage:

sql

SELECT e.Name, d.DepartmentName

FROM Employees AS e

JOIN Departments AS d

ON e.DeptID = d.ID;

Here,Employees is aliased as eandDepartments as d, making the query shorter and clearer.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (HAVING) (Incorrect):Used to filter grouped results, not create aliases.

Option B (NEW) (Incorrect):Not a valid SQL keyword for aliasing.

Option D (UNION) (Incorrect):Combines result sets but does not rename tables.

Thus, the correct answer isALIAS, which allows fortemporary naming of tables or columns.

Bydatabase design conventions, theprimary key is usually placed in the first columnof a table to make it easy to identify and reference.

Example Usage:

sql

CREATE TABLE Employees (

EmpID INT PRIMARY KEY, -- First column (convention)

Name VARCHAR(50),

Salary DECIMAL(10,2)

);

EmpID is placed as the first columnfor clarity and quick access.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (In the table header) (Incorrect):Table headers onlydisplay column names, they do not contain values.

Option C (In the top row) (Incorrect):Thetop row contains data, not theprimary key definition.

Option D (In the last visible column) (Incorrect):While technically possible,placing a primary key at the endisuncommonin database design.

Thus, the correct answer isIn the first column, as this is the standard convention in relational databases.

Anaggregate functionperforms acalculation over multiple rowsand returns asingle value. Examples includeSUM(), AVG(), MAX(), MIN(), and COUNT()in SQL.

Option A (Correct):Aggregate functions compute values over aset of rows, like summingtotal sales or averaging grades.

Option B (Incorrect):Selecting rows that appear in one table but not another is done usingset operations (EXCEPT or MINUS in SQL).

Option C (Incorrect):Eliminating columns is done using thePROJECToperation orSELECT with specific columns.

Option D (Incorrect):Combining rows from two tables refers to aJOIN operation, not aggregation.

In database indexing, abranchrefers to thepath from the top-level block (root node) to a bottom-level block (leaf node)in aB-Tree or B+ Tree index structure.

Example Usage in Indexing:

AB-Tree indexorganizes data hierarchically, withbranches leading to different parts of the tree.

When searching for a record, thequery follows a branchfrom theroot node down to the correct leaf node.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Fan-out) (Incorrect):Refers tohow many children a node has, not the path.

Option B (Crow’s foot) (Incorrect):Anotation used in ER diagrams, not indexing.

Option D (Sparse index) (Incorrect):A type of indexstoring only some entries, not the path itself.

Thus, the correct answer isBranch, as it defines thepath from top to bottom in a database index.

ADatabase Administrator (DBA)is responsible for the management, security, and performance of a database system. This includes controlling access to data, ensuring database integrity, optimizing performance, managing backups, and protecting the system from unauthorized access.

Option A (Incorrect):A DBA is not just a consumer of data but is primarily responsible for the database’s management.

Option B (Correct):Security is one of the key responsibilities of a DBA, including enforcing user access controls and implementing encryption and authentication mechanisms.

Option C (Incorrect):While DBAs work with data structures, it is typically the role of adata architectordatabase designerto define data formats and schema structures.

Option D (Incorrect):Developing application programs that interact with the database is typically the role ofsoftware developersordatabase programmers, not DBAs.

Indatabase design,attributesof an entity becomecolumnsin a relational table.

Example Usage:

For anEmployee entity, attributes might include:

CREATE TABLE Employees (

EmployeeID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50),

Salary DECIMAL(10,2),

DepartmentID INT

);

Eachattribute(e.g., Name, Salary) becomes acolumnin the table.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Modality) (Incorrect):Describesoptional vs. mandatoryrelationships, not table structure.

Option B (Uniqueness) (Incorrect):Ensuresdistinct valuesbutis not a column property.

Option D (Non-null values) (Incorrect):Ensures thatcolumns must contain databut doesnot define attributes.

Thus, the correct answer isAttribute, as attributes of entities becometable columns.

Indatabase design, an entity is classified asstrong or weakbased on whether it has aprimary keythat uniquely identifies its records.

Differences Between Strong and Weak Entities:

CREATE TABLE Orders (

OrderID INT PRIMARY KEY,

CustomerID INT

);

CREATE TABLE OrderDetails (

OrderDetailID INT,

OrderID INT,

ProductID INT,

PRIMARY KEY (OrderDetailID, OrderID),

FOREIGN KEY (OrderID) REFERENCES Orders(OrderID)

);

Orders is astrong entity(has OrderID as its own primary key).

OrderDetails is aweak entity(depends on OrderID for uniqueness).

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Association) (Incorrect):Associations describerelationshipsbut do not define strong/weak entities.

Option C (Foreign key) (Incorrect):Weak entitiesdepend on foreign keys, butprimary keysdefine their status.

Option D (Cardinality) (Incorrect):Cardinality definesrelationship constraintsbut doesnot differentiate entity types.

Thus, the correct answer isPrimary key, as it is the defining characteristic betweenstrong and weak entities.

AFull Join (FULL OUTER JOIN)selectsall records from both tables, filling in NULL values where there is no match. This ensures that no data is lost from either table.

Example Usage:

sql

SELECT Employees.Name, Departments.DepartmentName

FROM Employees

FULL OUTER JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID;

This query retrievesall employees and all departments, even if an employeehas no assigned departmentor a departmenthas no employees.

Types of Joins:

FULL OUTER JOIN (Correct Answer)→ Includesall rows from both tables, filling missing values with NULL.

LEFT JOIN (Incorrect)→ Includesall rows from the left tableandmatching rows from the right table.

RIGHT JOIN (Incorrect)→ Includesall rows from the right tableandmatching rows from the left table.

CROSS JOIN (Incorrect)→ Produces aCartesian product(each row from one table is combined with every row from another table).

Thus, the correct answer isFULL JOIN, whichensures that all rows from both tables appear in the result.

In MySQL, theBIGINTdata type is a64-bit integerthat requires8 bytes (64 bits) of storage. It is used to store large numerical values beyond the range of INT (4 bytes).

Option A (Incorrect):1 byte corresponds toTINYINT, which can store values from -128 to 127.

Option B (Incorrect):3 bytes is not a standard integer storage size in MySQL.

Option C (Incorrect):4 bytes corresponds toINT, which has a range of -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.

Option D (Correct):BIGINT takes8 bytesand supports a massive range of numbers from -2^63 to 2^63 -1.

When performing aJOIN operationin MySQL, the ON clause specifies thejoining condition, defining which columns from both tables should be matched.

Example:

sql

SELECT Employees.Name, Departments.DepartmentName

FROM Employees

JOIN Departments ON Employees.DepartmentID = Departments.ID;

Option A (Incorrect):AS is used foraliasing tables and columns, not for specifying join conditions.

Option B (Incorrect):JOIN defines the type of join (INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, etc.), butdoes not specify the columns.

Option C (Correct):The ON clause is used tospecify the join conditionbetween two tables.

Option D (Incorrect):AND is used in filtering conditions, not for joining tables.

Arelationshipin an ER model defineshow two separate entities interact.

Example Usage:

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CREATE TABLE Customers (

CustomerID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50)

);

CREATE TABLE Orders (

OrderID INT PRIMARY KEY,

CustomerID INT,

FOREIGN KEY (CustomerID) REFERENCES Customers(CustomerID)

);

Customers and Orders are separate entities, related via CustomerID.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Reflexive relationship) (Incorrect):Used forself-referencing entities, not two different entities.

Option B (Entity type) (Incorrect):Defines aclass of objects, but does not establish relationships.

Option D (Attribute) (Incorrect):Attributesdescribeentities but do not connect them.

Thus, the correct answer isRelationship, as it connectstwo separate entities.

Aprimary keyuniquely identifies each row in a table. When a primary key consists ofonly one field, it is called aSimple Primary Key.

Types of Primary Keys:

Simple Primary Key (Correct Answer):

Contains onlyone column.

Example:

sql

CREATE TABLE Students (

StudentID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50)

);

Composite Primary Key:

Usesmultiple columnsto ensure uniqueness.

Example:

sql

CREATE TABLE Orders (

OrderID INT,

ProductID INT,

PRIMARY KEY (OrderID, ProductID)

);

Surrogate Primary Key:

A system-generatedunique identifier(e.g., UUID or AUTO_INCREMENT).

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option B (Duplicate) (Incorrect):A primary keymust be unique, so itcannot be duplicate.

Option C (Numeric) (Incorrect):While primary keyscan be numeric, they can also be alphanumeric (VARCHAR).

Option D (Composite) (Incorrect):Acompositekey consists ofmultiple fields, whereas a simple key isa single field.

Thus, the correct answer isSimple, since aone-field primary keyis a simple primary key.

TheMERGEstatement, also known asUPSERT, combinesINSERT, UPDATE, and DELETEoperations into asingle statementbased on a given condition. It is commonly used indata warehouses and large-scale databases.

Example Usage:

sql

MERGE INTO Employees AS Target

USING NewEmployees AS Source

ON Target.ID = Source.ID

WHEN MATCHED THEN

UPDATE SET Target.Salary = Source.Salary

WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN

INSERT (ID, Name, Salary) VALUES (Source.ID, Source.Name, Source.Salary);

If a match is found, the UPDATE clause modifies the existing record.

If no match is found, the INSERT clause adds a new record.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (INTO) (Incorrect):Used in INSERT INTO, butdoes not combine operations.

Option B (JOIN) (Incorrect):Used to combine rows from multiple tables, butnot for merging data.

Option D (DROP) (Incorrect):Deletes database objects liketables, views, and indexes, butdoes not merge data.

Thus, the correct answer isMERGE, as itcombines inserts, updates, and deletes into a single operation.

ATransaction ManagerensuresACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability)properties in database transactions. It manages concurrent transactions, ensuring no conflicts occur and logs modifications to support recovery mechanisms.

Option A (Incorrect):Query optimization is managed by thequery processor, not the transaction manager.

Option B (Incorrect):The transaction manager is a component of the database architecture but is not composed of the entire system (query processor, storage manager, etc.).

Option C (Correct):The transaction manager logs transactions like INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, ensuring consistency and recoverability.

Option D (Incorrect):Thestorage manageris responsible for translating queries into filesystem commands.

Anintangible entityis an entity that does not have a physical presence but still holds meaning in a database. These entities representconcepts, relationships, or abstract datathat exist in a logical sense.

Example Usage in Databases:

Customer Loyalty Status (Gold, Silver, Bronze)

Theloyalty levelis anintangible entitysince it is derived from other data (purchase history).

Online User Sessions

Asession IDexistslogically in the systembut does not have a tangible presence like a product or employee.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (Concrete entity) (Incorrect):No such formal term in database design.

Option B (Tangible entity) (Incorrect):Represents somethingphysical, like anemployeeorproduct.

Option D (Physical entity) (Incorrect):Refers todata stored on disk, like database tables or indexes.

Thus, the correct answer isIntangible entity, as it only exists in a logical sense within the database.

TheORDER BYclause in SQL is used tosort query resultsinascending (ASC) or descending (DESC) order.

Example Usage:

sql

SELECT Name, Salary FROM Employees ORDER BY Salary DESC;

This retrieves all employees, sorted bysalary in descending order.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

Option A (BETWEEN) (Incorrect):Used for filtering ranges butdoes not order results.

Option B (DISTINCT) (Incorrect):Removes duplicate rows butdoes not control order.

Option D (LIKE) (Incorrect):Used forpattern matching, not sorting.

Thus,ORDER BY is the correct choicefor defining the sequence of query results.