Architect overview

This guide will help you plan and implement your application by discussing issues that commonly affect its design. It also leads you through the technical aspects of implementing your application. You must be familiar with these terminology and software, or have a database administrator (DBA) on your team:

• Relational database product and terminology
• Basic SQL commands
• A text editor
• Fixed format and variable format data files

We recommend that you install the sample database and explore it as you use this guide. It will help you understand what is possible and how to implement your application. The database consists of data for a company that produces and sells electronics equipment internationally. Most of the screen captures and formulas in this guide are taken from this database. You can even use it as a starting point for your own application.