AE510 Overview

Looking back I can definitely say I found this class to be one of the most interesting classes I have taken here at Drexel University. Not only did this course open multiple discussions on intelligent building topics which are not explored in undergraduate architectural engineering classes but also provide an enjoyable experience while gaining new knowledge. Taking this class has provided me with few reality checks and also provided a platform to acquire new skill sets with will be beneficial in my line of work but also help improve my resume as David Morrison mentioned.     

Taking about reality checks, for the past four years I have been attending Drexel University I have been presented with my major of Architectural and Civil Engineering from closed educational point of view. But it was not until this course I was encouraged to start looking at the career I am pursuing from a real world prospect of what I have been taught and learned during my last couple years here at Drexel. The topics of weekly blog posts and presentations of public speakers were the key features of this class which made this possible. For example entering this class I considered myself as a well experienced Autodesk Revit user, thinking of the software being still pretty new to the Architecture, Civil and Mechanical Engineering world. But after hearing the presentations of Eric Kuszewski from KlingStunnins and Huw Roberts from Bentley about Building Information Modeling (BIM) and its presences in the real world today, that my skill set of 3D modeling software is very  minimal compared to average standards employers are pursuing today. So I agree with Nathan Barry and Lorena Alvarado mentioning in their posts that the guest speakers invited to the class were well selected as they really knew what they were talking about but also presented the information in a manner which did not bore the students in the process.    

  

Two main skills I was able to gain from this course was the ability to create a family in Revit and creating a database in Microsoft Access. Now knowing how to create families in Revit I will be able to create custom structure components to provide 3D section details on construction drawings which I had difficulty doing previously during my past coop. Additionally many structural engineering concepts and methods are being carried out with computer software such as SAP2000 which are all mainly running on databases. So learning the basic concept of database and how they work provide a better understanding of the concept of how these structural analysis software works. Also having this intuition of database and its operation behind the main interface can help error screen results which the software provides efficiently. Having gained these two skill sets was the most beneficial aspect of the course.      

The course was well structured and multiple concepts of intelligent building were presented to the students as an introduction class for the topic of intelligent building. Each subtopic presented in the class can be turned into its individual 10 week class. I have heard of rumors of architectural engineering department adding a new concentration of digital building and I believe this course would make a great introduction class for that concentration.  

Final Blog: Course Reflection

At the completion of the “Intelligent Buildings” course, I can confidently say that the included curriculum has greatly exceeded my expectations. Similar to a number of my peers, I also believed that the course would be in large centered around the BIM design and construction technique. The amount of material presented on BIM was sufficient, as it broadly covered the many applications of the practice but did not detail all of the many features, as would a class on the subject. I found the speakers and their presentations of the applications to be inspiring, partly due to my construction operations background but mainly due to the futuristic but real-world applications of the technology available to my peers and I. This was a recurring trend when the class learned about artificial intelligence and the many ways that the industry can use the technology to advance designs and continue to provide services to clients and the public alike in an efficient and highly sophisticated package. The information naturally sparked conversations about morals and values with regards to the artificial intelligence, which further reinforced the consequences that engineers and designers must always keep in mind. Our work directly and indirectly affects human lives in ways that are not necessarily measurable in the broadest sense. I found the information and projects including raw databases useful because it was my first experience working with them outside of sophisticated Excel programs utilizing macros. Databases can be used to record vast amounts of information and require the designers to make provisions for the system to be designed for user interoperability as well as system efficiency. The database section made me realize that they are used for a number of tasks of which many I witnessed at my workplace. They use a few in-house databases for estimating and pre-construction purposes which are increasingly more important with shrinking margins and new construction techniques such as design-build. The marketing department is employing a database for customer relation management (CRM) to build and maintain current, past and prospective clients. I recently learned a project management software that was largely a database that contained all important project contract documents such as payment applications, schedules and budgets. The program had many of the database characteristics and required the effort early in the project to properly organize information effectively. The information presented on sensors and recording information was useful to my career because I am a MEP engineering student. Now and in the future, I expect to see a lot of the monitoring practices that we learned in class make their way into all buildings. The term project I chose to complete reinforced the ideas of the sensors and data management and allowed me to think in detail the equipment required to monitor energy required for one aspect of a building. I found it important to hear the experiences of one of the speakers which involved sensors and energy monitoring from the field point of view, as it is imperative that the product of the designers work is utilize correctly and to its full potential.

After reading Gabrielle's blog post and her feeling towards the database section, I've realized that while sometimes the least popular subject, databases can be used for a vast array of tasks. She mentions using databases for finances, for which I was surprised. I automatically use Excel when attempting to track costs and budgets, but her comment made me curious as to how the power to produce queries and reports can be used to track finances. Before this class, I would have not been interested in using databases to replace Excel with regards to computing and tracking finances.

The class was exactly what a professional elective should be; it was exciting, thought provoking and contained information relevant to industry procedures. Great choice!

In class presentation :
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11aSVuzmcpZD8IbCrQFZIo6SFaqRxDGQBwGJcrfXrJQ4/present?ueb=true#slide=id.p

Group C - High Rise CIA Facility

The building we are focusing on is a high rise office building in Washington, DC. The building will be a 36 story office facility for the CIA.  Because this is a government building with an assumed large budger, advanced building intelligence and maximum security are both top priorities.
In terms of programming, BIM would be highly useful in allotting spaces for highly classified areas and creating a flow of spaces based on security clearances.  BIM and cost analysis would be the primary technologies in the design process.  BIM would be used to integrate all building systems and to satisfy the client's needs regarding security. Sensors play an important role in security and monitoring systems for energy efficiency. For bidding and approval, the municipality, contractors, and owners would be the key stakeholders. BIM, a building program database, and structural model would all be used in this stage of the building process through cost analyses and permit approvals.
All stakeholders would be involved in the construction process. BIM, surveys, and regional models would all be utilized through construction management.  These technologies would be used to make the building process more efficient. Sensors would be the most important technology during the occupancy of the building.  They would be used to control temperature, humidity, and lighting to control the building conditions. BIM and building analyses would be used during any required renovations as well as the demolition process.

Key conclusions:
high security
low energy
well integrated building automation system
database integration

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11zHlbeyAH2uO-qwbqSojYviIMqF4eBdOyr3su7oHtTs/edit?usp=sharing

OODB

Object-oriented databases are an important evolution for database management systems because can handle data that needs to be managed for a large variety of applications. Object-oriented databases, commonly referred to as OODB, have been developed to meet the need for a database that is more flexible and can handle the need for custom operations. 

One of the most useful aspects of this type of database is that it is not limited by the types of data and language typical of traditional databases. It provides flexibility in that both an object and all of its possible functions and methods can be specified. Because of this flexibility, different data types can be used within this type of database to serve the needs of the industries such as design systems like CAD, scientific, medical, and multimedia databases, and geographic information systems. These data types allow the development of programs that consist of independent objects as opposed to basic information. Independent objects can contain functions and methods that specify what that object can do.

A lot of the research I did for this post was difficult to understand because I have no experience with computer programming and my knowledge of that field and common language used is slim to none. One thing I was able to understand was how relevant object-oriented databases are to our field of architectural engineering design, especially in terms of developing models using BIM. Revit is based on an object-oriented database. Each object you use or place into a model is part of a class and has its own parameters and functions. The objects also communicate with other objects within the model. Without object-oriented databases, we would not have the BIM software available to us today.

Because this type of database is very specialized, it is not relevant for all fields and is not as commonly used as the traditional database; however, the opportunities available for industries looking for a more flexible and customizable database management system find OODBs to work exceptionally well. Due to the increased use of object-oriented databases, standards and specifications have been developed for using this type of programming.

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Nathan gives a pretty good overview of the function of SQL servers, and the degree of standardization that is common to the language. As he mentions, it is important to have a Structured Query Language to manage databases in an understandable way, allowing us to find and modify data once the database has been created. After some initial confusion pertaining to the jargon used to describe how SQL works, I found the actual functions it implements to be very intuitive. Each function's name describes what it does. For example, the all-important SELECT function allows programs to search and retrieve data from a specific database table, with further modifiers embedded within the function to refine the search (FROM, WHERE, etc.), and organize the output (ORDER BY, GROUP BY). I found Wikipedia's explanation of this function (and others) very helpful.

Figure 1 - SELECT function explanation

I like that David describes the databases themselves as "glorified excel sheets," especially since this definition is coming from someone with some experience with databases. From my rudimentary understanding of the topic, that is exactly how I pictured and SQL database, some enormous table made up of labeled columns with rows of data beneath. It makes sense that by this system, and particular piece of data can be pinpointed by some row and column designation, much like an X and Y coordinate in the cartesian system.

What intrigued me most about this week's topic was not necessarily how the system works, but how often it needs to work. I gather from the articles I read, that every single user-interfaced program uses some form of database and query system to make it run. For simplified applications this may be a flat-file-database, as David explains. However it is my impression that, for the large majority of complex applications, the SQL format is used. A recent article puts into perspective the importance of the ability to manipulate and query these formatted data.  As our sensing capability and aptitude for data recording grows, the challenges involved in organizing, maintaining, and using this data also grows. For example in the medical field there are virtual reams of unused data pertaining to patient records, and no unified system for managing all of this. As data becomes more and more digitized, it seems reasonable that we must decide how we want to organize this data so that it is easily accessible when we need it. The SQL is currently the ANSI specified way to do that, and while it is not without complications, the basic structure of database and query language remains the same across the board.

Finally, one of the biggest issues in current SQL design is the timing of the SQL servers. Database size has grown significantly since the SQL language was invented, and as a result we are having to deal with time lag as SQL applications search through these seas of information for specific data. ANSI is still updating specifications, with its latest release in 2012, to account for the evolving nature of database organization and navigation.

References:

"Database Management: Big Data will soon be the norm" - Sunday Business Post

SQL For Dummies - 7th Edition

Object Oriented Databases

An object oriented database is one that attempts to model the real world. The database defines objects by using different classes that can perform actions or have actions performed on them. As Kayleigh stated, Revit is an object oriented database because it models real objects inside buildings. An object has a class and different attributes that define it as well as methods that can be applied to it. An example of class and attributes in Revit could be Air Handling units or Windows, etc. Each class has different attributes defined when the families are made, such as door size, material, manufacturer, etc. The example in the article I read by Ramon A. Mata-Toledo and Pranshu Gupta uses automobiles as an example. The Class is automobiles and the attributes are the color, make and model and other attributes that can define an individual car. The methods are things that cars can do or have done to them such as park or be washed.

The applications of object oriented databases to intelligent building are numerous. For instance, as already discussed, Revit already uses an object oriented database to model architectural, structural and MEP designs; but the applications do not end here. Object oriented databases can call on a model to simulate building performance. An air handling unit class can have further modeling done such as fan power, cooling and heating coil information and other information in order to perform simulations with different building zones to model energy performance. Other building systems can also be simulated as well as full system integration simulations that show how different building systems work together. 

Sources:

http://www.accessscience.com/content.aspx?searchStr=object+oriented+programming&id=757337

http://beesl.syr.edu/pdf/Poster_VirtualBuilding_KF.pdf

Object-Oriented Databases

Week 6

2/12/13

Databases – Object Oriented Databases

                An object oriented database is a particular type of database that is most commonly used when CAD software is being utilized.  When the database is used alongside some kind of computer program that functions on object-oriented programming (C++, Java), it becomes a object-oriented database management system (OODBMS).  This acronym is common because a object oriented database is only relevant when being utilized in this way.

                The easiest way to explain the difference between an OODBMS and a traditional relational database is that the “data” is stored as objects rather than large columned lists.  These objects are created when multiples data sets have defined relationships and characteristics.  In this sense, data can be given specific attributes that allow these defined relationships between the data to be taken advantage of.  In this sense, an object is something that will contain strings of data input along with a functioning code that manipulates and presents this data in a meaningful way.  As Kayleigh points out, large MEP manufactures like TRANE and Touzer can use OODBMS to provide accurate representations of their systems from large sets of data and create realistic “models” of their products.

                This characteristic allows for data to be much more useful and relevant because it can be manipulated and altered in order to analyze various design options.  The data is no longer “2-D” and can be used easily as a visual object in some kind of GUI program.  Instead of looking at a list of thousands of temperature differences resulting from window angles in a building and trying to deduce a reasonable design, someone can take an object in a OODBMS that represents a window and apply multitudes of different designs and implementations to that window.  Data is being simultaneously called up from multiple points and put through en executable code that reflects that change in the design.  A real world example of this is provided by Jeanine in her post.  She explains how people like aircraft carriers can use OODBMS to manage, organize and enhance the thousands of small parts used in an airplane.  Instead of gathering tensile stress on a component and throwing it in a list, someone can use OODMBS to understand the effects of the data, designs something better and implement in the real world.

                I want to close this by saying that I am no extremely computer savvy and am especially challenged by the world of programming.  The information above is what I was able to take out of what I read while trying to make sense of a lot of programming language.  I am open to comments and corrections from someone less confused by the subject matter.  

SOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_database

http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/database/basicdb/dataobject.html

Week 6: Uses of Databases in Construction Firms

Databases are very useful in keeping an organized record of information and there is a vast range of types of information that can be stored in these databases. Construction firms many times look to keep record of their construction equipment, designs, construction members within designs, previous projects, clients’ contact information, materials and/or their costs and manufacturers, elevations of a construction site, rainfall data of a subject area, and lots of other valuable information they may look to store away for later use. A lot of times a database is put together for information that is no longer of urgent use but that may be of value to access at a later date in time.

In addition to simply accessing the raw data that is stored into a database, certain programs are able to use these databases to analyze the data and output referenced analyses. Programs such as ArcGIS are able to use databases in order to spatially analyze the data and create maps that show the stored information in ways that can be useful for the needs of the user. For instance, a construction firm could use a database that has the addresses or coordinate locations of material manufacturing plants to find the closest plant to their construction site and even find the quickest, shortest route from the plant to the site. Another example could be analyzing a database that has the cost information for specific types of a common construction material over time. With a database of this information, one could find the trend or growth rate of the cost for these materials and come up with an estimate for the price of the material in the future when a project will actually enter the construction phase.

I found it interesting in Issa’s post (http://ae-510-ay12-13.blogspot.com/2013/02/databases-in-construction-firms.html) to see that databases have been in use since the 1970’s and I too have seen first-hand at some of my co-op’s the transition from paper to electronic copies of files. The progress that has been made over the years is vast and much room is left for advancement in the use of these databases and how we can implement them to our advantage in construction.


Source:
http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html

Object Oriented Databases

As engineers in this modern era, databases are used in almost every aspect of our careers.  While working on co-op I learned to use databases that the firm created, that were provided by equipment manufacturing, and that had been used for BIM or Revit purposes.  The database most relevant to this course would have to be the one we used for Revit and AutoCAD.  As a structural engineer, most of the materials we work with are somewhat generic and do not have specific manufacturers providing models of their product.  For the most part, Revit has the steel shapes stored within the preloaded database. However, when it came to concrete design, we often had to create our own families within the database for different types o concrete beams and columns.  Eventually this database begins to cover almost every type of beam or column and therefore lessens the requirement for engineers to make new families for a given project. After reading Maria's and Kayleigh's post I was able to understand a little better what exactly databases are and what they are used for within the BIM category.  While I had an idea of what an object oriented database is, I wasn't actually clear until reading their posts. 

Object oriented databases are exactly what their name implies, they store objects rather than data points.  This is obviously geared towards design applications, whether they be in CAD, BIM, manufacturing, animation, or anything of the sort.  This allows for the designers to be more efficient with their design and modeling.  I know that if I had to redraw everything in Revit or even AutoCAD, my job would have taken twice as long, which would dramatically decrease my efficiency.  I only see the use of these databases increasing tremendously over the course of our careers.  With the theme of this course being intelligent buildings, I feel this topic fits perfectly.  As engineers and designers, we will definitely continue to utilize these databases to further the efficiency of our process and design more intelligent buildings. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_database

ieor.berkeley.edu/~goldberg/courses/F04/215/215-OODB.ppt

http://www.25hoursaday.com/WhyArentYouUsingAnOODBMS.html

Databases in Design Offices

In the USA, design firms offering geotechnical services are typically given the responsibility to perform an investigation and afterward produce a report based on the findings. This single company approach is different from the way the same services are performed in the UK. The technical information gathered by firms in the USA can be contained in databases developed by each company, as the report is the only documentation that must be understood by more than one party. In the UK, the geotechnical services are often performed by multiple companies, signifying the need for a universal input format to allow information be interpreted by multiple players. This need was met with the implementation of the “AGS” format, which offers the highest level of acceptance into other programs and databases. The information can be accessed in text editors and then imported into each companies chosen form in order to produce bore logs, graphs, table and cross section figures. Design firms are known to use the information from soil borings early in the process to establish the extent and schedule of the tests that must be performed by themselves or an investigative contractor.

In the office, architects and engineers use databases that contain discrete information of objects in the BIM process. Software systems such as Bently’s Microstation and Autodesk’s Revit allow the user to create tags and assign them to elements different elements in the modeling environment. This feature allows the designers to export the information to useful platforms such as Excel or a database program to sort and record in relation to other parameters. Designers at manufacturing companies are using databases to store information of each of the products that they carry. Portions of these databases are then shared with designers to allow the smooth exchange of specifications and other project specific details. An example of this is in Brian's post, where he described creating families using objects to organize information of each component in the building. These objects contain information that is taken, sometimes from other sources and linked to the BIM. This allows designers to pull information about the object to include in schedules, charts and other analysis procedures.

I have experiences with databases as a user and developer were those that included cost information of each construction trade for completed projects. Project information was accessed using a search query that included the type of building, number of levels, construction materials and function. Once the reference building was selected, the user could duplicate the project and then change various parameters, such as the current year, location and indexes of material costs. Jalpesh's post mentions that design firms can archive the information used for a design so that the firm can access the information for future projects. This archiving process is valuable because designers can re-use portions of the design that they know already work. This has been happening in design long before databases but was known as "rules of thumb". Similar to design, after the project is selected it could then be modified by omitting certain trades based off of the building the user was attempting to model. The database contained information for adjustments due to location and time and would output a project file that included costs for each trade involved. The information was utilized in a design-build project team to deliver accurate costs at the conceptual level of design. I believe that at a point in the future, with the progression towards integrated design with multidisciplinary teams, specialty contractors will begin to share more database information with the designers in order to expedite project completion and minimize errors.

Companies can utilize databases for estimating material and labor costs for structural steel. The database of each type and size of steel members were linked to respective information such as weight, area, required bolts, crane lifts and various other metrics for the piece. Information could then be derived from the job summary such as labor hours for painting and assembly, crew productivity rates as well as weight for the galvanization process.

1.      Chadwick, Neil C. "Data Transfer and the Practical Application of Geotechnical Databases." Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Object Oriented Databases

There are varies types of databases that store information. Object oriented database (OODB) is "a database management system in which information is represented in the form of objects.". The difference between OODB’s than the rest of the databases, is that it stores objects rather than data. This allows OODB’s to handle more complex data than other databases like Relational database. Relational databases are "a collection of data items organized as a set of formally described tables from which data can be accessed easily". For example a Relational databases stores information by breaking the data into many different pieces, then categorize them into various tables for storage. When you need that information again it will gather all the different pieces and try to reassemble them back together, by using a program that speaks the same language as the data. This process takes a long time to retrieve the data. OODB’s on the other hand can simply just store the whole object into the database, no need to reconfigure the data. It can store graphics, videos, CAD models, and much more. While Relational databases can hold simply information like an employee’s name, DOB, hire date, exp. The OODB has been around for a long time, started in the late 1980’s and was supposed to replace the relational database which started in the 1970’s. Flash forward today and relational databases are still the most widely used database. But OODB’s are on the rise since the 2003 the sales for it have been steadily increasing by 12.5% annually. This is because there is a niche market, OODB’s are becoming more popular for uses with artificial intelligence and CAD/CAM applications. Companies like J.P. Morgan, Chase, and Citibank are using OODB technologies in modeling financial instruments. In the coming years I believe that more and more companies will adopt the use of OODB’s for its complex data storage, but it won’t replace the relational databases because of its simplicity. Like in Jeanine Lancellotti's post she says that “Object-orientation is yet another step in the quest for expressing solutions to problems in a more natural, easier to understand way.” Probably in the near future, with the advance in software, will might even see another form of a database and would trump both the relational and object-orientation databases.     

http://www.leavcom.com/db_08_00.htm

http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/database/basicdb/dataobject.html

http://odbms.org/download/005.01%20Chandler%20Introduction%20to%20Object-Oriented%20Databases%20September%201998.pdf

Uses of Databases in Design Offices

Databases in the design office environment are like professionally trained personal assistants who can respond to various types of commends with a click of a button. Designers mainly benefit from archive databases which can provide multiple disciplines of information immediately while working on a project. Design companies are starting to build their own databases which archive all the designs they have produced before and all the research which went behind the completion of all those designs. For example University of Salford, UK and John McCall Architects (JMA) are collaborating on producing a database which will assist with a process known as Knowledge Management which can provide aid to designers at JMA to work more efficiently on their projects.

The database for the Knowledge Management strategy will act as an employee of the firm which knows every detail of work that the firm performed to date which will always stay with the firm never to be lost due to retirement, termination, or so on. Additionally this virtual employee’s knowledge will be accessible for all employees all the time through the database setup with “features including the incorporation of video and audio clips, links to external authoritative sources, content qualifiers in the form of source or reference metadata, and annotation capabilities to capture tacit knowledge” (Egbu and Sidawai). So let’s say an structural engineer is designing a special joint which he or she is not fully sure of how to encounter the design of that joint, the designer can search their companies’ database and see if that type of joint with similar constraints was design before in any of their projects. If so the designer does not have to start from scratch because the database will provide the history and facts about that design such as the efficiency, positivity, problematic factors, constraints to be caution with and so on.      

          

The database being used for Knowledge Management process at JMA is one of many different types of databases which are part of the design industry today. As Maria Gonzalez mentioned in her blog post of how databases are part of the BIM design process which provide the functionality of keeping information of all the different components of the building which results in the facilitation of documentation, cost estimations, and etc. which allows designers to work more efficiently saving cost and time. Both the database Maria and I mentioned provide better efficiency leading to common benefits of saving time and cost, some key results of successful databases.   

Sources:

(Egbu and Sidawai) http://www.itcon.org/data/works/att/2012_5.content.03794.pdf

Databases in Construction Firms

“Databases allow you to manage your data more efficiently, avoid errors and manipulate it easily.” 

Construction firms are acknowledging the fact that staff and subcontractors come and go and the retrieval of data and information about projects becomes difficult.  With this in mind, construction firms find ease with databases.  There always comes a time when you either have a staff member replaced or simply after the project is completed, years later there is a need to recover the documents from a past project.  This is where databases come into play.  By saving and storing past, current, and potential projects, contractors, suppliers and clients, the workplace becomes organized as well as time and cost efficient.  With a database, everything is stored in one place where authorized staff has access to find the most up-to-date information. In order to obtain such information, the System Query Language (SQL) plays a role as the data language that helps organize and retrieve stored information from the database.  As Elda mentioned in her blog, having a standardized language is very important as it “allows everyone to access and manipulate databases.” 

After my last coop in a construction claims company, I soon came to realize the necessity of databases in the industry.  Considering that the company hired interns for a period of six months, they needed to have a certain file storage unit where future employees could easily attain information.  Because this company had international offices and worked globally, operating with a database was very useful and practical.  In Ryan’s post he said that for large construction firms that operate in multiple states or countries, databases come in handy “to ensure they are in compliance with disposal standards of the local area that the project is in.”  I agree with this statement because this would be a great communication source in order for companies to comply with standards.

Since the 1970s, databases have progressively been integrated in all industries and now we can see a greater implementation in construction firms.  Now, companies are found in a transition stage where the mountains of file boxes are being converted into database files, improving document and information retrieval in an efficient manner.

Sources:

"Benefits of a Relational Database." Sunadal Data Solutions. SDS, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <https://www.sunadal.co.uk/db.php>.

"Construction and General Contractors Database." Oddity Software - Databases, Development and Design. Oddity Software LLC, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.odditysoftware.com/page-datasales165.htm>.

"Database." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database>.

"Why Use the Planchest Database?" Planchest. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.planchest.net/Why.aspx>.

Relational Database Theory

As already described in G. Carpenter and G. Gulbenkian’s posts, the definition of a relational database is, “a collection of data items organized as a set of formally described tables from which data can be accessed easily” [1].  There are many important terms associated with relational database design/theory, some of which were already described by G. Carpenter and G. Gulbenkian, such as tuples (rows) and attributes (columns).  Another important term is relation (or table) which is defined as, “a set of tuples that have the same attributes” [1].  The relational model requires that each row of a table be unique [2].  They go on to say that this uniqueness can be achieved by “designating a primary key – a column that contains unique values for a table” [2].  The below figure shows that the primary key chosen was Customer ID [2].

Figure 1: Table with the primary key as Customer ID [2]

However, “primary keys are a function of individual tables,” therefore, if you want to join together multiple tables you may need what is called a “foreign key” which is “used to reference a primary key in another table” [2].  The figure below shows how the primary key of Customer ID is then used as a foreign key in a different table.

Figure 2: Table with Customer ID as the foreign key [2]

Utilizing the above, multiple types of relationships can be formed between related tables (i.e. one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many) [2].  From there the tables forming the databases can be further optimized by a process called normalization which G. Carpenter also briefly discussed.  The above are the basics for creating an efficient and well designed database.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database

[2] http://www.deeptraining.com/litwin/dbdesign/FundamentalsOfRelationalDatabaseDesign.aspx

Databases in Design Offices

                 With Building Information Modeling becoming a primary method of design, the industry is changing in terms of what qualities are desired at design firms today. Drafting programs are a fairly new technology being that major programs such as AutoCAD was only introduced in the 90's. Although 20 years might seem long, it’s a fairly small period in terms of how long architectural and engineering design has been around. Along with other major aspects of BIM such as 3-D modeling, and ease of use, the ability to share and distribute models is also essential to these  type of programs.With programs such as Revit becoming more widely used, the ability to upload and download pre-made models has been a big selling point for many companies. Like AutoCAD uses “X-Refs” to link to other AutoCAD files, many BIM programs such as Revit have an internal databasethat can also be updated with online databases.

            
                 A database is described as “an organized collection of data”. In BIM design, databases have preinstalled  information that can be useful when using the program for design. These databases are useful in design offices today because they can save a lot of time when drafting up a floor plan or creating a building model. One of the big benefits of these databases is the ability to work together on one project at different times. As Maria stated, this can be useful when multiple users create independent Architectural, Mechanical, or Structural plans that can later be merged together. Aside from having just plans or certain "entourage" within a building, building costs and materials can also be archived into separate databases. 

            
                Aside from being able to create new models, and share data, databases greatly reduce design time because of the way they're programmed. Databases are used to archive a lot of data, and thus can use key words, or certain identifications that makes finding any type of element or archive, extremely easy. . For example, typically in drafting programs such as AutoCAD, when one would draft plans they would have to  be drawn as lines with proper dimensions. Instead, a door in Revit, can be simply created by loading a “family” stored in Revit’s internal database. A family in Revit can be considered a database on its own because it holds lots of different information about the door such as dimensions, material properties, offsets, and so on. Some of the more up to date BIM databases also have current manufacturers and costs.  As we discussed in class, in the future, the wireless networks and "clouds" will have to be more efficient for the vast amount of data that will be stored in virtual space.

               

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database

http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=12&C=838

SQL - The Language of Databases

SQL is a programing language that is very specialized and focused. While most programing languages can  be used to do a very complex series of different tasks, SQL is designed to do one complex task very, very well. The task that SQL is designed for is working with databases.

As David said, a database is just a huge, glorified excel sheet. This may sound great, but if it is put into scope, it becomes quite daunting. Like John, I have had some basic experience with coding, mostly Javascript and python, and so far I have only dealt with arrays, which are essentially very tiny databases, and trying to use the core language to something as simple as remove an element and add another takes a surprising amount of code to do properly. I have not personal experience with SQL, but if editing a database is as easy as some of the guides I found seem to indicate, it looks like it could be a real time saver and make database use so much easier.

As both speakers who have come to our class have said, the drawing programs we use to complete our projects are really just databases with a graphical interface. If you break it down far enough, every click is really just using a giant algorithm to find what you want out of the databases and present it to you in a way that is easy for you to understand. If you connect the dots, that means that the drawing programs we use to make these incredible projects, are really just glorified excel programs. This idea may be mind blowing at first, but just remember, everything the computer does breaks down into 1s and 0s eventually.

So if databases are the source behind even complex drawing programs, I think it is very important to have a way of quickly and easily changing the information that is stored inside them. SQL is the standard for the ANSI which means interoperability may be possible if the language to talk between databases as the basic level is the same, maybe one day they will become better at communicating at higher levels too.

Sources:

http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_intro.asp
http://www.sqlcourse.com/intro.html

Use of Databases in Design Office

Possibly one of the most popular database programs that has found its use in a typical architectural firm is a relational database management system (RDBMS). The program lets its user to create, update, and administer relational databases that have numerous benefits for designers compared to traditional construction specifications in word processing. Traditionally, these files are organized into individual flat files and grouped into numbered sections. This kind of a structural system increases the likehood of errors, since the files have to be duplicated from section to section. It is also impossible to link individual files together or rearrange them.

The use of relational databases solved many issues for an architect or an architectural engineer. Using word processing specification program, formatting and editing becomes very time consuming and full of errors. With the use of RDBMS, creating and manipulating project specifications may be accomplished in half the time. Generally, RDBMS is able to simplify the entire design process, keep coordination notes in order, and reference standards up to date.

Another area of project design that has found the use of relational databases to be significantly beneficial is cost estimating. Engineers are now able to save time and money in the process, while producing a better quality product. In the database system, each element and each crew are linked to various assemblies; however, the data for each is entered only once. This system has much better efficiency and may be updated much faster. As the project being developed, the relational database allows to refine and update the progress easily and save the time pricing elements that haven’t been added yet.

After reading Issa’s post on the use of relational databases in construction firms, it seems that there are a lot of similarities. Both industries found the use of databases extremely advantages improving the efficiency and productivity while providing huge economic benefits.

http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=12&C=838&P=5