CSCI 403 Database Management

Spring 2018

Project 1: Connect

(Back to Projects)

Purpose

Overview

For this course, you will be using a PostgreSQL database which lives on my server. Most of your assignments, if not all, will require that you connect to this database server and execute queries against it. This assignment will walk you through the basics of connecting to the server and running a simple query. You will also change your password on the server.

You should already have an account on the database if you are registered for the course. You should have received emails giving you your account credentials. If you haven't received these, please let me know ASAP!

There are several ways to connect to the database. For this course I have provided instructions (see the help page) on how to use psql (a command line client) or SQuirreL SQL (a GUI database tool built on Java) to connect to the database. Later in the semester, you will learn how to connect and run queries on the database from within Python or Java code.

Your goal for this project is to: 1) install a SQL client, 2) run the client and connect to the database using your credentials, 3) change your password, and 4) run a simple SELECT query and report the results.


Details

  1. See the help page for info on how to acquire, install, and use psql or SQuirreL SQL.
  2. Connect to the database using psql or SQuirreL SQL.
  3. Change your password by executing the following query (replacing the italicized bits!):
    4.         ALTER ROLE yourid PASSWORD 'newpassword';
  4. Test your password by exiting your client and reconnecting.
  5. Execute the following SQL query and copy the text result:
    6.         SELECT * FROM project1;
  6. (Optional) Explore the client software to see what other things you can do or learn about the database.

Grading:

Change your password 10 points
Run a simple query 10 points
README 5 points
Total: 25 points

Documentation:

README:

You do not need to submit a README for this assignment (unless you want to give some feedback on the assignment).

Submit a zip file on Canvas containing: