ALMIS Database Fundamentals

Topics ALMIS Database History Table Layout How to read a table definition Table constraints and Triggers Core Tables Table Load Order Structure Changes

ALMIS IS:

America’s Labor Market

Information System

The ALMIS System is:

A Joint effort between the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor and the States to:

- conduct research, - develop products, and - deliver Information

to job seekers, employers, economic developers, planners and other users.

What is the ALMISDatabase?

In Computer Terminology:

The ALMIS Database is a Normalized, Relational Database Structure, Developed for the Storage and Maintenance of Labor

Market, Economic, Demographic and Occupational Information.

History of the ALMIS Database

ALMIS Database Version 1.0 Originated from Two Existing Databases

_NOICC’s Occupational Labor Market Information Database or OLMID

_North Carolina’s Human Resource Information System Database

History continues …

- August 1996 : Work Began on the ALMIS Database structure

- April 1997: ALMIS Database Structure Version 1.0 Delivered to States

- Spring 1997: Formation of the ALMIS Database Maintenance Consortium

- Summer 1998: Definition and Release of “Core Tables” under the P/Y 1998 One Stop LMI Grant

What Kinds of Information are Included in the ALMIS Database?

Some of the Types of Information Which Can be Found in an ALMIS Database Include:

- Population - Employment Projections

- Tax Information - Mass Layoffs- Income - Labor Force Estimates- Employment - Sales Tax- Government Transfer Payments and - much more, such as…...

ALMIS Database Structure

The table layout for the ALMIS Database:

Lookup tables Data tables Crosswalk tables Tables of standard field values Administrative tables

Common Relational Database Terms:

A Database is a structured collection of data, stored in tables

A Table is a collection of records related to one another

A Primary Key is a field or combination of fields that uniquely identifies each record in a table

A Foreign Key is when a value in one table matches the primary key of another table

Common Relational Database Terms

Continued: A Data Table is a table consisting of a

collection of data records

- A Look Up Table is a foreign key table

A CrossWalk Table is a table that relates coding structure in the database

An Administrative Table is a table that contains information on the data and tables in the ALMIS Database

HOW TO READ A TABLE DEFINITION

Each table definition contains complete information about the structure of a table. Eachdefinition includes: the name of the table, a complete list of each column name and datatype, complete constraint information, and short descriptions of the columns. Thefollowing illustration identifies each component of a table definition.

areatype A table containing identifiers for the geographic type, i.e., MSA, SDA, county,city, township, etc.

Column Type Constraint Descriptionstfips char(2) Primary Key

1State FIPS code

areatype char(2) Primary Key The code for the geographical area thedata represent.

areatyname varchar2(40) Descriptive title of the areatypeConstraints Information1 Foreign Key references (stfipstb.stfips)

Name oftable.

List of columnnames.

Data type ofcolumn.

Constraint: Specifies whether thiscolumn is part of the Primary Key orparticipates in one or more ForeignKeys. Numbers in this column referto Foreign Keys where more detailedinformation can be found in theConstraints Information section.

Constraints Information:Provides complete informationon each Foreign Key used in thetable. Each note indicateswhich table and columns arebeing referenced.

Short description ofthe data intended forthis column.

Load Order

ALMIS Database Structure Changes

Version 1.1 to 2.3

Number of Tables Added: 36

Number of Tables Changed: 42

Number of Tables Deleted: 11

Number of Tables Unchanged: 72

New Table Elements in 2.3 from 1.1

For Data Tables That Have Changed: CES: benchmark, suppression Empdb: (several fields changed) ESDATA: stattype, esorders, newapp, referrals INDPRJ: nchg, growcode INDUSTRY: firms, m1emp, m2emp, topempav LABFORCE: benchmark LICHIST: licnumtyp MLSCLAIM: claimtyp MLSEVENT: dwvertype *OESWAGE: (entire table) - new core table

New Table Elements in 2.3 from 1.1**continued**

For Data Tables That Have Changed: OCCPRJ: nchg, growcode PROGRAMS: compltyp, progtitle, url SALES: salestyp STFIRMS: lat, long, naicscode, axnaicscd STINDPRJ: nchg, growcode STOCCPRJ: nchg, growcode UICLAIMS: claimtyp, indcode + occcode,

agegroup, racethn, gender *URL: (entire table)-new core table WAGE: periodyr, periodtype, period,

respondent, empcount

TriggersA trigger is a fragment of code that you

tell the server to run before or after a table is modified. A trigger has the power to

INSERT UPDATE DELETE

Why have Triggers?

Why have the Occcode & Indcode tables?

Can not have conditional foreign keys as was happening in the case of the multi-code

fields in many of the ALMIS DB tables.

Can not have a foreign key field lengththat is different than the primary keyit is referencing.

Trigger Example

Action: Insert new soccode “959595” Soccode

table

Trigger fires!

Action: Automaticallyinserts new soccode

“959595”

Occcode table

Core Data Tables

IncomeEmpdbCESIndustryLabforcePopulatn

*Database Administrator may opt to populate one or both of these data tables

Wage*IndprjOccprjIomatrixIncomeLicenseOeswage*

ALMIS Resource Center

Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Iowa Massachusetts Montana

Nebraska Nevada North Carolina Oregon South Carolina Wisconsin ETA NCSC

How to contact ARC: ALMIS Resource Center

c/o Employment Security CommissionOf North Carolina700 Wade Avenue

Raleigh, North Carolina 27611Email: almis@ncmail.net

WWW.almisdb.org