Final answer:
Option c is the correct answer; it describes a scenario where a bike mechanic wants to see all parts in inventory regardless of their use, which is a perfect use case for an outer join in a database context.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is option c which states: when a bike mechanic wants to see all bike parts in their inventory, whether they are being utilized for a particular bike model or not. An outer join is suitable in situations where you need to see all records from one table regardless of whether there are matching entries in the linked table. In the case of the bike mechanic, using a left outer join between the parts and the bikes tables would allow them to see all parts, even those not currently assigned to a bike model in the database. This provides a complete overview of the inventory without excluding any items due to the absence of a relation to the bike models.
An outer join is a database operation that allows you to include unmatched rows from one table in the result set. In this case, the bike mechanic wants to see all bike parts in their inventory, regardless of whether they are being utilized for a particular bike model or not. By using an outer join, they can retrieve all the bike parts, including those that are not currently being utilized.
For example, if the bike mechanic has a table with all the bike parts in their inventory and another table with the bike models they are currently working on, they can perform an outer join to get a complete list of all bike parts in their inventory, including any parts that are not being used for any bike model.