Section: Vocabulary

Vocabulary / Main Concepts

Database:

an organized collection of information

DBMS:

Database Management System. A software application designed to help users create, maintain, and manipulate databases.

User:

The person who uses a database. The user generally does not worry about the design of the database, ot its components.

Developer:

The person who designs a database and its complement of forms, reports, and other support materials.

Record:

The central entity in a database. One record describes one discrete element.

Field:

A detail of a record. A field is usually assigned a data type, and sometimes a length. A number of fields make up a record.

Table:

A collection of like records. All the records in the table will have the same field definitions, but different field values.

Data types:

The type of organization used to translate binary values into a more useful type such as real numbers, dates, and text.

Integers:

The whole numbers including zero and negative numbers. (No fractions or decimal values)

Real Numbers:

Integers and decimal vaules. Often DBMSs will have single and double precision real numbers available.

Logical Fields:

A datatype defined by a yes / no, true/false value. Also referred to as binary or boolean fields.

Index:

A sorting and searching tool organized by one or more key fields.

Key Field:

A field used as part of an index. The first one used is often called the primary key

Data Definition:

The process of creating a new database, especially the record definitions. Only the developer does this.

Data Manipulation:

The process of adding new information to the database. This may be done by the developer and / or the user.

Querying:

Requesting a subset of the database in terms of the values of fields. Queries involve comparing some field or fields to some value or values.

Reporting:

The process of creating specially designed output of the database. Often tied to a specific query.

Flat - File:

A type of database characterized by one table only. These are sufficient for much home use, but are not powerful enough for many business applications.

Relational:

A type of database characterized by multiple tables. The tables are different, but related. They may have common fields, or other types of relationships.