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In a database, a table is a collection of related data organized in table format; consisting of columns and rows. In relational databases , and flat file databases , a table is a set of data elements (values) using a model of vertical columns (identifiable by name) and horizontal rows , the cell being the unit where a row and column intersect ...
The flat (or table) model consists of a single, two-dimensional array of data elements, where all members of a given column are assumed to be similar values, and all members of a row are assumed to be related to one another. For instance, columns for name and password that might be used as a part of a system security database.
It is a tuple (pair) that consists of a key–value pair, where the key is mapped to a value that is a set of columns. In analogy with relational databases, a standard column family is as a "table", each key–value pair being a "row". [1] Each column is a tuple consisting of a column name, a value, and a timestamp. [2]
A column family is a database object that contains columns of related data. It is a tuple (pair) that consists of a key–value pair , where the key is mapped to a value that is a set of columns. In analogy with relational databases, a column family is as a "table", each key-value pair being a "row".
A column may contain text values, numbers, or even pointers to files in the operating system. [2] Columns typically contain simple types, though some relational database systems allow columns to contain more complex data types, such as whole documents, images, or even video clips. [3] [better source needed] A column can also be called an attribute.
A relation is in first normal form if and only if no attribute domain has relations as elements. [1] Or more informally, that no table column can have tables as values. Database normalization is the process of representing a database in terms of relations in standard normal forms, where first normal is a minimal requirement.
For example, a table of 128 rows with a Boolean column requires 128 bytes a row-oriented format (one byte per Boolean) but 128 bits (16 bytes) in a column-oriented format (via a bitmap). Another example is the use of run-length encoding to encode a column.
Columns with an atomic data type (e.g., numeric, varchar or datetime columns) can be designated as sparse simply by including the word SPARSE in the column definition of the CREATE TABLE statement. Sparse columns optimize the storage of NULL values (which now take up no space at all) and are useful when the majority records in a table will have ...