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The word 'field' is normally used interchangeably with 'column'. [5] However, database perfectionists tend to favor using 'field' to signify a specific cell of a given row. [citation needed] This is to enable accuracy in communicating with other developers. Columns (really column names) being referred to as field names (common for each row ...
Fields may be stored in a random access file. [7] A file may be written to or read from in an arbitrary order. To accomplish the arbitrary access, the operating system provides a method to quickly seek around the file. [8] Once the disk head is positioned at the beginning of a record, each file field can be read into its corresponding memory field.
The database design documented in these schemas is converted through a Data Definition Language, which can then be used to generate a database. A fully attributed data model contains detailed attributes (descriptions) for every entity within it. The term "database design" can describe many different parts of the design of an overall database ...
The database schema is the structure of a database described in a formal language supported typically by a relational database management system (RDBMS). The term " schema " refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divided into database tables in the case of relational databases ).
A sort field keeps sibling records in a particular order. Hierarchical structures were widely used in the early mainframe database management systems, such as the Information Management System (IMS) by IBM, and now describe the structure of XML documents. This structure allows one-to-many relationship between two types of data.
The terms data dictionary and data repository indicate a more general software utility than a catalogue. A catalogue is closely coupled with the DBMS software. It provides the information stored in it to the user and the DBA, but it is mainly accessed by the various software modules of the DBMS itself, such as DDL and DML compilers, the query optimiser, the transaction processor, report ...
Formally, a "database" refers to a set of related data accessed through the use of a "database management system" (DBMS), which is an integrated set of computer software that allows users to interact with one or more databases and provides access to all of the data contained in the database (although restrictions may exist that limit access to particular data).
The following is provided as an overview of and topical guide to databases: Database – organized collection of data, today typically in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality (for example, the availability of rooms in hotels), in a way that supports processes requiring this information (for example, finding a hotel with vacancies).