Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Thus, the "relation" in "relational database" refers to the various tables in the database; a relation is a set of tuples. The columns enumerate the various attributes of the entity (the employee's name, address or phone number, for example), and a row is an actual instance of the entity (a specific employee) that is represented by the relation.
A database object is a structure for storing, managing and presenting application- or user-specific data in a database. Depending on the database management system (DBMS), many different types of database objects can exist. [1] [2] The following is a list of the most common types of database objects found in most relational databases (RDBMS):
SQL term Relational database term Description Row: Tuple or record: A data set representing a single item Column: Attribute or field: A labeled element of a tuple, e.g. "Address" or "Date of birth" Table: Relation or Base relvar: A set of tuples sharing the same attributes; a set of columns and rows View or result set: Derived relvar
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 similar comment applies to the rows of an SQL table. Under the definition of heading, the attributes of an element do not appear in any particular order either, nor, therefore do the elements of a tuple. A similar comment does not apply here to SQL, which does define an ordering to the columns of a table.
Database design is the organization of data according to a database model. The designer determines what data must be stored and how the data elements interrelate. With this information, they can begin to fit the data to the database model. [1] A database management system manages the data accordingly.
In object-oriented programming, classes can contain attributes and methods. An attribute in a relational database can be represented as a column or field. In computing, an attribute is a specification that defines a property of an object, element, or file. It may also refer to or set the specific value for a given instance of such.
However, unlike rows and columns in a table, a relation's attributes and tuples are unordered. A relation consists of a heading and a body. The heading defines a set of attributes, each with a name and data type (sometimes called a domain). The number of attributes in this set is the relation's degree or arity. The body is a set of tuples.