database

database

Collection of data or information organized for rapid search and retrieval, especially by a computer. Databases are structured to facilitate storage, retrieval, modification, and deletion of data in conjunction with various data-processing operations. A database consists of a file or set of files that can be broken down into records, each of which consists of one or more fields. Fields are the basic units of data storage. Users retrieve database information primarily through queries. Using keywords and sorting commands, users can rapidly search, rearrange, group, and select the field in many records to retrieve or create reports on particular aggregates of data according to the rules of the database management system being used.

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A set of related files that is created and managed by a database management system (DBMS). Today, DBMSs can manage any form of data including text, images, sound and video. Database and file structures are always determined by the software. As far as the hardware is concerned, it's all bits and bytes.

The Database

To better understand data and file concepts, learn the hierarchy and terms in this drawing.

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1.	(database)	database - One or more large structured sets of persistent data, usually associated with software to update and query the data. A simple database might be a single file containing many records, each of which contains the same set of fields where each field is a certain fixed width. A database is one component of a database management system. See also ANSI/SPARC Architecture, atomic, blob, data definition language, deductive database, distributed database, fourth generation language, functional database, object-oriented database, relational database. Carol E. Brown's tutorial.
2.	(hypertext)	database - A collection of nodes managed and stored in one place and all accessible via the same server. Links outside this are "external", and those inside are "internal". On the World-Wide Web this is called a website.
3.		database - All the facts and rules comprising a logic programming program.