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8/18/06

Glossary of Database Terms

Ad hoc Query - See: Query, Ad Hoc. Aggregate - A single [summary] fields value, based on results calculated from values found in like fields across an entire set or subset of records; typically counts, sums, averages, first, last, minimum and maximum. See also: Field, Summary. Append - Similar to import; copying all or a subset of records from one table, and adding them to another. See also: Import. Atomic [Level] - The lowest level of data granularity. See also: Granularity. Attribute - Describes the value found in each field in a table. Every field or column in a database table represents a single attribute of that table. (An attribute is what the data in that field represents, while the value is the actual data that a specific field contains. See also: Value. Attribute, Computed - See also: Calculated Field. Back End - That part of a DBMS that interacts directly with the database; Server. Base Query - See: Query, Base. Browse - A way of displaying multiple records from a table, or set of related tables, in a tabular format wherein rows display records and columns display fields, like a spreadsheet; aka Browse Table. Calculated Field See: Attribute, Computed. Case; Casing - To designate which characters in an alpha string will be uppercase and which will be lowercase. Common casing methods include: uppercase all characters; lowercase all characters; uppercase first character of the string; uppercase the first character of each word (space-separated substrings) contained (aka called Proper case); lowercase the entire string, then uppercase the first character; or lowercase the entire string, then uppercase the first character of each word. Case-Sensitive - To be aware of the case of character values. In this context, SPUD, Spud and spud would all be considered as different strings, so the case-sensitivity of a function or query will influence the values they will return. Catalog - A catalog is a named collection of schemas used with really large databases where even multiple schemas may not prove sufficient to maintain a distinction between tables. The catalog also contains the information schema, which holds the system tables that in turn hold the metadata associated with other contained schemas. See also: Schema. Child Table - See: Table, Child.
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Client - That part of a DBMS that displays information on the screen and responds to user input (the front-end). Client/Server System - A multi-user system in which a central processor (server) is connected to multiple intelligent user workstations (clients). Collation - A set of rules that determine how strings of characters compare with one another. Every character set has a default collation. In the default collation of the ASCII character set, for example, * comes before 1, 1 comes before 2, A comes before and B comes before C etc. Column - Synonymous with field. See also: Field and Attribute. Commit - Decision to proceed with the actual posting of a change to the database. Composite Key - See: Key, Composite. Composite Record - See: Record, Composite. Concatenation - Linking a consecutive series of field values, strings or a combination of both together in order to build a data item or field value (e.g. concatenating City + comma + space + State + space + ZIP Code to form the last line of an address). Conceptual View - The schema of a database. See also: Schema. Concurrent Access - Two or more users operating on the same records in the same database table at the same time. Consolidation - Also known as merging (mailing list terminology), consolidation is merging various data sets into a single master set, standardizing table structure, data types, fields and their values. Constraints - Data restrictions specified in a database; rules that determine what values the field to the table can assume. Criterion (pl. criteria) - A characteristic or limitation applied to a fields values in order to select qualifying records from a table during a query. Cross-Join - See: Join, Cross. Crosstab - An operation that summarizes juxtaposes field values within two levels of record grouping; specified as a two-dimensional view. Data Acquisition - Data acquisition includes extracting and filtering data from operational and/or legacy systems, consolidating (merging separate and/or disparate tables into one master table); scrubbing the resulting data (restructuring records, translating field values to a common data dictionary, and checking data integrity inconsistency); transforming the data (adding time stamps, dates, summarizing data, and

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deriving new fields); and loading the "clean" data into the warehouse database, as well as updating any warehouse indexes. Data Dictionary - The database stores metadata in an area called the data dictionary, which describes the tables, fields, indexes, constraints, and other related items that make up the database. Data Mart 1) A subset of highly summarized data from the data warehouse designed to support the specific requirements of an organization; 2) A small database warehouse. Data Model - The logical data structures, including operations and constraints provided by the DBMS to effectively process data; system used for the representation of data (the ERD, or relational model). Data Redundancy - Having the same data stored in more than one place in a database. Data Retrieval - Data extraction from disparate sources, most operational, some legacy -- typically in different formats. Data Source - A source of data used by a database application. It maybe a DBMS, table or a data file. Data Structure - A logical relationship among data elements that is designed to support specific data manipulation functions (trees, lists, and tables). Data Transformation - Processing that changes the characteristics of data extracted from the operational system; integrates dissimilar data types; changes codes; and selectively calculates, summarizes, and reconciles disparate update cycles. Data Type - Every field in every table in a database must be declared as a specific type of data with defined parameters and limitations (e.g. numeric, character or text, date, logical, etc.), known as a data type. Database - 1) A collection of all the data needed by a person or organization to perform their required functions, 2) A collection of related files or tables; 3) Any collection of data organized to answer queries; or, 4) [Informally,] a database management system. (Databases usually consist of both data and metadata [data about the databases data]. When a database contains a description of its own structure, it is said to be self-describing. A database is integrated when it includes its relationships among data items as well as the data items themselves.) Database Administrator [DBA] - The person who is ultimately responsible for the functionality, integrity, and safety of the database. Database Engine - That part of the DBMS that directly interacts with the database (part of the back-end). Database Management System [DBMS] - Also called a database manager. An integrated collection of programs designed to enable people to design databases, enter and maintain data, and perform queries.

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Database Manager - 1) The person with primary responsibility for the design, construction, and maintenance of a database. 2) [Informally,] a database management system. Database Warehouse Short: A copy of transaction data specifically structured for query, analysis and reporting. Long: The database warehouse, a single repository depicting a logical view of an enterprise's data, accessible to developers and business users alike. Effective database warehousing requires frequent updates and impeccable data quality to insure business end-users and decision makers are using the same data, at the same extraction level, as everyone else when they run queries and reports or formulate analyses. DBA - See: Database Administrator. DBMS - See: Database Management System. Dedupe - See: Purge; Purging. Denormalization - To place normalized data in a duplicate location, thus optimizing the performance of the system. Distributed Data Processing - A system in which the data processed is distributed across multiple servers. Distributed Database - A database in which resources are stored on more than one computer system, often at different physical locations. Domain - A collection or range of all the possible values a field can contain. Although a fields domain is typically finite, it may be infinite as well. Driver - 1) That part of the database management system that interfaces directly with the database; 2) A special kind of program for Windows that extends other programs' abilities to communicate with external devices or file formats. In the case of databases, a driver would contain information about the format and structure of another manufacturer's files, as well as how to access them either across a network connection or from a third party application. See also: ODBC. Entity - A real-world object, observation, transaction, or person about which data are to be stored in a database. Entity Integrity - A property of a table that is entirely consistent with the real world object data that it represents. See also: Entity. Entity, Major - Database table(s). Each major entity has a set of associated attributes, which translate into the columns of the table.

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Export - An operation that takes data from a database or table and creates an export file, containing only data, in a simply structured and easily read form that can be imported by other applications into their native data file format. See also: Import. Expression - An SQL statement that returns a value. Extraction - The process of selecting data from one environment and transporting it to another environment. See also: Data Transformation. Field - Synonymous with column. A component of a relation or table that holds a single attribute of that relation or table. See also: Column and Attribute. Field Migration [DB Asst] - A process that determines whether or not if a fields value is consistent with its stated attribute and, if not, moves it or exchanges that with that of the appropriate field(s). Field, Aggregate - A field, containing a value based on the calculated contents of an entire set of records. See also: Aggregate and Field, Summary. Field, Calculated - Synonymous with computed attribute, for which the value is calculated from those contained in other fields. Usually, computed fields values are calculated from other fields values that occur in the same record, while those that derive their values from across groups of records are more often termed summary fields which, in turn, contain aggregate values (See also: Field, Summary and Field, Aggregate). While calculated fields can be stored in tables, they are often generated when needed. Field, Linking - A field used to establish the link between a parent and a child table. Field, Summary - A calculated field that uses multiple records to compute produce counts, totals, averages, first, last, minimum, maximum and other Field, Transaction [DB Asst] - Ad hoc field that DB Assistant uses for performing calculations or temporarily storing data during data processing operations. Transaction fields can be assigned names by DB Assistant (by default) or specified by the user. Transaction field values can be saved or discarded when processing is concluded, and the working file is saved or exported. File - 1) The separately named unit of storage for all data, programs and indexes on most computer systems. For example, a table or a whole database may be stored in one file; 2) Term used as a synonym for relation or table in some database managers [usually smaller or older], like dBase, FoxPro, Alpha Four/Five, etc. File, Flat - A collection of data records having minimal structure. Because the flat file system has no metadata, applications written to work with flat files must contain the equivalent of the metadata as part of the application itself. Filter - Synonymous with persistent query. See also: Query, Persistent.

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Filter; Filtering - The act of choosing particular records while filtering out others; also referred to as selecting. See also: Select; Selection. Flat File - See: File, Flat. Foreign Key See: Key, Foreign. Front End - That part of the DBMS that interacts directly with the user; Client. Full Outer Join - See: Join, Full Outer. Function, Summary - Performs operations such as total or average, across multiple records in a table or relationship, enabling you to summarize field values within the specified level of record grouping. See also: Aggregate and Grouping Level. Functional Dependency - A relationship between or among fields where one field is functionally dependent on another if the value of the second field determines the value of the first. (If you know the value of the second, you can determine the value of the first.) Granularity - 1) The level of detail contained in a unit of data. The more detail there is, the lower the level of granularity; the less detail there is, the higher the level of granularity; 2) The size of the smallest unit that can be independently locked. (A database may apply locks at the database, table, record, or single field value level.) Ground Query - See: Query, Ground. Grouping Level - The specified level at which a collection of related records, either grouped by index or query is organized. Grouping puts related data together to limit the scope of a sort or calculation by defining the [usually hierarchical] level(s) from which values are taken. Hierarchies - Describe organizational structures and logical parent-child relationships within the data (e.g. global corporation => country => region => district => market => individual store). Historical Perspective - The amount of lag time occurring between the time something happens in any of a database warehouses data sources (i.e. a record is added or updated), and the time at which the results of that change are available in the data warehouse. Implementation - A particular relational DBMS running on a specific hardware platform. Import - An operation by which an application brings data in from a generic source file (from which embedded programming and control characters have been filtered out) and converts it into its own native file format for use. Index - 1) A method used to reorder display or output records in a specific order; 2) A data structure of pointers used to provide rapid, random access to rows in the table.

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Information Schema - See: Schema, Information. Inner Join - See: Join, Inner. Integrity - The property of the database that ensures that the data contained in the database is as accurate and consistent as possible. Join - A relational operator (query) that combines data from multiple tables into a single result table. Tables must have at least one field (sometimes called the join or linking field) in common, so that values from corresponding records in each table are matched up correctly. Join, Cross - Cross joins return all rows from the left table, each row from the left table is combined with all rows from the right table. Cross joins are also called Cartesian products. Join, Full Outer - The full outer join combines the functions of both the left outer join and the right outer join retaining the unmatched record from both. Any time a record has no match in the other table, the selected fields from the other table contain null values. Records resulting from a match between the tables, contain data values from both base tables. Join, Inner - An inner join discards all records from the result table that don't have corresponding records in both source tables, while an outer join preserves unmatched records. Join, Left Outer - The left outer join preserves unmatched records from the left table but discards unmatched records from the right table. (The left table is the one that precedes the keyword JOIN and the right table is the one that follows it.) The resulting set of a left outer join includes all the records from the left table, not just the ones in which the joined columns match, so that when a record in the left table has no matching counterpart in the right table, it contains null values for columns coming from the right table. Join, Outer - Outer joins can be a left, right, or full. Join, Right Outer - A right outer join is the reverse of a left outer join. The right outer join preserves unmatched records from the right table but discards unmatched records from the left table. (The left table is the one that precedes the keyword JOIN and the right table is the one that follows it.) All records from the right table are returned. Null values are returned for the left table any time a right table record has no matching counterpart in the left table. Key - A key is a field, or combination of fields, that uniquely identifies a record in a table. See also: Key, Primary. Key, Candidate 1) One or more fields that will uniquely identify one record in a table; 2) A potential primary key. Key, Composite - A key made up of two or more table columns that, together, guarantee uniqueness, when there is no single column available that can guarantee uniqueness by itself.

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Key, Database - The unique value that exists for each record in a database. The value is often indexed. Key, Foreign - A column or group of columns in a table that corresponds to or references a primary key in another table in the database. A foreign Key need not itself be unique, but must uniquely identify the field or fields in the table that the key references. Key, Linking - A field value used to establish the link between a parent and a child table. See also: Table, Child and Table, Parent. Key, Primary - A field or combination of fields that uniquely identifies each record in a table, so that each record can be uniquely distinguished from every other occurring in the table. A table cannot have more than one primary key, and a primary key, by definition may not contain a null value. Key, Secondary - A key that is not the primary key for a table. Language, Nonprocedural For example, SQL; a computer language in which the programmer cannot dictate in what order a procedure will process its contained commands. Language, Procedural - A computer language that solves a problem by sequentially executing steps in either a linear or loop back procedure (or both) until the operation is completed. Language, Query - A computer language that enables an end-user to create and run queries that interact directly with a DBMS to retrieve, and possibly modify, the data it contains. Left Outer Join - See: Join, Left Outer. Link - A connection between two tables that have related data. Linking Field - See: Field, Linking. Linking Key - See: Key, Linking. Lock, Read - An imposed access barrier that allows a user to query and view all or part of a database, but not to modify it. Some database management systems will allow many users to have simultaneous read locks. Lock, Write - A lock that allows the user to read and to modify the database. Write locks almost always imply exclusive control of the database so that other users will not be allowed to have either active read or write locks as long as one write lock is operational. Lock; Locking - Reserving the use of a database, table, record, or other collection of data for access by one user at any one time to prevent the resulting anomalous database behavior when, for example, one user reads or modifies data in a record which is in the process of being modified by another user. Major Entity - See: Entity, Major. Many-to-Many Relationship - See: Relationship, Many-to-Many.

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Master Table - See: Table, Master. Matchcode - Primarily used for identifying duplicate records either contained in the same table, or shared between several tables or lists. A specialized composite key, a matchcode is typically a collection of name and address components that best represent the unique identity of each whole record and the entity it represents. A matchcode might consist of combined First Name, Last Name, Company, Address and ZIP Code field elements, concatenated into matchcode keys, which can be compared during the deduping or purging process. Merging - See: Consolidation. Metabase [DB Asst] - The metabase is an internal DB Assistant component (although technically an external database) that stores metadata, tasks, and system configuration variables, required by DB Assistant, as well as all imported and created tables. Metadata - Data about data and the datas structure within a database. Technical metadata reflects the description of the structure, content, keys, and indexes of data and their source of origin, while business metadata reflects definitions about measures (facts) using calculations. Migration, Field [DB Asst] - See: Field Migration. Negation - Specifying that a query is to select all records except those that have a particular value for a given field. Such queries are often unsafe, and many databases do not support negation. Nested Query - See: Query, Nested. Normal Form - 1) A condition of tables and databases intended to reduce data redundancy and improve performance; 2) Rules and processes for putting tables and databases into normal form. Normalization - 1) The process of breaking up a table into multiple tables, each of which has a single theme, thereby reducing data redundancy; 2) The technique that reduces or eliminates the possibility that a database is subject to modification anomalies. See also: Data Redundancy. Null; Null Value - If a field contains a data item, that has a specific value. A field that does not contain a data item is said to have a null value. In a numeric field, a null value is not the same as a value of zero; in a character field, a null value is not the same as a blank -- both the numeric zero and blank character are definite values. A null value indicates that the that the fields value is undefined -- it's value is not known. ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) - A Microsoft-developed standard for database software from different manufacturers and on different computers that enables users to share data through ODBC drivers (or translators). ODBC is defined by an international (ISO) and a national (ANSI) standard. The most recent version is called SQL-92. (There are now at least 4 different ODBC "standards", and not every software maker's implementation is fully compatible with all the others.)

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OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) - The OLAP Council defines online analytical processing as, "A category of software technology that enables analysis, managers and executives to gain insight into data through fast, consistent, interactive access to wide variety of possible views of information that have been transformed from raw data to reflect the real dimensionality of the enterprise as understood by the user." One-to-Many Relationship - See: Relationship, One-to-Many. One-to-One Relationship - See: Relationship, One-to-One. Online Analytical Processing - See OLAP. Open Database Connectivity - See: ODBC. Operation A defined process that modifies data, performs calculations using data, imports or exports data, or otherwise manipulates data in some way. See also: Task. Operational Processing - Systems that run the day-to-day business for companies. Outer Join - See: Join, Outer. Parent Table - See: Table, Parent. Parse; Parsing - Intelligently separating a field value or string into its component parts (e.g. parsing a Full Name into its five characteristic components: Prefix, First Name, Middle Name [or Initial], Last Name and Suffix). The opposite action is called concatenation. Partial Dependency - The value of a non-key field is dependent on only part of the key (usually on one field of a multi-field key). Persistent Query - See: Query, Persistent. Post; Posting - An operation that adds, subtracts or replaces values in one table using values in another. Primary Key - See: Key, Primary. Procedural Language - See: Language, Procedural. Project [DB Asst] In DB Assistants context, a project is central operational denominator, that encapsulates, and saves for reuse, a user defined assortment of tables, tasks, results and reports. Purge; Purging - Also called deduping by the mailing industry, purging, removes duplicate records from within a single file, table (or mailing list), or those shared among several files, tables or lists. See also: Matchcode. QBE - Query-By-Example, a tabular language for expressing queries, in which sketching an abbreviated schema of the output specifies a query desired, along with any criteria that should be applied to the fields desired.

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Query - 1) Literally, a question you ask about data in the database in the form of a command, written in a query language, defining sort order and selection, that is used to generate an ad hoc list of records; 2) The output subset of data produced in response to a query. Query Language - See: Language, Query. Query Resolution - The process of collecting the data needed to answer a query. Query, Ad hoc - A temporary query for which neither the criteria nor resulting output are saved. Query, Base - Same as a ground query. Query, Ground - A query in which all of the fields are taken directly from tables; none are taken from the output of other queries. Query, Nested - A statement that contains one or more sub queries. Query, Persistent - A query that is stored for reuse. Query, Recursive - A query from which output is then used as input for the same query. Query, Sub - A query contained within another query, usually hierarchically larger in scope. Query, Unsafe - A query in which the output is possibly infinite. This most often occurs in queries which are recursive or which contain negation. Such queries are disallowed by many database management systems to prevent unsafe queries. Query-By-Example - See: QBE. RDBMS [Relational Database Management System] - An integrated collection of programs designed to enable people to construct relational databases, enter and maintain data, and perform queries. Read Lock - See: Lock, Read. Record Synonymous with row and tuple. An instance of data in a table, a record is a collection of all the facts related to one physical or conceptual entity; often referring to a single object or person, usually represented as a row of data in a table, and sometimes referred to as a tuple in some, particularly older, database management systems. Record, Composite - A view or browse table row that includes fields from more than one linked table; typically a combination of parent and child table fields. Recursive Query - See: Query, Recursive. Referential Integrity 1) A series of rules that defines and manages the link between parent and child records; 2) A state in which all the tables in the database are consistent with each other; 3) The facility of any DBMS that ensures the validity of predefined relationships.

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Relation - Synonymous with table. Mostly used in large DBMS terminology, a relation is the basic collection of data in a relational database, usually represented as a two-dimensional array of rows and columns (records and fields), containing single value entries, and no duplicate rows. See also: Table. Relational Database Management System - See: RDMS. Relationship, Many-to-Many - One or more records in one table may be related to one or more records in a second table by a common value or linking (join) field. This implies that each value of the linking field may appear any number of times in either or both tables. Relationship, One-to-Many - Exactly one record in one table is related by a common linking field to one or more records in another table, implying that each value of the linking field is unique in the first table, but not necessarily so in the second. Relationship, One-to-One - Exactly one record in one table is related by a common linking field to exactly one record in another table, implying that each value of the linking field appears no more than once in each of the tables. Restructure To alter the basic architecture of a table including: number of fields, their names, order, data types and sizes. Right Outer Join - See: Join, Right Outer. Rolling Summary - See: Summary, Rolling. Row - Synonymous with record and tuple. See also: record. Running A Query More commonly used term for query resolution. Schema - 1) The databases metadata -- the structure of an entire database, which specifies, among other things, the tables, their fields, and their domains. In some database systems, the linking or join fields are also specified as part of the schema; 2) The description of a single table. Also called a Logical Schema. Schema, Information - The system tables, which hold the databases metadata. Schema, Logical - See: Schema. Scope - The formal definition of what the boundaries of the system being modeled and/or developed are and are not. Scrubbing - The cleaning of data to remove any inconsistencies or inaccuracies. Secondary Key - See: Key, Secondary. Select; Selection - A query in which only some of the records in the source table appear in the output.

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SEQUEL - The data sub language, created by IBM, that was SQLs precursor. Originally an acronym for Structured English Query Language, it was shortened by its developers to SQL (Structured Query Language). See also: SQL. Server - The part of a client/server system that holds the database (the back end). The server also holds the server portion of the database management system. Sort; Sorting - The act of putting records in a particular order. SOUNDEX - A function that returns an alphanumeric value for a given word. Used to compare similarly sounding or similarly spelled words, its commonly employed for identifying duplicate records in tables. SQL - Pronounced Sequel, it stands for Structured Query Language, the standard format for commands that most database software understands. There are different dialects, since every program handles certain types of data differently, but the core commands are always the same. ODBC uses SQL as the "Lingua Franca" to transfer information between databases. Currently accepted ANSI standard is SQL-92. Staging Area - A work area (e.g. a working file) where data is transitionally processed, validated, and tested to ensure that the transformed data has no errors before being copied or exported to the database warehouse or data mart. Strategy - A systematic and elaborate plan of action. See also: Tactics. String - A sequence of alphanumeric characters. Structure - The basic architecture of a table including: number of fields, their names, sequence, data types and sizes. Structured Query Language [SQL] - See: SQL. Sub Query - See: Query, Sub. Summarize; Summarizing - The data resulting from the retrieval, consolidation, and scrubbing processes must be summarized to obtain reasonable query response times. Summary Field - See: Field, Summary. Summary Function - See: Function, Summary. Summary, Rolling - A form of storing archival data where the most recent data has the most details stored, and data that is older has fewer details stored. Table - Synonymous with relation. A collection of data organized into records and fields (aka rows and columns), with fields being descriptions of the kinds of information contained in each record (attributes); and records being specific instances usually referring to specific objects or persons (entities). See also: Relation and Attribute.

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Table, Child - A table that is linked directly or indirectly to a primary or parent table in a set of tables; often in a many-to-one relationship (e.g. a child table of customer transactions is linked in a many-to-one relationship with a parent table containing customers). See also: Table, Parent. Table, Master - The table being acted upon (i.e. altered) during an operation. Some operations involve only the master table, while others, such as posting, may also involve a transaction table that provides input data for the operation. Table, Parent The table to which a child table is linked; often in a one-to-many relationship (e.g. a parent table of customers is linked in a one-to-many relationship with a child table containing customer transactions). See also: Table, Child. Table, Transaction - A table that contains data used in changing or updating (i.e. by adding, subtracting or replacing) field values in another table; usually called the master table. Transaction tables are typically used in posting operations or as lookup tables. See also: Table, Master. Table, Virtual Synonymous with view. See also: View. Tactics 1) A plan for attaining a particular goal or achieving the objectives set by a strategy; 2) The method(s) used in the implementation of a strategy. See also: Strategy. Task [DB Asst] 1) DB Assistants term for operation; 2) The operation itself. See also: Operation. Template, Transformation [DB Asst] - A user defined, reusable template that defines how a field value will be transformed, scrubbed, cased or updated during the transformation process. Template, Validation [DB Asst] - A user defined, reusable template that defines a field values constraints. Transaction - 1) The fundamental unit of change in many (transaction-oriented) databases. A single transaction may involve changes in several tables, all of which must be made simultaneously in order for the database to be internally consistent and correct; 2) A real-life event which is modeled by the changes to the database; 3) The sequence of SQL statements whose effect is not accessible to other transactions until all of its statements have been executed. Transaction Field - See: Field, Transaction. Transaction Table - See: Table, Transaction. Transformation - See: Data Transformation. Transformation Template [DB Asst] See: Template, Transformation [DB Asst]. Transitive Dependency - The value of one non-key field is dependent on the value of one or more other non-key fields.

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Tuple - Used as a synonym for record or row in some (particularly older) database management systems. See also: Record. Unsafe Query - See: Query, Unsafe. Validation - Verification that a fields value doesnt violate any constrains defined for it by the database. Validation Template [DB Asst] - See Template, Validation [DB Asst]. Value - The computer representation of a fact about an entity View - A database component that behaves exactly like a table but has no independent existence of its own; a virtual table. Virtual Table - Synonymous with view. See also: Table, Virtual and View. Write Lock - See: Lock, Write.

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