Progress
Results User’s Guide
for UNIX
Database Terms
You do not have to know a lot about database structures to use Results, but it is helpful if you are familiar with some database concepts and terminology. This section presents a brief introduction to some important terms. The next section describes those terms in greater detail.
- A database is a collection of tables related to a broad subject area.
- A table is a collection of records related to a specific subject.
- A record is a collection of related information called fields.
- A field is a specific unit of information.
- An index is a field or combination of fields used to rapidly retrieve a particular record in a table. A primary index is the most frequently used index. Each table can have many indexes but only one primary index.
- Related tables are tables that use similar fields to join one table with another. By default, Results relates two tables if one of the tables has a unique index and all fields in that unique index appear in the other table.
Results presents your information, or data, in a logical manner that is similar to how you organize paper files. For example, suppose you have many rooms filled with filing cabinets. To find a piece of data, you need to know:
When you use Results, the terms used are different, but the logical sequence of string and searching for data is similar.
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