Progress
Results User’s Guide
for Windows
Database Basics
A database is a collection of data organized in logically related tables that can be accessed or retrieved. A table is a collection of logically related records organized into rows and columns. One way to understand how a database works is to think of it as an electronic filing system because is organizes data in the same manner as a paper filing system.
When setting up a paper filing system, you keep all related information about a subject in a filing cabinet. The database equivalent to a filing cabinet is a table. Both a filing cabinet and a table allow you to group related information in one location. For example, in a paper filing system you might store information about customers in a filing cabinet called Customer. In a database, you store all this information in a Customer table.
How do you organize related information within a filing cabinet? By placing it in folders. In a database, a record functions as a folder. A record is a complete set of related information or data. For example, within the Customer filing cabinet, you would find folders for each customer. In the Customer table, you would find the records for each customer.
Figure 1–1 compares a paper filing system to a database filing system.
Figure 1–1: Paper Filing System Compared to a Database
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For example, if you are running a business called All Around Sports, you might have a sales and inventory database that contains several tables for storing information about your customers, the products they have ordered, and your overall product inventory.
Figure 1–2 shows the database for All Around Sports.
Figure 1–2: Relationship Between a Database and Its Tables
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