DATABASES, DATA and INFORMATION

ASSALAMUALAIKUM

DATABASE - Collection of data organized in a manner that allows access, retrieval and use of that data.

DATA - Collection of unprocessed items, for example, text, numbers, images, audio and video.

INFORMATION - Processed data, organized , meningful and useful.

• A field is a combination of one or more related characters. Field name, size and data type.

A record is a group of related fields - primary key is a field that uniquely identifies each record.

Query is a request for specific data from database

• A form is a window on the screen that provides areas for entering or modifying data in a database.
• A report writer allows users to design a report on screen, retrieve data into the report design and then display or print the report.

Disadvantages of database approach:

- can be more complex than a file processing system
- require more memory and processing power
- data can be more vulnerable