Tables, Columns and Rows
Databases are usually defined as a collection of tables. Tables consist of a set of named columns of a specific data type and length. The data in the tables are called rows.
The interface message names of Data Dictionaries use the following terminology to describe databases:
- File – A File refers to a table.
- Field – A Field refers to a table’s column.
- Record – A Record refers to a row of data from a single table.
The Data Dictionary messages use File, Field, and Record in their interface names. Some examples of this are Main_File, Field_Option, File_Field_Current_Value, and OnNewCurrentRecord.
While the documentation will use some of these terms interchangeably, the normal use of terms will be:
- Table – Table is used when referring to database tables. You should only see the word “file” in the actual interface messages.
- Field – Field is used when referring to table columns and is used when referring to the entity in the Data Dictionary that defines a column. A Data Dictionary maintains structures of information about each table’s column such as values, labels, and options (
Field_Current_Value,Field_Label,Field_Option). These will be referred to as fields within the Data Dictionary. - Record – Record is used to refer to a row of data from a table.