What Is A Database - MACROMEDIA COLDFUSION MX 61-DEVELOPING COLDFUSION MX Develop Manual

What is a database?

A database defines a structure for storing information. Databases are typically organized into
tables, which are collections of related items. You can think of a table as a grid of columns and
rows. ColdFusion MX works primarily with relational databases, such as Oracle, DB2, and SQL
Server.
The following figure shows the basic layout of a database table:
row
A column defines one piece of data stored in all rows of the table. A row contains one item from
each column in the table.
For example, a table might contain the ID, name, title, and other information for individuals
employed by a company. Each row, called a data record, corresponds to one employee. The value
of a column within a record is referred to as a record field.
The following figure shows an example table, named employees, containing information about
company employees:
The record for employee 4 contains the following field values:
•
LastName field is "Smith"
•
FirstName field is "John"
•
Title field is "Engineer"
This example uses the EmpID field as the table's primary key field. The primary key contains a
unique identifier to maintain each record's unique identity. Primary keys field can include an
employee ID, part number, or customer number. Typically, you specify which column contains
the primary key when you create a database table.
412 Chapter 19: Introduction to Databases and SQL
column
employees table