Database Functionality

Database Functionality

General features of a database

At least one database application in your chosen career

A database is a tool for collecting and organizing information. Databases can store information about people, products, orders, and so on. The creation of many databases begins with the definition of a list in a word processing program or a spreadsheet. As the list develops, redundancies and inconsistencies begin to appear within the data. These become more difficult to understand in the form of a list, and methods for searching or retrieving subsets of data for consultation purposes are limited. When these problems occur, it is recommended to transfer the data to a database created by a database management system (DBMS), such as Access.

A computerized database is a container of objects. A database can contain multiple tables. For example, a three-table stock tracking system does not correspond to three databases, but to a database containing three tables.

An overview of the major objects in an Access database

There are three major objects in an Access database.

A database table is comparable to a spreadsheet, as long as data is stored in rows and columns. Therefore, it is usually easy to import a spreadsheet into a database table. The main difference between storing your data in a spreadsheet and in a database is the organization of data

The forms allow you to create a user interface where you can enter and edit your data.

The reports are used to format, synthesize and present the data. Reports usually answer a specific question. Each report can be formatted to present information in the most readable way possible.

Requests can perform various functions in a database. Most often, they are used to retrieve table-specific data. The data you want to display is usually scattered across tables, so requests let you view them in a single data sheet.

In Access, macros are a simplified programming language that you can use to add functionality to your database.

Like macros, modules are objects that add functionality to your database. If macros are created in Access by selecting from a list of macro actions, the modules are written in the Visual Basic for Applications programming language.

One database application in your chosen career

PhpMyAdmin is a web-based management application for MySQL database management systems. This interface makes it possible to execute very easily and without great knowledge in the domain of the databases, many queries such as the creation of tables, the insertion, the update, the deletion of data or the structural modification of a database. PhpMyAdmin is also very handy for backing up a database in the form of files, thus easily transfer its data. In addition, the interface accepts the formulation of queries directly in the SQL language, thus making it possible to test its queries during the creation of a site and thus to save precious time.

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