IGCSE ICT Database

Describe what is meant by the terms

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• ​file​

• ​​record

• ​field

• ​key field

​An organised set of data is usually referred to as a database

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​We will use some student data as an example

​The set of data associated with a single object or person is known as a record

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​Here is Jess's Record

​Each student has their own record just like Jess's but with different data

• ​Each student has their own record just like Jess's but with different data​​

• ​The data in each record is different, but each record has the same structure (each one has a name, d.o.b., phone, etc)​

• ​We say that each record contains the same field

​You'll see that each of our student's records contain the same items. These items are known as fields.

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​Each field has a field name (e.g. 'Date of Birth')

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​Each field will contain different data in each of the record (e.g. in Jess's record, the phone field contains 7564356, but in Sita's record the Phone field contains 8565634 - same field, different data values

• ​The field is the box that you would write in

• ​The field name is the label next to the box

• The data is what you would write in the box