Database Processing Fundamentals, Design, and Implementation Glossary

Attribute

(1) A column of a relation; also called a column, field, or data item. (2) A property in an entity

Column

(1) A logical group of bytes in a row of a relation or a table.The meaning of a column is the same for every row of the rela- tion. (2) In a column family database, a (name, value) pair repre- senting a single value in a single row

Callable Statement object

A JDBC object used to invoke data- base compiled queries and stored procedures

Aggregate function

A built-in or user-defined SQL function that operates on a set of column values and returns a single value

Application

A business computer system that processes a portion of a database to meet a users information needs. It consists of menus, forms, reports, queries, Web pages, and application programs

Asterisk (*) wildcard character

A character used in Microsoft Access 2016 queries to represent one or more unspecified char- acters.See also SQL percent sign (%) wildcard character. Also used in SQL as part of the SELECT statement to represent selecting all the fields in a table in lieu of listing each field separately

ADO.NET Data Provider

A class library that provides ADO.NET services. There are Data Providers for ODBC, OLE.DB, SQL Server, and EDM applications

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

A cloud computing environment provided by Amazon.com

Applet

A compiled, machine-independent Java bytecode program that is run by the Java virtual machine embedded in a browser

Base Class Library

A component of the Microsoft .NET Framework that provides support for the programming languages used with the .NET Framework

Client/server architecture

A computer application architecture that divides the application into two parts: the client, which resides on the users device, and the server, which resides on a centralized server computer

Application program

A custom-developed program for processing a database. It can be written in a standard procedural language, such as Java, C#, Visual Basic .NET, or C++, or in a language unique to the DBMS, such as PL/SQL or T-SQL

ADO.NET

A data access technology that is part of Microsofts .NET initiative. ADO.NET provides the capabilities of ADO but with a different object structure. ADO.NET also includes new capabili- ties for the processing of datasets.See also ADO.NET DataSet

Active Server Pages (ASP)

A file containing markup language, server script, and client script that is processed by the Active Server Processor in Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)

Cluster analysis

A form of unsupervised data mining in which statistical techniques identify groups of entities that have similar characteristics

Abstraction

A generalization of something that hides some unim- portant details but enables work with a wider class of types.A recordset is an abstraction of a relation. A rowset is an abstrac- tion of a recordset

Atomic transaction

A group of logically related database opera- tions that is performed as a unit. Either all of the operations are performed or none of them is

ARPANET

A network forerunner of the Internet that was created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency at the Department of Defense in 1969

Column family [NoSQL database category]

A nonrelational database structure based on columns of data. The structure may be based on columns and super columns (aggregates of columns).Columns and super columns can be grouped to created column families

ArangoDB

A nonrelational DBMS product that allows the use of document, key-value, and graph data in one database system. It uses JSON for data storage.See also JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)

AllegroGraph

A nonrelational graph DBMS product

Bigtable

A nonrelational unstructured data store developed by Google

Cassandra

A nonrelational unstructured data store from the Apache Software Foundation

Apple macOS

A personal computer operating system developed by Apple, Inc., and used on Apple personal computers

Apple II

A pioneering PC introduced in 1977 by Apple, Inc

Apple iPad

A pioneering tablet computer introduced in 2010 by Apple, Inc

Apache Web server

A popular Web server that runs on most oper- ating systems, particularly Windows and Linux

Ad-hoc query

A query created by a user as and when needed, as compared to a predefined and stored query

Before image

A record of a database entity (normally a row or a page) before a change. Used in recovery to perform rollback

After image

A record of a database entity (normally a row or a page) after a change. Used in recovery to perform rollforwards

Cascading update

A referential integrity action specifying that when the key of a parent row is updated, the foreign keys of matching child rows should be updated as well

Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)

A relation in which every determinant is a candidate key

Binary relationship

A relationship between exactly two entities or tables

Casual relationship

A relationship that is created without a foreign key constraint. This is useful if the tables are missing data values

ADO.NET DataSet

A representation of data from a database that is stored in computer memory for immediate use. It is distinct and disconnected from the data in the database

Atomic

A set of actions that is completed as a unit. Either all of the actions are completed or none of them is

Application programming interface (API)

A set of program pro- cedures or functions that can be called to invoke a set of services.The API includes the names of the procedures and functions and a description of the name, purpose, and data type of parameters to be provided. For example, a DBMS product can provide a library of functions to call for database services. The names of pro- cedures and their parameters constitute the API for that library

App

A short term for application; normally applied to applications running on tablets and smartphones

Cell phone

A term for a mobile phone, which is a device that connects to the telephone system via radio signals.See also mobile phone

Archetype/instance pattern

A two-object structure that repre- sents multiple versions of a standardized item; for example, a SOFTWARE-PRODUCT (the archetype) and PRODUCT-RELEASE (the version of the archetype). The identifier of the version always includes the identifier of the archetype object

Apple Safari

A web browser developed by Apple, Inc

Cellular network

A wireless telephone network divided into geo- graphical areas named cells

ACID transaction

ACID stands for "atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable." An atomic transaction is one in which all of the database changes are committed as a unit; either all are done or none is.A consistent transaction is one in which all actions are taken against rows in the same logical state. An isolated transaction is one that is protected from changes by other users. A durable transac- tion is one that is permanent after it is committed to the database, regardless of subsequent failures. There are different levels of consistency and isolation.See also statement-level consistency, transaction isolation level, transaction-level consistency

ADO.NET DataReader

An ADO.NET object that is similar to a read-only, forward-only cursor and that can be used only by an ADO.NET Command objects Execute method

AMP

An abbreviation for Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Pearl/Python

Apache Tomcat

An application server that works in conjunction with the Apache Web server.See also Apache Web server

Candidate key

An attribute or group of attributes that identifies a unique row in a relation. One of the candidate keys is chosen to be the primary key

Child

An entity or row on the many side of a one-to-many relationship

ADO.NET Entity Framework

An extension to ADO.NET that sup- ports the Microsoft EDM.See also Entity Data Model (EDM)

.NET for Windows Store Apps

An extension to the .NET framework that supports the applications (apps) developed for Microsoft Windows 8 devices

Active Data Objects (ADO)

An implementation of OLE DB that is accessible via object- and non-object-oriented languages. It is used primarily as a scripting-language (JScript, VBScript) inter- face to OLE DB

Collection

An object that contains a group of other objects. Examples are the ADO Names, Errors, and Parameters collections

Association object

An object that represents the combination of at least two other objects and that contains data about that combination. It is often used in contracting and assignment applications

Android operating system

An operating system (OS) developed by Google and widely used on tablets and smartphones

Anomaly

An undesirable consequence of a data modification. The term is used in normalization discussions. With an insertion anomaly, facts about two or more different themes must be added to a single row of a relation. With a deletion anomaly, facts about two or more themes are lost when a single row is deleted

Association entity

As used in a data model, an entity that links two other entities and contains attributes that apply to the relation- ship between those two entities rather than to either entity itself

Associative entity

As used in a data model, an entity that links two other entities and contains attributes that apply to the relation- ship between those two entities rather than to either entity itself

Association table

As used in a database design, a table that links two other tables and contains columns that apply to the relation- ship between those two tables rather than to either table itself

Action

As used in this book, a shorter term for minimum cardinality enforcement action.See also minimum cardinality enforcement action

Click-stream data

Data about a customers clicking behavior on a Web page; such data are often analyzed by e-commerce companies

Character strings

Database data composed of letters, numbers and special characters such as @, #, $, and %

Bytecode interpreter

For an application written in Java, the pro- gram used by a specific operating system to execute the applica- tion. Bytecode interpreters are known as Java virtual machines

Base domain

In IDEF1X, a domain definition that stands alone.Other domains may be defined as subsets of a base domain

Categorization cluster

In IDEF1X, a group of mutually exclusive category entities.See also complete category cluster

Category entity

In IDEF1X, a subtype that belongs to a category cluster

AutoNumber

In Microsoft Access 2016, the data type used to create surrogate keys

AUTO_INCREMENT attribute

In MySQL, the data attribute used to create surrogate keys

CHECK constraint

In SQL, a constraint that specifies what data values are allowed in a particular column

AVG

In SQL, a function that computes the average of a set of num- bers.See also SQL built-in functions

Cardinality

In a binary relationship, the maximum or minimum number of elements allowed on each side of the relationship.The maximum cardinality can be 1:1, 1:N, N:1, or N:M. The mini- mum cardinality may be optional-optional, optional-mandatory, mandatory-optional, or mandatory-mandatory

Client

In client/server architecture, the software that resides on the users computer, tablet, or smartphone.See also client/server architecture

Association pattern

In database design, a table pattern where an intersection table contains additional attributes beyond the attri- butes that make up the composite primary key

Alternate key (AK)

In entity-relationship models, a synonym for candidate key

Alert

In reporting systems, a type of report that is triggered by an event

Class attributes

In the uniform modeling language (UML), attri- butes that pertain to the class of all entities of a given type

Business intelligence (BI) systems

Information systems that assist managers and other professionals in the analysis of current and past activities and in the prediction of future events. Two major categories of BI systems are reporting systems and data mining systems

Azure Document DB

Microsofts cloud-based nonrelational data- base that supports the document data model. Now part of Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB

Microsofts cloud-based nonrelational database system that supports document, key-value, and graph data mod- els. Formerly called Azure Document DB

.NET Framework

Microsofts comprehensive application develop- ment platform. It includes such components as ADO.NET, ASP .NET, and .NET for Windows Store Apps

Active repository

Parts of the systems development processes where metadata is created automatically as the system compo- nents are created.See also data repository

ADO.NET Connection object

The ADO.NET object responsible for connecting to a data source

ADO.NET DataAdapter object

The ADO.NET object that is the connector between a Connection object and a DataSet object. It uses four command objects: SelectCommand, InsertCommand, UpdateCommand, and DeleteCommand

ADO.NET Command object

The ADO.NET object that mimics an SQL statement or stored procedure. It is run against the data in the DataSet

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

The American standards organization that creates and publishes the SQL stan- dards.See also Structured Query Language (SQL)

CODASYL DBTG

The Conference on Database Systems Languages (CODASYL) Database Task Group (DBTG). The network data- base model was created by this group

Cartesian product

The SQL operation of pairing each and every row in one table with each and every row in another table. The Cartesian product is the first step in an SQL join operation.See also Cross Join Cascading deletion. A referential integrity action specifying that when a parent row is deleted, related child rows should be deleted as well

Big Data

The established term for the enormous datasets created by Web applications, such as search tools (e.g., Google and Bing); by Web 2.0 social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter; and by scientific and other applications

Checkpoint

The point of synchronization between a database and a transaction log. All buffers are force-written to external storage.The term is sometimes used in other ways by DBMS vendors

/* and */

The symbols used to indicate a comment line in an SQL script in SQL Server 2017, Oracle Database 12c, and MySQL 5.7

<? php and ?>

The symbols used to indicate blocks of PHP code in Web pages

ASP.NET

The updated version of ASP for the .NET Framework.See also Active Server Pages (ASP), .NET Framework

Cloud computing

The use of networks, such as the Internet, to deliver services to users, where users are unconcerned about exactly where the servers delivering the services are located.Thus, the servers are said to be "in the cloud." Computing services in large data centers are typically leased from cloud providers and can scale up or down as needed. Virtualization is a key technol- ogy that enables cloud computing