A database is a collection of information that is grouped into one or more tables. A table is an array of data items organized into rows and columns. A demonstration database is distributed with every Informix database server product. A partial table from the demonstration database follows.
stock_num | manu_code | description | unit_price | unit | unit_descr |
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1 | HRO | baseball gloves | 250.00 | case | 10 gloves/case |
1 | HSK | baseball gloves | 800.00 | case | 10 gloves/case |
1 | SMT | baseball gloves | 450.00 | case | 10 gloves/case |
2 | HRO | baseball | 126.00 | case | 24/case |
3 | HSK | baseball bat | 240.00 | case | 12/case |
4 | HSK | football | 960.00 | case | 24/case |
4 | HRO | football | 480.00 | case | 24/case |
5 | NRG | tennis racquet | 28.00 | each | each |
· · · |
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313 | ANZ | swim cap | 60.00 | case | 12/box |
A table represents all that the database administrator (DBA) wants to store about one entity, one type of thing that the database describes. The example table, stock, represents all that the DBA wants to store about the merchandise that a sporting goods store stocks. Other tables in the demonstration database represent such entities as customer and orders.
Think of a database as a collection of tables. To create a database is to create a set of tables. The right to query or modify tables can be controlled on a table-by-table basis, so that some users can view or modify some tables but not others.
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