Rows are referred to as records because they consist of one instance of the unique ID and each field. The two dimensions of a data table consist, as we know, of rows and columns. It is easiest to identify when we’re using the Excel’s Data Table function (Insert > Tables > Table), but any column in a row-by-column table can be a data field - even a simple range. In Excel, a data field is a column in any data table structure built with cells. That may sound silly, but it’s actually what makes data fields so flexible and so valuable - almost anything in the natural and human worlds can be a data field. Any piece of information that can be used to describe an object, event, or idea can be a data field. Simple examples of data fields include weight, color, date, sales, averages, member ID, promotional code, status, file type, keyword, and rainfall. In the context of a database, columns and fields are synonyms. It is the column as a whole, in this case the size field, material field, and suspension field. It’s important to note that a field is NOT the individual data entries (“King,” “Metal,” “Spring”). In this example, the location is a column, the type is size/material/suspension, the collective is those three together, and the place described is the row’s bed. ![]() Now it should be clear what a data field is, so let’s revisit our definition: a location for a predetermined type of data that - collectively with other data fields - describes the place it is stored. Using our example of beds, here’s a sample table: Bed ( Unique ID) Size ( Field) Material ( Field) Suspension ( Field) Bed 1 King Wood Spring Bed 2 Queen Metal Elastic Bed 3 Twin Metal Spring Bed 4 Double Metal Spring Bed 5 Crib Wood Spring NOTE: there is some dispute as to whether the first column should be considered a field or simply the “unique ID.” Since by definition fields describe the location they are stored, we could consider the unique ID either a titular description of itself, but it’s more intuitive to assume it’s simply the place described by the fields. The first column consists of unique IDs of the objects we are going to describe, and the columns contain information about it. ![]() They consist of rows that we call records (or “tuples” if you’re fancy) and columns. The fundamental form of data is data tables. When we write these down on paper or enter them in a database, we’ve created a location for the three descriptions, and they are now fields.ĭata fields are also known as data attributes, data traits, and data characteristics. ![]() Another bed in queen sized, made of metal, and uses elastic suspension.īeds are the object, while size, material, and suspension type describe the beds. One bed is king sized, made of wood, and uses spring suspension. The most common example is a column in a data table that describes the row with which it intersects, and others include class variables in programming languages such as Java.Ī simple way to think about data fields is to imagine an object and describe multiple instances of it.
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