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Subject:Re: Compare Thee to a Database From:JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM Date:Tue, 1 Jul 1997 18:49:36 -0400
In a message dated 97-07-01 16:23:44 EDT, mjl100z -at- MAIL -dot- ODU -dot- EDU (Matthew J
Long) writes:
<< "A database is >>
a collection of information, organized so that that information can be
retreived according to some basic principle.
A telephone book is a database. An index card file is a database. An
encyclopedia is a database.
In the computer world, 'database' means an *electronic* database. Some
electronics databases are exactly like real-world databases, except that the
information is stored electronically, rather than on paper. Windows, for
instance, has an applet (a mini-application) which allows you to enter names
and addressses (or any other information) as simply as you would on index
cards. You can sort and retrieve them in much the same way as you would
physical cards. You can't do much else, though.
In terms of use, the big difference between a physical database and an
electronic database is that you can easily change the retrieval method. When
you use a phone book, it is organized as follows:
BY CITY (generally - sometimes by REGION)
BY ALPHABET LETTER
BY LAST NAME
BY FIRST NAME
->NUMBER
Without physically reprinting the book, you can't organize it by (say) first
name. Or, more practically, by phone number.
Imagine however that you have a phone number and no name. With an electronic
database, you can (effectively) reorganize the whole database so that it has
the following structure:
BY PHONE NUMBER
BY LAST NAME
BY FIRST NAME
BY CITY
The important thing here is that once you find the number, you find the name.
In a few minutes. Without having to reprint the whole phonebook.
Electronic databases allow various forms of manipulation of this sort. They
can also be organized in very flexible structures ('relations') which permit
these manipulations. Explaining HOW this is done can get VERY technical.
The important thing to know, though, is that a database per se is nothing
new. If you use a phone book, if you use a catalogue, you're using a
database. If you learn to use an ELECTRONIC database, you'll be able to use
it in more various ways. But either way, you're looking up information which
has been especially structured to help you do so.
That's all a database is.
Jim Chevallier
Los Angeles
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Visit Chez Jim: Jim Chevallier's Home Page - http://www.gis.net/~jimcheval
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