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Basics of Tables, Records, and Fields

In a database, a table is a set of data in a database consisting of one or more records. A table consists of rows and columns. A record is a row of information. A field is an entry within a column of like information, but is unique to that record.

A record is a group of related fields, or a single field treated as a unit of information. For example, last name, first name, address, and phone number are four fields that could make up a record.In a database table, a row of data makes up a record.

A field is one or more characters treated a a unit and constituting part of a record. For example, in the table below, E-Mail Address is a field. So are First Name, Last Name, Business Phone, Company, and Job Title.

Below is an illustration using the students table as an example.

All of the records make up the table.

Table Example

A database may be made up of one or numerous tables, each table representing different subsets of information.