Conceptual database questions...

[Lynch, Jonathan]

>Your questions are interesting because you are conceptualizing
databases in >a very different manner than I do. I think of them as big
spread sheets >with columns (tables) and cells containing data.


I think of it this way:

     Database: A collection of tables

     Table: A collection of columns

     Column: A collection of cells (visualized with a vertical
orientation)

     Rows: A collection of cells (visualized with a horizontal
orientation), all cells from different columns, but all cells with the
same recordID and from the same table

     Record: A row of a table


This visualization is, I think, basically the same as visualizing a
table as a spreadsheet.

It seems to me that figuring out manipulating a database is akin to
figuring out how to manipulate nested groups. It is a big pain at first,
but once the structure is fully in my head, it will be relatively
straight-forward.

At least, I hope so :)