Storing the Data in Tables, Records, and Fields

The data in a database is stored in different tables. Like the tables you create in Excel or Word, database tables are divided into columns and rows. In a database table, however, rows are called records and columns are called fields. Actually, to be precise, each row in a database table is a record, and each record is divided into several fields. For example, five records have been entered in the Customers database table shown in Figure 26-1. Each record is divided into five fields—Company Name, Billing Address, City, State/Province, Postal Code, and Country

A record comprises all the data about one person or thing. A field is one category of information. As the section "Designing Your Database," a little later in this chapter, explains, one of the most important choices you make when you design a database is which fields to include. Include one field for each category of information you care to know about a person or thing.