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Step 1
Data File
A data file is an organized collection of information. It is stored on some type of medium, such as a disk, hard drive, or tape. If you are speaking of a customer data file, for example, you would expect that for each customer the file would contain specific information for that person, i.e. name, phone number, address. -
Step 2
Record
In a data file each group of information is called a record. All data files are made up of some type of record. In the previous example, each customer would be it's own record. -
Step 3
Fields
Within each record there are fields of data. Name, phone number, address, and any other defined piece of data expected to be collected for a customer (record) is defined as a field. Fields are used to organize data files, by setting key fields. For example, a customer data file would contain organized data about customers. This data is broken down into individual records. Each customer would have their own record in the data file. Each customer record would be looked for, or accessed, on a computer by identifying a specific field, such as last name, for this purpose. If a key field of last name is identified for searching a file, then all the records in the file can be searched by querying for the last name field. Alternatively, a number such as phone number, or social security number could be used. -
Step 4
Computer files can be simply though of as a grid. The entire grid is a computer file (customer file). Each row would be a record (customer record). Each square in that row would be a field (customer name, customer telephone number, etc).
Comments
jimdris said
on 10/2/2008 Got it after second reading - thanks!
Addonis said
on 9/29/2008 great work 5 stars
Gardengates said
on 9/29/2008 Excellent, clear summary of the basics we all need to know. Thank you.