Questions tagged [terminology]
Clarification and disambiguation of terminology in order to focus on clear, consistent, distinct, and easily recognized usages for databases and database technology.
131
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What does the term "server" mean in this context?
I am currently familiarizing myself with SQL Server security. During the process, I came across the following text passage.
Windows-level principals are generally domain and local server user ...
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2
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34
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Why are scalar functions special? A case study of trying to understand database terminology as a beginner
I am trying to learn the basics of databases, but I am finding the terminology especially impenetrable compared to other things I have learned. Most of the database tutorials and documentation I have ...
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How to automaticaly create entries in a parent table before filling child table? What is that called in db terminology?
What I want is for inserting the string name of a publication in a child table to associate with the PK of the publication in the publications table. For example, let's say I have a table of counties ...
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60
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Terminology for Specific Kind of One-to-Many Relationship
This question regards how a one-to-many row might "belong" to a different row and what exactly to call it. I might be asking for a term that does not exist.
Please see the below two tables. ...
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3k
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Is there a generic term for tables and views?
I am looking for a generic term, e.g. for a database abstraction, that includes all tabular data structures like database tables, views, tabular query results aso.
As far as I understand, 'entity' is ...
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476
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Trigger uses a procedure or a function?
PostgreSQL version 10 and before use the term "Trigger Procedure" (https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/plpgsql-trigger.html). But later versions use the term "Trigger Function".
...
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95
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Why is SQL not considered a programming language?
If a database is just a computer system that implements a database management system, and we use SQL to tell it what to do, why don't we consider SQL to be a programming langauge?
From Wikipedia:
A ...
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258
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Zero/NULL Case Trick
In the book Getting Started with SQL, Thomas Nield talks about a technique he calls the zero/null case trick:
There is a simple but powerful tool that can apply different filtering
conditions to ...
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591
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What's the difference between Conditionals and Predicates
I am having difficulties finding what the actual difference between "conditionals" and "predicates" are in the context of SQL and Relational Database Management Systems. Do they ...
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Has the definition of vertical scaling changed - and if so what do we call it
15 years ago when we were figuring out how to scale SQL databases to huge systems, we used the term Horizontal scaling to mean split up your tables so that the same schema existed on multiple machines ...
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101
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What is the difference between *data dictionary* and *data dump of SEDE*?
A meta post (https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/2677/714660) gives the "anatomy" of the data dump from SEDE that includes the structure of the public data dump(tables, columns, data types, etc) and ...
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Column Terminology
I'm a MySQL student here trying to learn the proper way to call things in the SQL language.
CREATE TABLE tbl_name (
id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
width SMALLINT ...
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3
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384
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Is Pseudo-Simple SQL Server Recovery a real thing?
"Pseudo-Simple SQL Server Recovery" is term and scenario, I was just made aware of in a (now deleted) comment for the new question SQL Server Truncates Transaction Logs with Copy Only Backups
I went ...
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2
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795
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"Diamond Shaped Relationship" What's the formal term?
Consider the following "Diamond-Shaped" entity relationship diagram:
I'm trying to find some formal readings on why this is a bad design - but Googling "Diamond Shaped Table Relationship" only turns ...
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What is a “part-key”?
I'm a beginner and student with regards to database design. The tutor recently discussed “part-keys”. I am struggling to find any information on what a part-key is, and I suspect it probably goes by ...
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230
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Difference between "Field Specification" and "Field Domain"
I'm currently in the process of learning (Relational) Database Design based on two popular books, online tutorials and articles.
Some places, when they talk about attributes constraints, they call it ...
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Does this have a name?
Does this have a name?
I don't really know how to describe the situation, and furthermore, is this a design flaw?
T4 has a FK to T3, and to T1, but I can get to T1 by T3.
The T1, T2 refers to MUST ...
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251
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Differences between EDU and thread
In DB2, there is this command that shows active EDUs (engine dispatchable units):
db2pd -edus
There are two fields in the respective output: EDU ID and TID.
According to this db2pd page from the DB2 ...
user164007
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253
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What is a "hashed transaction" in SQL Server Replication terminology?
sys.dm_repl_tranhash contains information about the hashing of transactions, but I have difficulties understanding the terminology. What is a "hashed transaction"?
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531
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What is "query containment"?
Any one knows what is "query containment" and where do we use it please?
As far as I can search on Google, I only found one here.
Although, I've got some idea on the subject but I'm finding it ...
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659
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Is a 'block' and a 'page' the same thing in PostgreSQL?
I've seen many blogs and videos talking about Postgres 'blocks'. Are these the same as 'pages' in other database management system implementations?
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What exactly is the 'online' in OLAP and OLTP?
I'm a bit confused because I'm questioning the definition of 'online' in OLTP and OLAP. I used to think that 'online' here means that we want our answer in bounded time and based on the data available ...
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900
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What is the strict difference between key and constraint in SQL Server?
In SQL Server, the 'keys' folder includes primary, foreign and unique keys, while the 'constraints' folder, for example, check and default. But unique can also be considered a constraint, so why it is ...
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792
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Most common way to express cardinality in ascii
I know that there are several symbols to express the cardinality between entities.
But is there a pragmatic common way to express cardinality in ascii?
Example: User -- Group. One user can have ...
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72
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What's an "object"?
The Postgres documentation frequently uses the term "object". For instance, the descriptions of various \d commands at https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-psql.html (like \dt for listing ...
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What is a "PARTITIONED OUTER JOIN"?
This just came up in a question on Reddit, and I'm wondering
What is a PARTITIONED OUTER JOIN in Oracle? (definition)
What does a simple example look like? (use)
How would you write it in terms of ...
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181
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Do "Oracle Streams" have anything to do with the "Oracle Stream Class"?
Oracle has a concept call "Oracle Streams" which is extensively documented. Does this have any relation to the "Stream Class". My assumption is no, and that they're entirely distinct but ...
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1k
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Does the term "page" have the same meaning in DBMS and OS jargons?
I am learning the data format of DBMS and found we have a term: page.
Pages are the fetched data in main memory from external storage (eg. a disk, SSD) and several pages would be "cached" firstly ...
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What does it mean to "materialize"?
While learning about "data layout", I came across the term "materialize", which does not have a clear definition and explanation. What is materialize and what does materialize do?
...
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428
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Is SQL Server Profiler different from SQL Trace?
In this source it is written something like this
I want to know what is SQL Trace? Does it refer here to Traces inside SQL Profiler or this is a different tool. I try to search it but can't find any ...
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1k
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What is the meaning of "minimal key"?
In the definition, it says minimal key is a minimal set of attributes needed to identify the table. Does the "minimal" part mean "minimal number of attributes" or "cannot be eliminated"?
For example:
...
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5k
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What is the difference between Federated and Decentralized Data Warehouse?
I can not find any clear definitions or explanations of any of these. Both seem decentralized. It appears that in Federated DWH, the data is distributed and not integrated into a single repository and ...
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Is there a particular name for the type of structure of this database?
I'm trying to set up a data structure for an internal database of skills within a company, but I'm not entirely sure what "model" this fits as I'm quite new to databases and data structuring in ...
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397
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What is the industry term for superset of "metrics" and "dimensions"? [closed]
If I want to refer to measures/metrics and dimensions with a single term, what would be a good industry-accepted expression?
Metrics is used commonly in UIs as well such as Google Analytics or ...
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4
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698
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What is a DBA's definition of "batch"?
I've heard it being used in relation to SQLite sometimes but never completely understood what it means.
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186
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What is the technical meaning of "Bulk" in the “Bulk-Logged Recovery Model” and why this name?
With this model there are certain bulk operations such as BULK INSERT, CREATE INDEX, SELECT INTO, etc... that are not fully logged in the transaction log and therefore do not take as much space in the ...
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What is meant by "nonclustered legacy instance of SQL Server"?
When I research nonclustered legacy instance in SQL Server, all I get is some results about indexes. This is obviously not related to or affiliated with indexes, so what is meant by "clustered ...
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1k
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Difference between an endpoint and a port in SQL Server
While I know why are ports used in SQL Server, I wonder what is the difference between an endpoint and a port. Ports can be managed using Configuration Manager, is it also possible to manage endpoints ...
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What is meant by "Stand-Alone Instance of SQL Server"
I am cloning a server to perform an in-place upgrade and I will have to change the name of that server - which has a SQL Server with just one instance (default instance) installed on it.
I am ...
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4k
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What is a "clob" or Character Large Object?
I see in this post on listagg — Rows to Delimited Strings talking about SQL's LISTAGG() clause ON OVERFLOW
The return type of listagg is either varchar or clob with an implementation defined length ...
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0
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1
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687
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What does MBRContains and MBRWithin test? What does "contains" and "within" mean?
MBRContains(g1, g2) is defined as,
Returns 1 or 0 to indicate whether the minimum bounding rectangle of g1 contains the minimum bounding rectangle of g2. This tests the opposite relationship as ...
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4k
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What are "Invisible Columns" and how are they used?
I saw a new feature Invisible Columns in MariaDB 10.3.x. What are practical use cases for DBA and web developer? When to use this feature?
Columns can be given an INVISIBLE attribute in a CREATE ...
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142
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What is this expression changing process?
Consider this table definition:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Post]
(
[Id] INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[PostType] VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT [CK_Post_PostType] CHECK ([PostType] IN ('...
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19
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Name of attributes that are indirectly related to entity
If I have a set of data that relate to an entity directly and some that do not, is there a standard name for these two types of attributes?
example, Employee:
employeeID firstname lastname manager ...
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1
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836
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What is an "ACCESS METHOD"?
In the context of the CREATE ACCESS METHOD DDL in PostgreSQL,
CREATE ACCESS METHOD name
TYPE access_method_type
HANDLER handler_function
What is a a high level description of what an "access ...
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7
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156
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Term for non transaction save actions
If you only look at the database everything is fine. You have transactions and if somethings goes wrong everything gets rolled back. That's nice - I like this.
BUT: I want to send mails. Now I am in ...
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233
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What does SPJ stand for in MySQL parlance?
MySQL has a lot of references to SPJ in MySQL including in official Oracle slides but I can't find what it actually stands for. I see it show up in a few blogs too.
I looked in the source and found ...
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108
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What does FHQT or FQA mean?
I was reading this post by Andres Pascal, and I came accross a few new acronyms,
As I understand, you need to search strings by similarity (using levenshtein or any other metric distance). In that ...
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Difference between UPSERT and MERGE?
From the PostgreSQL wiki,
MERGE is typically used to merge two tables, and was introduced in the 2003 SQL standard. The REPLACE statement (a MySQL extension) or UPSERT sequence attempts an UPDATE, ...
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30
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Whats the name for columns which purpose is not to identify?
I have a contacts table.
Columns are:
id
user_id
provider_id
title
phone_number
phone_ext
I want to know if there's a word that refers to the columns that make up the meat of the table. ie. (title, ...
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