Acce ss 2000 An easy-to -use to o l to develo p database applic a-tio ns. Part o f the Mic ro so ft Offic e 2000 suite.
ACID Stands fo r ato mic, co nsiste nt, iso latio n,and durable, whic h desc ribe the majo r c harac teristic s o f a transactio n.
Active Dire ctory A c o mpo nent o f Windo ws 2000 Se rve rthat allo ws yo u to find info rmatio n abo ut vario us reso urc es lo c ated ac ro ss a netwo rk.
Active X A set o f tec hno lo gies that allo ws yo u to build and use o bje ctsusing the Co mpo ne nt Obje ct Mo de l (COM) and Distribute d Co mpo ne nt Obje ct Mo de l (DCOM).
Active X Controls Co mpiled so ftware c o mpo nents develo ped with Ac tiveX tec hno lo gy that run o n c lient c o mputers.
Active X Data Obje cts (ADO) An o bjec t-o riented way to ac c ess a database suc h as Mic ro so ft SQL Server, Ac c ess, and Orac le fro m an applicatio n pro gram. This tec hno lo gy replac es o lder tec hno lo gies suc h as Data Acce ss Obje cts ( DAO) and Re mo te Data Obje cts ( RDO). This is a high-level implementa-tio n o f OLE DB, just like DAO and RDO are high-level imple-mentatio ns o f ODBC.
Active X DLLA COMc o mpo nent residing in a DLLfile that is lo aded into the main pro gram’s address spac e at runtime. It is also kno wn as an in-pro ce sso bjec t.
Active X EXE A COMc o mpo nent residing in an EXE file that is lo aded into a separate addre ss space.
Addre ss Space The range o f addresses that c an be ac c essed by a pro gram in virtual memo ry. Address spac e inc ludes memo ry that c an be used by an applic atio n and memo ry reserved fo r use by the o perating system.
Administration Que ue A que uethat is used to ho ld system-generated ac kno wl-edgement messages, whic h indic ate whether o r no t an applicatio n me ssage reac hed its destinatio n.
Aggre gate The pro c ess o f c o mbining the values o f a single c o lumn ac ro ss a set o f ro ws. Typic al aggregatio n func tio ns are: Count, Max, Min, and Sum.
Alias An alternate name fo r a c o lumn o r table that exists o nly fo r the duratio n o f a query.
ANSI SQL A standard fo r the SQLlanguage fro m the Americ an Natio nal Standards Institute (ANSI). The c urrent versio n o f the standard is referred to as SQL-92.
Apartme nt Mode l Thre ading A metho d that ensures that o bjec ts c reated in Visual Basic c an be used by multithre ade d applicatio ns. As eac h o bjec t is c reated, it is assigned to a single thread. All c alls fro m c o de o n different threads will need to be marshale dto ac c ess the o bjec t.
API See Applicatio n Pro gramming Inte rface.
Application A c o llec tio n o f pro grams and database sthat allo ws a use rto so lve a pro blem.
Application Log A file c o ntaining SQL Server status info rmatio n in a Windo ws 2000/ NT system.
Application Me ssage A message generated by an applic atio n and sent using COM+ Que ue d Co mpo ne nts. This is different fro m a syste m me ssage, whic h is generated by the COM+ queued c o mpo nents, whic h sto res c o pies o f applic atio n messages after they are pro c essed.
Application Programming Inte rface (API) A well-defined set o f rules and c alling c o nventio ns that desc ribes ho w a pro grammer c an invo ke the servic es o f ano ther applic atio n o r the o perating system.
Application Que ue A public o r private que uethat is used to send and rec eive applic atio n-spec ific messages.
Application Se rve r A c o mputer dedic ated to running the busine ss rule so f an o rganizatio n. These rules are o ften implemented using transactio nsrunning under the c o ntro l o f a transactio n se rve r.
Atomic A o bjec t that c an’t be subdivided. See Ato mic Fie ld. Also part o f the ACID test fo r transactio nswhen it refers to the c o nc ept that either all o f the pro c essing in a transac tio n must c o mplete suc c essfully o r no t if it c o mpletes. It ensures that there is no suc h thing as a partially-c o mpleted transac tio n.
Atomic Fie ld A field who se c o ntents c an’t be bro ken do wn any mo re. (Fo r example, a date is no t ato mic sinc e it c an be bro ken do wn into day, mo nth, and year, while a mo nth is ato mic sinc e it c an’t be bro ken into smaller piec es.)
Authe ntication The pro c ess o f establishing a use r’sidentity. This usually invo lves pro viding a user name and a sec ret passwo rd to the o perating system o r to a database se rve rto pro ve that yo u have ac c ess to the func tio ns asso c iated with the user name.
Authe nticate d Use r A perso n who has passed the authe nticatio ntest.
Authorization The pro c ess o f determining the ac c ess rights to func tio ns and data that an authe nticate d use ris allo wed to perfo rm.
Axis One dimensio n o f an OLAP cube.
Backup A c o py o f the info rmatio n in a database taken at a given po int in time. It c an be used to re co ve rthe info rmatio n in the database.
Base Table A real table in the database that is referenc ed in a view.
Batch Job A pro c ess where a no n-interac tive pro gram is exec uted, typic ally at a time when no o ne is aro und to c o ntro l its exec utio n.
Binary Large Obje ct (BLOB) A co lumnc o ntaining info rmatio n suc h as an imagethat c an exc eed the size o f a no rmal binary c o lumn. It o ften requires spec ial handling when c o mpared to a no rmal c o lumn.
Binding The pro c ess o f lo c ating an o bjec t and asso c iating with yo ur pro gram. See also e arly bindingand late binding.
BLOB See Binary Large Obje ct.
BMP An imagefile fo rmat develo ped by Mic ro so ft. It suppo rts many different image fo rmats (8-bit c o lo r, 24-bit c o lo r, and so o n), but files are usually larger than with o ther image fo rmats, suc h as GIF and JPEG.
Busine ss Logic The set o f busine ss rule sused to o perate a business o r o ther o rgani-zatio n. The rules desc ribe what an applic atio n pro gram is suppo sed to do in a given situatio n. Fo r example, a business rule may require a pro gram to plac e an o rder fo r an item in invento ry when its quantity o n hand falls belo w a c ertain level.
Busine ss Rule A set o f instruc tio ns that implements a business pro c edure. Fo r example, the steps that are taken to purc hase a bo o k by a business are c o nsidered a business rule. Business rules are o ften implemented as part o f a pro gramo r set o f pro grams that runs o n a c o mputer.
By Re fe re nce A type o f parameter passing in whic h the address o f a variable is passed to a ro utine. This allo ws the ro utine to direc tly c hange the c o ntents o f the variable. See also By Value.
By Value A type o f parameter passing in whic h a c o py o f the variable is passed to the ro utine. If the ro utine c hanges the value o f this parameter, the o riginal variable remains unc hanged. See also By Re fe re nce.
Cache A b uffer that is used to ho ld freq uently-used info rmatio n. In a datab ase system, a c ac he typic ally resides in the c o mputer’s memo ry and ho lds info rma-tio n fro m the datab ase’s disk sto rage.
Calculate d Me mbe r A me mbe ro f a cubethat is c o mputed o n the fly based o n data that already exists in the c ube.
Ce ll The intersec tio n o f a ro wand a co lumnin a table, c o ntaining a single value. In an OLAP cube, a c ell represents the intersec tio n o f all o f the dime nsio ns.
Child A me mbe rin the next lo wer le ve lin a hie rarchy. This member represents a subset o f the info rmatio n o f its pare nt.
Class Module A template fro m whic h an o bjec t is c reated. This template allo ws yo u to define pro pe rtie s, me tho ds,and e ve nts, whic h c an be used by o ther parts o f yo ur applic atio n. A COMc o mpo nent is built fro m o ne o r mo re c lass mo dules in an Active X DLLo r Active X EXE.
Clie nt The user side o f a multi-c o mputer applic atio n. Fo r example, Query Analyzer, Exc el, and MapPo int c an all be c lient pro grams fo r an SQL Server database.
CLSID The c lass identifier fo r an o bjec t. All o bjec ts are assigned a CLSID, whic h is used as a key in the Windo ws Re gistryto lo c ate the o bjec t’s c o de. A CLSID is sto red as a GUID, so that it will always be unique.
Cluste re d Inde x A spec ial type o f index that is used to determine the o rder o f the ro ws in a table. A table c an c o ntain o nly o ne c lustered index.
Codify A tec hnique that replac es a field in a database with an enc o ded value that is used as a key to ano ther table where the o riginal field is extrac ted. This is typic ally used when dealing with “standard” text fields. Fo r example, the text field Jo bTitle c an be c o dified into an integer field c alled Jo bTitleCo de. Using Jo bTitleCo de in yo ur database ensures that all emplo yees have the same value fo r their jo b title. Sinc e Jo bTitleCo de is muc h smaller than Jo bTitle, yo u’ll also save spac e in the database.
Column An attribute o f a tablethat c o ntains info rmatio n. The c o nc ept o f a c o lumn is similar to a fie ldin a re co rd. Also referred to as data e le me nts.
COM See Co mpo ne nt Obje ct Mo de l.
COM+ The next versio n o f COM that inc ludes many new servic es, so me o f whic h were previo usly independent o f COM. These servic es inc lude the COM+ Transactio n Se rve r (fo rmerly kno wn as the Micro so ft Transactio n Se rve r) and COM+ Que ue d Co mpo ne nts.
COM+ Application The primary unit o f management by the Co mpo ne nt Se rvice s to o l. It c o nsists o f a single DLLo r EXEfile that c o ntains a set o f o ne o r mo re COM c o mpo nents.
COM+ Que ue d Compone nts An easy to inc o rpo rate me ssage que ue swith COM+ c o mpo nents. This feature allo ws yo u to issue a metho d o r ac c ess a pro perty in an async hro no us fashio n.
COM+ Transaction Se rve r A so ftware pac kage that manages the exec utio n o f trans-actio nsunder Windo ws 2000 Se rve r. See also Transactio n se rve r.
Commit The ac t o f saving a set o f c hanges in a database. The c hanges c an be aban-do ned by perfo rming a Ro ll Back.
Compile -Time Refers to ac tivities perfo rmed and events that o c c ur while c o mpiling a pro gram.
Compone nt Obje ct Mode l (COM) A tec hno lo gy used to c reate and ac c ess o bje cts fro m a Windo wspro gram.
Compone nt Se rvice s A utility inc luded with Windo ws 2000 Se rve rthat is used to manage the COM+ Transactio n Se rve r.
Composite Fie ld A field that c an be bro ken into smaller parts. A date is an example o f a c o mpo site field, sinc e it c an be bro ken into year, mo nth, and day.
Composite Inde x An index that uses multiple c o lumns as the key value.
Composite Ke y A ke yc o ntaining mo re than o ne co lumn.
Concate nation The pro c ess o f c o mbining multiple stringsinto a single string by appending o ne string to the end o f ano ther.
Concurre ncy Oc c urs when multiple users share a reso urc e; o ften requires lo cksto ensure that the sharing is do ne in an o rderly fashio n.
Conne ction A link between the c lient pro gram and the database se rve r.
Conne ction String A stringc o ntaining the parameters nec essary to c o nnec t to the database se rve r. Typic ally used by ADO and RDO o bjec t mo dels.
Consiste nt Part o f the ACIDdefinitio n o f a transactio n. It ensures that the wo rk do ne by a transactio nleaves the applic atio n in a c o nsistent state.
Constitue nt Controls The set o f c o ntro ls that are used in an Active X Use rCo ntro l o bjec t.
Constraint A restric tio n plac ed o n a co lumno r a set o f c o lumns that any value entered into the c o lumn must meet. So me examples o f c o nstraints are fo re ign ke y, primary ke y, and unique.
Containe r A co ntro lthat c an c o ntain o ther c o ntro ls.
Control An o bje ctthat c an be plac ed o n a Visual Basic fo rm o r repo rt to pro vide a spec ific func tio n o r to interac t with the user. So me examples o f c o ntro ls are text bo xes, where the user c an enter and edit text strings, labels that display text values, and butto ns that c an be pushed by the user.
Cookie A set o f data that is maintained b y a user’s bro wse rand is availab le fo r pro c essing b y Web server b ased applic atio ns.
Crosstab Re port See Cro ss-tabulatio n Re po rt.
Cube A set o f data o rganized by dime nsio nsand c o ntaining me asure s. The data is generally extrac ted fro m a data ware ho useand is analyzed by to o ls like Exc el Pivo tTable s.
Cube Browse r A to o l inc luded in the OLAP Manager that allo ws yo u to view the data in a c ube.
Cube Editor A to o l inc luded with the OLAP Manager that allo ws yo u to view and c hange the struc ture o f a c ube.
Curre nt Re cord The single ro w po inted to by the curso r. The c urrent rec o rd c an be c hanged by mo ving the c urso r to a different ro w.
Cursor Used by an applic atio n pro gram to po int to a spec ific ro win a tableo r re co rdse t. This ro w is then c o nsidered the curre nt re co rd.
DAO See Data Acce ss Obje cts.
Data Acce ss Obje cts (DAO) An o bso lete way to ac c ess a databasefro m Visual Basic . Active X Data Obje ctshave replac ed this tec hno lo gy.
Data Bound Controls A way o f linking a co ntro lin a Visual Basic pro gram to a co l-umnin a re co rdse t. Whenever the value in the c o lumn c hanges, it will auto matic ally be updated in the c o ntro l. Changing the value in the c o ntro l will c hange the value in the database.
Data Consume r Rec eives data fro m a data so urcein the ADO o bjec t mo del.
Data Control A Visual Basic co ntro lthat links o ther c o ntro ls o n a fo rm to a database. This c o ntro l suppo rts sc ro lling thro ugh a re co rdse to ne rec o rd at a time and displaying the c o ntents o f the rec o rdset o n the bo und co ntro ls. Yo u c an also use the data c o ntro l to insert new rec o rds, update existing rec o rds, o r delete existing rec o rds.
Data Dictionary A repo sito ry that c o ntains detailed info rmatio n abo ut every field, table, and view in a database and ho w they are related to eac h o ther.
Data Ele me nt Ano ther name fo r co lumn.
Data Mart A c o nc ept identic al to a data wareho use, but smaller in sc o pe. Rather than enc o mpassing all o f the data in an o rganizatio n, a data mart may o nly c o ntain info rmatio n abo ut a single department o r applic atio n.
Data Scrubbing The pro c ess o f analyzing data fo r c o nsistenc y befo re data is lo aded into a data wareho use.
Data Source The so urc e o f the data that is to be lo aded into a dime nsio no r me m-be ro f a c ube. A data so urc e is also the so urc e o f data in the ADOmo del. It pro vides data to data co nsume rsfo r pro c essing.
Data Transformation Se rvice s (DTS) A to o l in SQL Server that allo ws yo u to mo ve and transfo rm data fro m o ne database to ano ther. This to o l is extremely useful when yo u are extrac ting data fro m yo ur pro duc tio n database to yo ur data ware-ho use.
Data Type Defines the sto rage mec hanism fo r a co lumn. It also determines the set o f basic o peratio ns that c an be against the c o lumn. So me c o mmo n data types inc lude CHAR, whic h ho ld strings o f c harac ters, and INT, whic h ho ld numeric values.
Data Ware house A c entral repo sito ry c o ntaining data that is made available to satisfy unstruc tured requests fo r info rmatio n by end users. The data is generally extrac ted fro m pro duc tio n applic atio ns and summarized to minimize the amo unt o f wo rk needed to satisfy the request.
Database A c o llec tio n o f table s, inde xe s, and o ther database o bje ctsthat are used by o ne o r mo re applicatio nssto red inside a database se rve r.
Database Administrator (DBA) A database administrato r is the perso n respo nsible fo r the design and maintenanc e o f a database. Besides c reating and c hanging databases, this perso n is also respo nsible fo r suc h tasks as database bac kup and database rec o very.
Database Clie nt The c o mputer that is used to ac c ess a database se rve r. Typic ally, this c o mputer will run either a to o l suc h as Query Analyzer to perfo rm que ryo pera-tio ns against the database o r a c usto m applic apera-tio n that allo ws the user to add, delete, and mo dify info rmatio n in the database.
Database Diagram A graphic al representatio n o f a subset o f the database o bje cts c o ntained in a database.
Database Obje ct A table, co lumn, inde x, trigge r, vie w, co nstraint, rule, sto re d pro ce -dure ,o r ke yin a database.
Database Owne r (DBO) The use r nameo f the individual who is respo nsible fo r the database. This individual is also kno wn as the database administrato r.
Database Que ry See Que ry.
Database Re plication The pro c ess whereby the c o ntents o f o ne database are syn-c hro nized with ano ther database.
Database Se rve r The c o mputer that c o ntains the set o f database sand the so ftware that servic es requests fro m database clie nts.
Database Structure See Database Obje ct.
DBA See Database Administrato r.
DBMS See Database Manage me nt Syste m.
DBO See Database Owne r.
DCE See Distribute d Co mputing Enviro nme nt.
DCOM See Distribute d Co mpo ne nt Obje ct Mo de l.
DCOM Configuration Utility (DCOMCNGF) A utility pro gram available in Windo ws that is used to maintain the additio nal info rmatio n nec essary to find COM co mpo -ne ntsin a distributed enviro nment.
De ad-Le tte r Que ue A syste m que uethat is used to ho ld applicatio n me ssage sthat c an’t be delivered.
De cision Support Syste m An applic atio n designed to help peo ple make b etter b usiness dec isio ns. Typic ally, a dec isio n suppo rt system uses a data wareho use as the so urc e o f the data to b e analyzed.
De le gation The imperso natio n o f c lients o ver a netwo rk when using DCOM o r COM+. See also Impe rso natio n.
Dime nsion A part o f the cubethat is used to o rganize the me mbe rsin the c ube. A dimensio n may have o ne o r mo re le ve ls,whic h are used to gro up data values. Fo r instanc e, a time dimensio n has the All level at the to p, fo llo wed by a Years level c o ntaining the set o f years, and a Mo nths level c o ntaining the mo nths in a partic u-lar year.
Distribute d Compone nt Obje ct Mode l (DCOM) A superset o f the Co mpo ne nt Obje ct Mo de l(COM) that allo ws the distributio n o f o bjec ts o ver a lo c al area and wide area netwo rk.
Distribute d Computing Environme nt (DCE) The Open So ftware Fo undatio n stan-dards fo r distributed applic atio n servic es. These servic es inc lude a distribute file system, a distributed sec urity system, and re mo te pro ce dure calls.
Dime nsion Table A table in a data ware ho use that is used to index the values in a fac t table.
DLLSee Dynamic Link Library.
Drill Down The ac t o f expanding the info rmatio n displayed fro m a cubeto see the next level o f detail.
Domain A c o llec tio n o f c o mputers in a Windo ws enviro nment that share a c o mmo n sec urity database.
DTS See Data Transfo rmatio n Se rvice s.
Dump See Backup.
Durable Part o f the ACIDdefinitio n o f a transac tio n. It ensures that o nc e a transac -tio n has been c o mpleted, the o perating system c an always rec o ver the wo rk do ne by the transac tio n after a system failure.
Dynamic Link Library (DLL) A file c o ntaining c o mpiled c o de that c an be shared by multiple pro grams at runtime.
Early Binding Oc c urs when Visual Basic is able to determine the type o f o bjec t yo u wish to ac c ess at develo pment-time. To implement early binding, yo u must dec lare yo ur variable as a spec ific o bjec t type, suc h as Re cordse trather than Obje ct. Early binding makes yo ur pro gram mo re effic ient bec ause less wo rk is needed at runtime to determine the o bjec t’s type. See also Late Binding.
English Que ry A to o l inc luded in Mic ro so ft SQL Server 7 that allo ws yo u to enter queries using English-like questio ns and sentenc es.
Equijoin A jo in o peratio n with two o r mo re tables, where o ne field in o ne table must be equal to ano ther field in the o ther table.
Eve nt An external subro utine c alled by an o bje ctwhen a spec ific situatio n is enc o untered. This allo ws the pro gram using the o bjec t to supply additio nal info r-matio n to the o bjec t, o r take a spec ific ac tio n based o n info rr-matio n supplied by the o bjec t.
Exce l 2000 A part o f the Mic ro so ft Offic e 2000 suite o f pro grams that is used to ana-lyze tabular data using wo rksheets and multi-dimensio nal data using Pivo tTables.
EXE See Exe cutable File.
Exe cutable File (EXE) Co ntains a c o mpiled versio n o f a pro gram that c an be lo aded into memo ry and exec uted.
Export The pro c ess o f mo ving data fro m a database to a file.
Expre ssion An algebraic fo rmula that c an invo lve c o nstants, c o lumns, func tio ns, and arithmetic o perato rs. Often used in SQL statements.
Exte rnal Transaction A transactio nthat inc ludes units o f wo rk fro m mo re than o ne re so urce manage r.
Fact Table A c entral table in a data wareho use who se primary key values link bac k to dimensio n tables. The remaining values typic ally desc ribe a transac tio n within an o rganizatio n suc h as a purc hase. So metimes these values are summarized ac c o rding to the dimensio ns inc luded in the table to reduc e the amo unt o f data sto red.
Fie ld An alternate name fo r co lumno r data e le me nt.
Filte r An expressio n that is used to identify a series o f rec o rds in a query.
Frie nd Prope rty A pro pe rtythat appears to be part o f the public inte rfaceto a COM o bjec t, but c an be ac c essed o nly by the o ther ro utines in the same pro jec t. Thus, yo u define a frie nd pro pe rtyin o ne class mo dule and ac c ess it in ano ther c lass mo d-ule, just as if yo u had dec lared it as public . Friend pro perties c an be used o nly in Active X EXEs, Active X DLLs,and Active X Co ntro ls.
Full Backup A c o mplete backupo f a database. Can be used to resto re the entire c o ntents o f a database witho ut using any o ther bac kups.
Full-Te xt Que ry A que rythat searc hes fo r o ne o r mo re wo rds o r phrases in a co lumn.
Function A ro utine that returns a value based o n zero o r mo re parameters. Func tio ns are typic ally used as part o f an expressio n.
GIF See Graphics Inte rchange Fo rmat.
Graphics Inte rchange Format (GIF) A file fo rmat (whic h uses tec hno lo gy o wned by Unisys Co rpo ratio n) that is c o mmo nly used to sto re graphic image stypic ally with 256 c o lo rs o r fewer. Users who se applicatio nsuse GIF images may have to pay a ro yalty fee to Unisys in o rder to use the tec hno lo gy.
Globally Unique Ide ntifie r (GUID) A 128-bit (16-byte) value that is generated by an algo rithm that guarantees that the value will be unique. The algo rithm that gener-ates this value c an be used at the rate o f o ne new GUID per sec o nd fo r several c en-turies and never duplic ate a value o n yo ur lo c al c o mputer o r any o ther c o mputer.
GUID See Glo bally Unique Ide ntifie r.
Hie rarchy An arrangement o f the me mbe rsin a dime nsio ninto le ve lsbased o n par-e nt childrelatio nships. Fo r example, a time dimensio n is bro ken into years, years are bro ken into mo nths, and so o n.
Hie rarchical Re cordse t A re co rdse tin whic h a co lumnin a partic ular ro wc an c o ntain ano ther rec o rdset.
HOPAP See Hybrid OLAP Database.
HTMLSee Hype rte xt Markup Language.
HTTP See Hype rte xt Transpo rt Pro to co l.
HTTP Use r Age nt A unique stringthat identifies the name and versio n o f a Web bro wser. Fro m this value, yo u c an deduc e its c apabilities.
Hybrid OLAP Database (HOLAP) A Hybrid OLAP database uses tec hniques fro m bo th a MOLAP database and a ROLAP database to pro vide better perfo rmanc e than either appro ac h.
Hype rte xt Transport Protocol (HTTP) A stateless o bjec t-o riented pro to c o l used by Web c lients and servers to c o mmunic ate.
I/ O See Input/Output.
Ide ntifie r A string o f c harac ters that is used to uniquely desc ribe a database o bjec t, suc h as a co lumno r table.
Ide ntity Column A c o lumn in a table that c o ntains a system-generated,
mo no to nic ally-inc reasing value that is guaranteed to be unique within the table.
IID See Inte rface Ide ntifie r.
IIS See Inte rne t Info rmatio n Se rve r.
Image A digital pic ture that c an be sto red o n a c o mputer. Many different image fo rmats are available, suc h as BMP, GIF,and JPEG.
Import The pro c ess o f c o pying data fro m a file to a database. This is the o ppo site o f e xpo rt.
Impe rsonation The ability to perfo rm a task using the sec urity permissio n o f o ne user, while exec uting under the sec urity permissio ns o f ano ther. See also
De le gatio n.
In-proce ss Obje ct A COMo bjec t that is lo aded into the same address spac e as the c alling pro gram. It is implemented in Visual Basic as an Active X Co ntro lo r an Active X DLL.
Incre me ntal Update The pro c ess whereby ro ws are added to a table, rather than replac ing all o f the ro ws in the table.
Inde x A database fac ility that sto res details abo ut the lo c atio n o f ro wsc o ntaining a spec ified ke yvalue. This database o bje ctallo ws the database se rve rto retrieve ro ws fro m a table faster than witho ut the index. Indexes are usually c reated based o n typ-ic al searc hes perfo rmed by users to inc rease perfo rmanc e.
Input/ Output (I/ O) An o peratio n whereby the c o mputer either reads data fro m a devic e o r writes data to a devic e. So me typic al devic es inc lude disk drives, printers, keybo ards, and mo dems.
Instance An o bjec t that has been allo c ated memo ry to ho ld info rmatio n based o n a template fo und in an Active X DLL, Active X Co ntro l, o rActive X EXE.
Inte ractive Use r Refers to the user name asso c iated with the keybo ard and display o n a Windo wsc o mputer. While there is always an interac tive user o n a Windo ws 98/95c o mputer, there may no t always be an interac tive user o n a Windo ws 2000/NT mac hine. This is espec ially true o f Windo ws 2000/NT Se rve r.
Inte rface A way to ac c ess the servic es supplied by an o bje ct. A COMbased o bjec t c an c o ntain zero o r mo re pro pe rtie s, zero o r mo re me tho ds, o r zero o r mo re e ve nts. Standard interfac es are tho se defined by Mic ro so ft. All COMo bjec ts are expec ted to implement IUnkno wn. IDispatc h is required when yo u want to suppo rt late binding.
Inte rface Ide ntifie r (IID) The GUIDthat uniquely identifies an inte rface.
Inte rnal Transaction A transactio nwhere the COM+ Que ue d Co mpo ne nts feature supplies the o nly reso urc e manager.
Inte rne t An internatio nal netwo rk that permits c o mputers to c o mmunic ate amo ng o ne ano ther using the TCP/ IP suite o f pro to c o ls.
Inte rne t Information Se rve r (IIS) Mic ro so ft’s high-perfo rmanc e Web server that runs o n a Windo ws 2000/NT Se rve rsystem.
Intrane t An internal netwo rk fo r an o rganizatio n that is based o n the to o ls and pro -to c o ls used by the Internet.
Intrinsic Controls Co ntro lsavailable in Visual Basic that are inc luded with the run-time library. They are usually limited to perfo rming relatively simple func tio ns.
Isolation Part o f the ACIDdefinitio n o f a transactio n. It pro vides the viewpo int that eac h transac tio n o perates independently o f o ther transac tio ns.
Job See Batch Jo b.
Journal Que ue A syste m que ue that is used to ho ld messages that have been pro -c essed and remo ved fro m a transa-ctio n que ue.
Joint Photographic Expe rts Group (JPEG) An image file fo rmat o ptimized fo r 24-bit c o lo r images. It uses a c o mpressio n sc heme where data that may no t be no tic ed by the user is thro wn away and results in very small images.
JPEG See Jo int Pho to graphic Expe rts Gro up.
Junction Table The table in the middle o f a many-to -many re latio nship.
Late Binding Oc c urs when Visual Basic is unable to determine the type o f o bjec t yo u wish to ac c ess at develo pment time. This happens when yo u dec lare yo ur o bjec t variable as a general type, suc h as Obje ct o r Variant. Late binding slo ws yo ur pro gram at runtime bec ause Visual Basic must determine the o bjec t’s type eac h time it is ac c essed. See also Early Binding.
Le ve l Desc ribes the amo unt o f detail displayed in a dimensio n. The lo wer the level, the mo re detail will be displayed.
Lice nse Ke y A way to prevent so meo ne fro m redistributing an Active X Co ntro lyo u develo p witho ut yo ur permissio n. The lice nse ke ymust be present either in the Windo ws Re gistryo f the c o mputer using the c o ntro l o r in the pro gram using the c o ntro l. Only c o ntro ls who se lic ense key is in the Registry c an be used in the Visual Basic develo pment enviro nment.
Load Balancing The ac t o f assigning new wo rk o r shifting existing wo rk to the least-busy server in a defined gro up o f c o mputers. This helps to impro ve netwo rk perfo rmanc e by ensuring that all o f the servers in the gro up o f c o mputers are equally busy.
Locking A pro c ess where a user is granted exc lusive ac c ess to a partic ular database o bje ct. This prevents o ther users fro m c hanging the o bjec t until the first user has fin-ished and released the lo c k.
Logical I/ O An I/Orequest fro m the database se rve rthat may o r may no t be satis-fied by info rmatio n already in memo ry.
Login An identifier that gives an individual ac c ess to a database se rve r. A lo ginis mapped to a partic ular use r namewhen ac c essing a spec ific database.
Many-to-Many Re lationship A relatio nship between two data e le me ntswhere a par-tic ular value fo r o ne field implies that the o ther field c an have a parpar-tic ular range o f values, while that field implies that the first field may also have a range o f values. Fo r example, an autho r may write many bo o ks, while a bo o k may be written by many autho rs.
MapPoint 2000 An applic atio n that is a member o f the Mic ro so ft Offic e 2000 suite that is used to analyze geo graphic data.
MAPI See Me ssaging Applicatio n Pro gramming Inte rface.
Marshaling The tec hniq ue o f sending interfac e message c alls to an o b jec t o n a different thread in the same address spac e o r in a different address spac e.
MDX See Multi-dime nsio nal Expre ssio ns.
Me asure A numeric c o lumn that is inc luded in a fact table. Typic ally c o ntains info r-matio n that c an be analyzed.
Me mbe r An item in a dime nsio nthat represents o ne o r mo re o c c urrenc es o f data. The c o mbinatio n o f a member and its parent values must be unique.
Me ssage Info rmatio n that is generated by an applic atio n o r by the system and sto red in a me ssage que ue.
Me ssage Que ue An applic atio n-generated queue that c o ntains applic atio n-gener-ated messages. Also used to refer to Micro so ft Me ssage Que ue s.
Me ssaging Application Programming Inte rface (MAPI) An interfac e develo ped by Mic ro so ft to pro vide func tio ns that develo pers c o uld use to c reate e-mail enabled applic atio ns.
Me tadata A c o llec tio n o f attributes that desc ribes yo ur database inc luding, the data type o f eac h c o lumn, the fo rmat that sho uld be used to present the data, a desc riptio n o f the data, plus any o ther info rmatio n that is useful in understanding ho w the data is c reated and ho w it sho uld be used.
Me thod A way to ac c ess a subro utine o r func tio n to perfo rm a spec ific task within an o bje ct.
Microsoft Me ssage Que ue s (MSMQ) A feature that allo ws yo u to send async hro no us messages fro m o ne applic atio n pro gram to ano ther.
Microsoft Transaction Se rve r (MTS) A server that manages distribute applic atio n o bje cts. MTS has been superc eded o n Windo ws 2000 systems by COM+ Transac tio n Server.
Middle Tie r The middle level o f pro c essing in an n-tier applic atio n system. Typic ally this tier c o nsists o f a transactio n se rve rsuc h as the COM+ Transactio n Se rve r.
Mode l Database A databasethat c o ntains all the default table sand suppo rting info rmatio n that must exist in an empty database.
Module -Le ve l Variable A variable defined at the start o f a mo dule. This variable c an be ac c essed by any ro utine in the mo dule, even if it is dec lared private. If it is dec lared public , it may be referenc ed by c o de o utside the mo dule. A public variable in a class mo dule is treated as an o bjec t’s pro perty.
Multi-dime nsional Expre ssions (MDX) A language that is used fo r building queries that ac c ess a c ube.
Multi-dime nsional Database A multi-dimensio nal database sto res info rmatio n in a c o llec tio n o f large multi-dimensio nal arrays. This makes it easy to lo c ate a spec ific piec e o f info rmatio n quic kly. Ho wever, this struc ture is extremely time c o nsuming to lo ad.
Multiproce ssor A c o mputer system with mo re than o ne CPU that is under Windo w’s direc t c o ntro l. This allo ws two o r mo re thre adsto be running at the same time.
Multithre ade d A pro c ess that c an have two o r mo re ac tive thre adsrunning at the same time.
N-Tie r Application Indic ates the number o f c o mputers where pro c essing is per-fo rmed as part o f an applic atio n. A stand-alo ne c o mputer is o ne-tier, and c lient/server c o mputing is two -tier. DCOM and COM+ allo w yo u to perfo rm three-tier pro c essing by adding ano ther c o mputer in between the c lient and server c o mputers.
Ne ste d Que ry A Se le ctstatement that c o ntains o ne o r mo re subque rie s.
Nontransactional Me ssage A me ssage generated by an applic atio n that is no t part o f a transactio n.
Nontransactional Que ue A que ue that is used to rec eive no ntransactio nal me ssage s.
Normalization The pro c ess o f designing a database ac c o rding to a set o f well-defined rules that minimize duplic atio n o f info rmatio n.
Null A c o nditio n that exists when a co lumndo esn’t have a value. This sho uld no t be c o nfused with an empty string, who se value is a string o f c harac ters with a length o f zero .
Obje ct A so ftware c o mpo nent that c o ntains o ne o r mo re inte rface sthat c an be used to request info rmatio n o r perfo rm func tio ns.
Obje ct Browse r A func tio n o f the Visual Basic IDE that allo ws yo u to see the defini-tio ns o f the pro pe rtie s, me tho ds,and e ve ntso f an o bjec t available to yo ur pro gram.
Obje ct Code A c o llec tio n o f mac hine instruc tio ns and data that is lo aded into mem-o ry fmem-o r exec utimem-o n.
Obje ctConte xt The o bjec t used to trac k the status o f a transac tio n under COM+. It is c reated at the beginning o f a transactio n. At the end o f the transac tio n, yo u c an mark the transac tio n as suc c essfully c o mpleted o r abo rt all o f the ac tivities asso c i-ated with the transac tio n.
OCX File A file that c o ntains o ne o r mo re Active X Co ntro ls. It is similar in struc ture to an Active X DLLfile, but it must inc lude extra inte rface sthat pro vide the graphic al interfac e.
ODBC See Ope n Database Co nne ctivity.
OLAP See Online Analytical Pro ce ssing.
OLAP Manage r A utility that allo ws yo u to manage an OLAP Server and c o ntains to o ls that allo w yo u to design and po pulate OLAP c ubes.
OLAP Se rve r A type o f se rve rthat is designed to sto re multi-dime nsio nal database s and to pro c ess queries against the data.
OLAP Se rvice s A fac ility in Mic ro so ft SQL Server that inc ludes to o ls like the OLAP Manage rand a spec ial server c alled OLAP Server that respo nds to requests to Multi-dime nsio nal OLAP database s.
OLE DB An o bjec t-o riented pro gramming interfac e to ac c ess a database o r o ther data so urc e that suppo rts Mic ro so ft’s COM tec hno lo gy.
OLE DB Consume r A pro gram that requests info rmatio n fro m a data so urc e using OLE DB pro vide r.
OLE DB Provide r A pro gram that respo nds to requests fo r info rmatio n fro m an OLE DB co nsume r.
One -to-Many Re lationships A relatio nship b etween two data e le me ntswhere a partic ular value fo r o ne fie ldimplies that the o ther field c an have a partic ular range o f values, while that field implies that the first field c an have o nly o ne value. Fo r example, there is a o ne-to -many relatio nship b etween a b io lo gic al mo ther and her c hildren. A mo ther may have many c hildren, while a c hild has o nly o ne b io lo gic al mo ther.
One -to-One Re lationship A relatio nship between two data e le me ntswhere a partic -ular value fo r o ne fie ldimplies that the o ther field will have a partic ular value and vic e versa. Fo r example, there is a o ne-to -o ne relatio nship between a perso n and that perso n’s so c ial sec urity number.
Ope n Database Conne ctivity (ODBC) A tec hno lo gy develo ped by Mic ro so ft that permits Windo ws pro grams to ac c ess different database systems. This tec hno lo gy has been superc eded by OLE DB.
Ope rator A symbo l that is used to perfo rm c o mputatio ns, c o mpariso ns, and o ther tasks within an e xpre ssio n.
Out-of-Proce ss Obje ct A COMo bjec t that is lo aded into its o wn address spac e. It is implemented in Visual Basic as an Active X EXEfile.
Package The c o llec tio n o f info rmatio n defined to Data Transfo rmatio n Servic es that is used to impo rto r e xpo rtdata fro m yo ur database.
Page The fundamental unit o f physic al database sto rage. All table s, inde xe s,and o ther database info rmatio n are mapped o nto o ne o r mo re pages, whic h are trans-ferred as needed between disk and memo ry. In SQL Server 7.0, o ne page equals 8K bytes wo rth o f data. 128 pages equals 1 megabyte o f data.
Parame te r A value o r expressio n that is passed to a func tio n.
Pare nt A me mbe rin the next higher le ve lin a hie rarchy. The parent represents the aggregatio n o f the values o f all o f its childmembers.
Partition A sto rage c o ntainer fo r data and aggregatio ns o f a c ube. Every c ube has at least o ne partitio n. No te that multiple partitio ns are o nly with so me editio ns o f SQL Server.
Partial Backup An inc o mplete backupo f yo ur database. A partial bac kup rec o rds the c hanges made sinc e ano ther bac kup was taken. Its primary advantage is that it runs muc h faster than a full backup. To c o mpletely rec o ver yo ur database, yo u will need a fullbac kup and any o ther partial bac kups that were taken after the full bac kup was taken.
Pass-Through Que ry A query that is passed thro ugh the c urrent server unto uc hed o nto ano ther server fo r exec utio n.
Pathname The fully qualified name o f a queue. It is sto red using the fo rmat mac hi-nename\queuename, where mac hinename is the name o f the c o mputer c o ntaining the queue and the queuename is the name o f the queue.
Pe rsiste nce The ability to save the info rmatio n inside an o bjec t befo re it is destro yed and resto re it after the o bjec t is rec reated. An example o f persistenc e is when Visual Basic saves the pro perty values asso c iated with an Active X Co ntro l fro m o ne develo pment sessio n to the next.
Pe rsonal We b Se rve r (PWS) A lightweight Web server designed fo r use with Windo ws 98/95, Windo ws 2000 Pro fe ssio nal, and Windo ws NT Wo rkstatio n.
Physical I/ O An I/Oo r o utput request that results in a physic al transfer o f data fro m o r to a disk drive o r o ther hardware devic e. This differs fro m a lo gical I/O, where the info rmatio n may be buffered in memo ry and no physic al transfer o c c urs.
Pivot The pro c ess o f exc hanging o ne dimensio n fo r ano ther in a cubeo r Pivo tTable.
PivotTable A fac ility in Exce lthat allo ws yo u to analyze multi-dimensio nal data. The data c an be extrac ted lo c ally fro m a wo rkshe e to r remo tely fro m a database se rve r o r an OLAP Se rve r.
PivotTable Se rvice A to o l o n a clie ntc o mputer that c o mmunic ates with an OLAP Se rve rto pro vide data fo r a clie nt applicatio nsuc h as Exce l.
Pre calculate The pro c ess o f perfo rming aggre gatio nso n multi-dime nsio naldata in antic ipatio n o f future queries.
Primary Ke y The co lumno r c o lumns in a table that will uniquely identify a ro w.
Private Dime nsion A dime nsio nthat is used o nly by a single cube ,as o ppo sed to a share d dime nsio n, whic h is c o mmo n to multiple c ubes.
Private Me ssage A message that has been enc rypted befo re being sent to a que ue.
Private Que ue A me ssage que ue that is registered o nly o n the lo c al mac hine. This queue is no t published in the Active Dire cto ry, making it harder to find.
Private Variable A variable who se sc o pe is limited to the ro utine o r mo dule in whic h it was dec lared. If the variable is dec lared inside a ro utine, it may no t be ac c essible fro m o utside the ro utine. If it was dec lared as a mo dule -le ve l variable, it c anno t be ac c essed fro m o utside the mo dule.
Proce ss The c o llec tio n o f an addre ss space, thre ads,and o ther info rmatio n that is asso c iated with the running o f a single pro gram. See also Re fre sh.
Production Application An applic atio n that implements busine ss lo gicto help an o rganizatio n perfo rm its primary go als.
Prope rty A way to ac c ess a data attribute sto red inside an o bje ct. A pro perty may be read/ write, read-o nly, o r write-o nly.
Prope rty Bag An o bjec t asso c iated with a Visual Basic class mo dule that is used to pro vide persistent sto rage. Befo re the o bjec t is destro yed, yo u are allo wed to save info rmatio n in the pro pe rty bag. When the o bjec t is c reated, yo u c an resto re this info rmatio n fro m the pro perty bag.
Prope rty Page A COMo bjec t that allo ws a user to ac c ess the pro perties asso c iated with an Active X co ntro las design-time.
Protocol A set o f rules that define ho w two o r mo re c o mputers c o mmunic ate with eac h o ther.
Public Que ue A que ueregistered in the active dire cto ry, whic h makes it easier to find.
Public Variable A variab le that c an b e ac c essed fro m any mo dule in yo ur appli-c atio n pro gram. If it is inappli-c luded as part o f a COMo b jec t, it b ec o mes a pro pe rty availab le fo r any ro utine to read o r write.
Publishe r The so urc e o f data in the replic atio n mo del.
PWS See Pe rso nal We b Se rve r.
Que ry A request to retrieve, insert, update, o r delete info rmatio n in a database.
Que ry Optimize r A part o f the database se rve rthat analyzes a database que ryto determine the mo st effic ient way to exec ute the query.
Que ue An o bjec t to ho ld messages between applic atio ns. Implemented by Micro so ft Me ssage Que ue s.
Que ue Name The name o f a que ue. It may c o ntain up to 124 c harac ters, exc ept fo r the bac kslash ( \), semic o lo n ( ; ), and do llar sign ( $ ).
Rapid Application De ve lopme nt Tool A to o l that allo ws yo u to build applic atio ns quic kly, at the c o st o f exec utio n effic ienc y.
RDBMS See Re latio nal Database Manage me nt Syste m.
Re cord A c o llec tio n o f fields c o ntaining related info rmatio n that is treated as a single entity. Also kno wn as a ro win a table.
Re cordse t A c o llec tio n o f rec o rds retrieved fro m a database and made available to a Visual Basic pro gram thro ugh a COMo bjec t. Rec o rdsets are o bjec ts present in the ADO, DAO, and RDOo bjec t mo dels.
Re cove ry The pro c ess o f rebuilding a database based o n database backupsand transactio n lo gs.
Re fe re ntial Inte grity A way to ensure that the info rmatio n in the databaseis valid by o nly permitting values to be entered into a tableif the value in the fo re ign ke yis fo und in the primary ke yo f ano ther table.
Re gistry The area in Windo wsthat ho lds c o nfiguratio n info rmatio n abo ut the o per-ating system and applic atio n pro grams.
Re fre sh The set o f o peratio ns that deletes the data fro m a c ube and lo ads the c ube with a fresh set o f data fro m the data wareho use. See also Pro ce ss.
Re lational Database A database that appears to the user as a simple c o llec tio n o f table s, where eac h table c o nsists o f a series o f co lumnso r fie ldsac ro ss the to p and a series o f ro wso r rec o rds do wn the side. The underlying data struc tures used to ho ld the data are to tally invisible to the user.
Re lational Database Manage me nt Syste m (RDBMS) A c o llec tio n o f re latio nal database so n a single database se rve r.
Re lational OLAP Database (ROLAP) A Relatio nal OLAP database sto res its info r-matio n in a relatio nal database. This has the advantage o f being easy to lo ad, but c an be time-c o nsuming to searc h.
Re lationship A situatio n whereby a fo re ign ke yin a table is linked to a primary ke y in ano ther table. A relatio nship may be a o ne -to -o ne re latio nship, a o ne -to -many re la-tio nship o r a many-to -many re lala-tio nship.
Re mote Data Obje cts (RDO) A tec hno lo gy that allo ws a pro gram running o n Windo wsto ac c ess a database using ODBCtec hno lo gy. This tec hno lo gy is muc h mo re effic ient than Data Acce ss Obje ctsfo r ac c essing large databases. It has sinc e been superc eded by Active X Data Obje cts.
Re pe ating Group A variable that c o ntains multiple o c c urrenc es o f info rmatio n. This is similar to an array with dynamic ally-defined bo unds. An example o f a repeat-ing gro up wo uld be bo o k autho rs, where bo o k autho rs might have o ne, two , three o r mo re autho rs depending o n the partic ular bo o k.
Re plication A way o f keeping two database swith the same info rmatio n in sync .
Re plication Mode l See Database Re plicatio n.
Re port Que ue A que ueused to trac k the pro gress o f me ssage sas they mo ve to the De stinatio n Que ue.
Re pository See Data Dictio nary.
Re sponse Me ssage An applic atio n-generated message that is returned to a re spo nse que uespec ified by the sending applic atio n.
Re sponse Que ue A que ueused to rec eive a re spo nse me ssagefro m the applic atio n that rec eived a message.
ROLAP See Re latio nal OLAP Database.
Role A predefined set o f pe rmissio nsin the database. When a lo ginid is assigned to a ro le, it inherits all the permissio ns asso c iated with the ro le.
Roll Back The pro c ess o f undo ing a set o f c hanges to the database that have no t yet been c o mmitted.
Row A c o llec tio n o f co lumnsthat are sto red in a table.
RPC See Re mo te Pro ce dure Call.
Rule A way to verify a value entered in a co lumn. A rule is c reated by adding an Inte grity Co nstraintto a table. Yo u c an spec ify a list o f permitted values o r plac e o ther limits o n the partic ular values that are c o nsidered ac c eptable.
Run Time When the pro gram is being exec uted as o ppo sed to de sign-time (when the pro gram is being written) o r co mpile -time(when the pro gram is being c o m-piled).
SA See Syste m Administrato r.
Sche ma A desc riptio n o f the databaseusing a language suc h as SQL.
Se rve r A server side o f a c lient-server applic atio n. This pro gram respo nds to requests fro m clie ntapplic atio ns.
Share d Dime nsion A dimensio n in an OLAP database is c o mmo n to multiple c ubes.
Single Thre ade d A blo c k o f c o de that c an o nly be exec uted by o ne thread at a time. This typic ally inc ludes func tio ns where glo bal data is in the pro c ess o f being updated, suc h as a glo bal c o unter o r a c o mplex database update that affec ts glo bal data.
Slice and Dice The ac t o f mo ving and c o mbining dimensio ns while selec ting o ne o r mo re individual level values in a c ube to see data fro m different viewpo ints.
Snowflake Sche ma A database design where a fac t table is surro unded by o ne o r mo re dimensio ns and eac h dimensio n is represented by o ne o r mo re tables. See also Star Sche ma.
Source File Co ntains the pro gramming language statements that a c o mpiler will translate into an e xe cutable file, whic h c an be lo aded into memo ry and run.
SQL See Structure d Que ry Language.
SQL Se rve r Mic ro so ft’s high perfo rmanc e database management system. Inc ludes a number o f to o ls, suc h as the Query Analyzer, Enterprise Manager, English Query, and OLAP Server.
SQL State me nt A single que rywritten in the SQLlanguage.
Star Sche ma A database design where a fac t table is surro unded by o ne o r mo re dimensio ns and eac h dimensio n is represented by a single table. See also Sno wflake Sche ma.
Store d Proce dure A set o f SQLstatements that are exec uted o n the database se rve r and c an o ptio nally return a result to the database c lient pro gram. Using sto red pro -c edures is usually mo re effi-c ient than trying to perfo rm the same fun-c tio n dire-c tly o n the database c lient, bec ause they are prec o mpiled and may also be c o ntained in the server’s memo ry. Also , if multiple steps are inc luded in the sto red pro c edure, there is no need to transfer data between the database server and c lient, whic h also tends to impro ve perfo rmanc e.
Strate gic Application Deals with the lo ng range business go als o f an o rganizatio n. A data ware ho use is an example o f a strategic applic atio n. See also Tactical
Applicatio n.
Structure d Que ry Language (SQL) A language o riginally develo ped by IBM in the 1970s that has bec o me the standard language fo r ac c essing relatio nal database s.
Subque ry A Se le ctstatement that is nested inside ano ther SQL state me nt.
Subscribe r The destinatio n o f data in a replic atio n mo del.
Synchronous Proce ssing The type o f pro c essing that o c c urs when a pro gram c alls a task and the c alling pro gram is blo c ked fro m perfo rming any o ther wo rk until the pro gram it c alls c o mpletes. See also Asynchro no us Pro ce ssing.
Syste m Administrator (SA) The lo ginasso c iated with the individual respo nsible fo r an SQL Server database system. The system administrato r is exempt fro m all sec u-rity rules and is treated as the database o wne ro f whatever databaseis being used.
Syste m Catalog The table sfo und in the Maste r Database, whic h are used to sto re info rmatio n o n the o ther databases in the database se rve rand also ho ld the database server’s c o nfiguratio n info rmatio n.
Syste m Database s In SQL Server, the system databases inc lude the Maste r Data-base, the Te mpo rary Database (tempdb), and the Mo de l Database. These database s are required to o perate SQL Server.
Syste m Que ue A que uec reated by the COM+ Que ue d Co mpo ne nts feature that is required to o perate the queued c o mpo nents.
Syste m Table A table required by a database se rve rto ho ld info rmatio n abo ut itself. This inc ludes suc h info rmatio n as use r database s, table s, co lumns, inde xe s, and so o n.
Table The o nly database o bjec t that c o ntains business data. It pro vides a view o f this data by a series o f co lumnsand ro ws. Eac h c o lumn o f data c o rrespo nds to a fie ld, while a ro w is also kno wn as a re co rd.
Table Scan The pro c ess where the database server must read every ro w in a table in o rder to satisfy a que ry.
Tactical Application Deals with the day to day issues o f running an o rganizatio n. A payro ll applic atio n is an example o f a tac tic al applic atio n. See also Strate gic
Applicatio n.
Thre ad An exec utio n path thro ugh the same instanc e o f a pro gram.
Thre ading Mode l Desc ribes ho w yo ur applic atio n will use threads in an address spac e. A single -thre ade dapplic atio n c an take advantage o f o nly o ne exec utio n path thro ugh the pro gram. A multithre ade dapplic atio n c an have mo re than o ne exec u-tio n path ac tive at the same time.
Transact-SQL The name o f the SQL language implemented in SQL Server. It c o nsists o f many extensio ns to the ANSI standard, inc luding lo c al variables, assignment statements, If statements, and o ther c o ntro l flo w statements that help yo u build sto re d pro ce dure s.
Transaction A lo gic al unit o f wo rk that c o nsists o f o ne o r mo re c hanges to a database. Either all o f the steps in the transac tio n are c o mpleted o r no ne o f them. The c lassic example o f a transac tio n is transferring mo ney fro m o ne ac c o unt to ano ther, where the funds are subtrac ted fro m the so urc e ac c o unt and then added to the destinatio n ac c o unt. If o nly half o f the transac tio n is c o mpleted, the database will be in erro r. In COM+, every transac tio n must meet the ACIDtest.
Transaction Log A file c o ntaining a list o f c hanges made to the database. This info r-matio n c an be used to undo c hanges made to the database, o r it c an be c o mbined with a backupfile to rec o ver transactio nsmade after the bac kup was made.
Transaction Se rve r A piec e o f o perating system so ftware that manages the exec u-tio n o f transacu-tio ns. See also COM+ Transacu-tio n Se rve r.
Transactional Me ssage A message sent as part o f a transactio n.
Transactional Que ue A que ue that is used to ho ld transactio nal me ssage s.
Trigge r A spec ial type o f sto re d pro ce dure that is c alled whenever a ro wis inserted in, deleted fro m, o r updated in a table. If a severe erro r is enc o untered while run-ning the trigger, the transactio nwill auto matic ally be ro lled bac k. It is used primarily fo r ensuring that new data is valid o r to c asc ade c hanges fro m o ne table to ano ther. Fo r example, yo u may inc lude a trigger o n an o rder entry table that ensures that the c usto mer ID exists in the c usto mer table befo re an o rder is plac ed.
UDL File See Data Link File.
Unde rlying Table See Base Table.
Unicode A way to sto re internatio nal c harac ters in a 16-bit c harac ter. This makes it easier fo r pro c essing multilingual data.
Unive rsal Data Link See Data Link File.
Use r Database A database where user info rmatio n is kept.
Use r Name An ide ntifie rasso c iated with a lo ginthat is used to determine an indi-vidual’s pe rmissio nsin a database.
Vie w A virtual tablethat is c reated thro ugh the use o f an SQLSe le ctstatement. A view appears to the user exac tly as a table fo r all read o peratio ns and so me write o peratio ns, depending o n ho w the view was c reated.
Virtual Cube A lo gic al c ube that is c reated fro m existing dimensio ns and measures fro m o ne o r mo re physic al c ubes. A virtual c ube is similar in c o nc ept to a view.
Virtual Dime nsion A lo gic al dimensio n that is c reated fro m an existing dimensio n in a c ube.
Visual Basic A rapid applic atio n develo pment to o l that is o ften used to build database applic atio ns.
Visual Basic Script A versio n o f Visual Basic that runs inside ano ther applic atio n suc h as Data Transfo rmatio n Servic es to pro vide the ability to c usto mize a task.
We b Page A do c ument typic ally written in HTMLthat is made available o ver the Inte rne tfo r display o n a bro wse r.
Windows A family o f o perating systems fro m Mic ro so ft.
Windows 98/ 95 An o perating system designed to suppo rt interac tive pro c essing. Currently there are three versio ns o f Windo ws 98/ 95: Windo ws 98 Sec o nd Editio n, Windo ws 98, and Windo ws 95.
Windows 2000 Profe ssional An o perating system designed to suppo rt interac tive pro c essing. This o perating system replac es Windo ws NT Wo rkstatio n.
Windows 2000/ NT Se rve r An o perating system designed to suppo rt vario us se rve rs, suc h as a database server o r a Web server.
Windows NT Workstation An o perating system designed to suppo rt interac tive pro c essing. Typic ally used by po wer users.
