<data, database, programming> An ordered set of fields,
usually stored contiguously. The term is used with similar
meaning in several different contexts. In a file, a "record"
probably has some fixed length, in contrast to a "line" which
may have any length and is terminated by some End Of Line
sequence). A database record is also called a "row". In a
spreadsheet it is always called a "row". Some programming
languages use the term to mean a type composed of fields of
several other types (C calls this a "struct").
In all these cases, a record represents an entity with certain
field values.
Fields may be of a fixed width (bits or characters) or
they may be separated by a delimiter character, often
comma (CSV) or HT (TSV).
In a database the list of values of a given field from all
records is called a column.
(2002-03-22)
Nearby terms:
Recital « RECOL « Recommended Standard « record » Record Management Services » records » Record Separator
