Glossary for Geospatial Science

database object or dBASE object:� A database is a collection of information related by some unifying theme, such as demographics, epidemiology, or geographic location.� There are a number of popular database programs, such as dBASE IV, that assist in the retrieval and management of such information in electronic form.� The TNT products also handle databases and use specific terminology for the components that comprise a database. A database in the TNT products can be a main level object or a subobject of a raster, vector, CAD, or TIN object.� The object generally defines the �unifying theme� (for example, the soil type polygons for the Crow Butte area). A database is organized into tables, which contain records that store attribute values for an individual example in one or more fields.� (See also: external database, field, foreign key, internal database, primary key, record, table.)