{"id":1749,"date":"2011-05-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/table\/"},"modified":"2017-06-15T17:44:44","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T17:44:44","slug":"table","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table","title":{"rendered":"Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Does Table Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A table is a named relational database data set that is organized by rows and columns. The relational table is a fundamental relational database concept because tables are the primary form of data storage.\n<\/p>\n

Columns form the table\u2019s structure, and rows form the content. Tables allow restrictions for columns (i.e., allowed column data type) but not rows. Every database table must have a unique name. Most relational databases have naming restrictions For example, the name may not contain spaces or be a reserved keyword such as TABLE or SYSTEM.\n<\/p>\n

Techopedia Explains Table<\/span><\/h2>\n

Relational tables store data in columns and rows. When creating a table, columns must be defined, but columns may be added or deleted after table creation. During this time, column data restrictions may or may not be defined. For example, when creating a CUSTOMER_MASTER table for storing customer information, definitions may be added, e.g., a DATE_OF_BIRTH column accepting dates only or a CUSTOMER_NAME column that may not be null (blank).\n<\/p>\n

Table rows are the table\u2019s actual data elements. In the CUSTOMER_MASTER table, the rows hold each customer record. Thus, a row consists of a data element within each table column. If a row value is not entered, the value is termed \u201cnull,\u201d which does not have the same meaning as a zero or space.\n<\/p>\n

Tables also have other table relationships that are defined by special columns, and the most prominent are primary and foreign keys. For example, the CUSTOMER_MASTER table has a CUSTOMER_ID column that is used to uniquely identify each table customer. If another table needs to refer to a certain customer, a corresponding column (also known as a foreign key) that references the CUSTOMER_MASTER table\u2019s customer id may be inserted. Other tables do not need to store additional customer details that are already stored in the CUSTOMER_MASTER table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Does Table Mean? A table is a named relational database data set that is organized by rows and columns. The relational table is a fundamental relational database concept because tables are the primary form of data storage. Columns form the table\u2019s structure, and rows form the content. Tables allow restrictions for columns (i.e., allowed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[227,222,228],"class_list":["post-1749","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-data-management","definitioncat-database","definitioncat-risk-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Table? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Table and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Table\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Table and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-15T17:44:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Table\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-17T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-15T17:44:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\"},\"wordCount\":321,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1247\/table\",\"name\":\"What is Table? 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