For example, a company’s human resources department uses the database to manage employee records, distribute legal information to employees and create updated hiring reports. A manufacturer might use this type of system to keep track of production, inventory and distribution. In both scenarios, the database management system operates to create a smoother and more organized working environment.
A simple database has a single table with rows for the data and columns that define the data elements. For an address book, the table columns define data elements such as name, address, city, state and phone number, while a table row, or record, contains data for each person in the book. The query language provides a way to find specific types of data in each record and return results that match the criteria. These results display in a form that uses the defined data elements but only shows records that meet the criteria. These three components make up almost every type of database.