One row per thing, one column per fact
Write down a fruit stall's week on paper. The facts get mixed up.
Step 1 of 4
- Empty table. Four columns: Fruit, Day, Crates sold, Price.
- One record fills a row: Mango, Monday, 9, 240.
- A second record fills the next row: Guava, Monday, 4, 120.
- Read across: one record. Read down: one field.
A row is one record, all the facts about one thing. A column is one field, one kind of fact. A cell is the square where a row and a column meet.
A table is rows and columns together. A database often keeps its data in tables like this. In a table, each fact has one place, its cell.
| Fruit | Day | Crates sold | Price (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mango | Monday | 9 | 240 |
| Guava | Monday | 4 | 120 |
| Mango | Tuesday | 7 | 240 |
A field holds one kind of fact. "Day" holds days only. "Mango, Monday" in one cell mixes two facts.
Is the shaded part a record or a field?
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