Oracle Glossary
The following list contains definitions of commonly used Oracle terms. If there are additional terms you would like defined, please email them to the Oracle DBA.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Constraint | A role or restriction concerning a piece of data that is enforced at the data level, rather than the object or application level. |
| DCL | Abbreviation for Data Control Language. DCL is used to control access to the database. |
| DDL | Abbreviation for Data Definition Language. DDL is used to define or delete databas objects. |
| DML | Abbreviation for Data Manipulation Language. DML is used to query and update data. |
| Data Dictionary | A set of views provided by Oracle that describe all objects and users in the database. |
| Database | A set of logical objects and physical files necessary to support the system. |
| Foreign Key | One or more columns whose values are based on the primary key or unique key values from another table. |
| Function | A stored program, written in PL/SQL, stored in a database. It must return a value. |
| Grant | An action taken to assign a privilege to a role or user. |
| Import | An Oracle supplied utility to reteive objects stored in an Oracle export file. |
| Index | A structure used to improve the speed of data retrieval. |
| Instance | A set of background processes and memory structures that access a database. |
| Integrity Constraint | A role that restricts the values for a certain column in a table. |
| Null | A value that is not defined. |
| Object | Anything that is created and stored in a database. Examples of Oracle objects are tables, views, synonyms, indexes, sequences, clusters and columns. |
| PL/SQL | Abbreviation for Programming Language/Structured Query Language. |
| Package | A PL/SQL object that groups PL/SQL types, variables, SQL cursors, exceptions, procedures and functions into a single program unit. |
| Primary Key | One or more columns used to uniquely identify a row of a table. |
| Privilege | A permission granted to an Oracle users which allows them to perform a specific action within a database. |
| Procedure | A stored program, written in PL/SQL, stored in a database. It may return zero, one or more values. |
| Quota | A resource limit assigned to a user or a process. |
| Revoke | An action taken to remove a privilege from a role or user. |
| Role | A set of privileges or roles that can be granted to a user or a role. |
| SQL | Abbreviation for Structured Query Language. An ANSI standard language to interact with the database. |
| Schema | The set of objects owned by a user account. |
| Sequence | A database object used to generate unique integers. |
| Session | A connection to the database including the memory area as well as the access privileges allocated to a specific user. |
| Stored Program | A PL/SQL script stored in a database. A stored program can be either a function or a procedure. |
| Synonym | An alias or alternate name for a database object. It is used to provide transparency of object ownership and location. |
| TNSNAMES.ORA | A file that contains connection information describing the location of databases. |
| Table | A logical unit of storage for a specific collection of data. A table is made up of columns and is used to store rows of data. |
| Table Contraint | A integrity contraint that applies to multiple columns in the same table. |
| Tablespace | A logical object used to represent a file or set of files that are used to store one or more objects in the database. |
| Trigger | A stored program associated with a table that Oracle automatically executes when the event on which it is based occurs. |
| Unique Key | One or more columns whose values are unique for all rows in a table. |
| User | A database account created by the database administrator. |
| View | A logical representation of a table or group of tables that enables a user to a subset of the data in the table or group of tables. |