intelligent database


intelligent database

[in′tel·ə·jənt ′dad·ə‚bās] (computer science) A database that can respond to queries in a high-level, interactive language. A database that can store validation criteria with each item of data, so that all programs entering or updating the data must conform to these criteria.

intelligent database

(database)A database management system which performs datavalidation and processing traditionally done by application programs. Most DBMSs provide some data validation,e.g. rejecting invalid dates or alphabetic data entered intomoney fields, but often most processing is done by applicationprograms. There is however no limit to the amount ofprocessing that can be done by an intelligent database as longas the process is a standard function for that data.

Examples of techniques used to implement intelligent databasesare constraints, triggers and stored procedures.

Moving processing to the database aids data integritybecause it is guaranteed to be consistent across all uses ofthe data. Mainframe databases have increasingly become moreintelligent and personal computer database systems are rapidlyfollowing.

intelligent database

A database that contains knowledge about the content of its data. For example, a set of validation criteria can be stored with each field of data, such as the minimum and maximum values that can be entered or a list of all possible entries. Some intelligent databases can include rules that can be applied to incoming and outgoing data. The more the database is aware of its content, the more effectively it can respond to complex user queries. See DBMS.