Data Control Language (DCL) The subset of SQL statements used to control permissions on database objects. DCL is formed with GRANT and REVOKE statements. | Glossary 2 Glossary A ACID Atomic Consistent Isolated and Durable. This acronym forms the definition of a transaction. aggregate function A function that performs a calculation on multiple values of a specified column and returns a single value. Sum Avg Min and Max are examples of aggregate functions. aggregate query A SQL query that summarizes information from different rows by using an aggregate function See aggregate function . alias A substitute name for a table or column in queries. Alias are used to prevent ambiguous references to give a more descriptive name to a column in the query output or to shorten the name of a table. American National Standards Institute ANSI An organization of American industry and business groups that develops trade and communication standards for the United States. Through membership in the International Organization for Standardization ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC ANSI coordinates American standards with corresponding international standards. ANSI See American National Standards Institute ANSI . atomic First characteristic of a transaction. Either all of the transaction data modifications or none are performed. attribute In database modeling an attribute describes an entity. For example last name and first name are attributes of the customer entity. Attributes become columns in relational databases. automatic recovery Recovery process that takes place each time SQL Server is started. It protects the database in case of a system failure. B backup A disk tape or network copy of a database transaction log file or filegroup. A backup can be used to restore the database to a previous consistent state in case of a system failure. batch A series of SQL statements executed as a group. A script is made of one or many batches. bigint data type An integer data type with a value from 263 -9223372036854775808 through 263 - 1 9223372036854775807 . binary data type A fixed-length binary data type with a maximum .
