What is a data dictionary?

[YEAYA]

What is a data dictionary? :confused:

[Kasracer]

MyDictionary["Clock"] = "The time"

Basically a list of items that allows you to use a "key" to access a specific value. The above is a simple example of a dictionary being used as.. well a dictionary, heh :)

[szlamany]

When I'm asked to produce a data dictionary it is a document - in WORD for instance - explaining all tables and field elements in those tables and how they relate and what values mean in those tables.

Please be more specific.

[RhinoBull]

Data Dictionary can be used to "translate" meaningless data field names, table names, etc to the end user.
For instance:

in your table you may have fields such

cid
cfn
cln

... and so on.

If you have to build some search utility and you let people to select tables/fields then those names may need to be presented in more "human" language:

Customer ID
Customer First Name
Customer Last Name

Same basicaly goes for table names, views, etc...
I ahve seen databases where tables/fields wree named using some numeric patterns like:

tbl001 / fld001 / fld002

Hope this makes some sense now.

[Hack]

Data Dictionary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_dictionary)