Database catalog
{{Short description|Document with definitions of database objects such as base tables, views, synonyms and value ranges}}
A database catalog of a database instance consists of metadata in which definitions of database objects such as base tables, views (virtual tables), synonyms, value ranges, indexes, users, and user groups are stored.{{cite book|title=Systems Development Handbook|author=Paul C. Tinnirello|year=1999|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=0-8493-9822-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/systemsdevelopme0000unse}}{{citation|title=CREATE VIEW (Transact-SQL) in SQL Server 2008 Books Online|publisher=Microsoft Corporation|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187956.aspx}} It is an architecture product that documents the database's content and data quality.{{cite web|access-date=2024-09-28 |language=en-US |title=Databasekatalog {{!}} QualiWare Center of Excellence |url=https://coe.qualiware.com/gov/dk/oio-ea-reol/i2/databasekatalog/}}
Standards
The SQL standard specifies a uniform means to access the catalog, called the INFORMATION_SCHEMA, but not all databases follow this, even if they implement other aspects of the SQL standard. For an example of database-specific metadata access methods, see Oracle metadata.
See also
- Data dictionary
- Data lineage
- Data Catalog Vocabulary, a W3C standard for metadata
- Metadata registry, central location where metadata definitions are stored and maintained
- Metadata repository, a database created to store metadata