A combination of related data elements. The related data elements are stored in a table along with other records of the same type. For example, if a student pays the registrar $50 in cash toward a tuition expense, data such as the student’s ID, $50, and the date would be recorded in Banner and stored as a transaction "record."

Think of a filing cabinet in an office. The cabinet is filled with file folders, each of which contains all of the bills for a particular customer. Each of those bills could be considered a record, because the bill contains related information and is stored on a single sheet. In Banner, the "record" appears as a row of information in a table, instead of a piece of paper in a filing cabinet.

A record is a row of fields in the database. A field is the cell that is located at the intersection of a row and a column in a table. So in our example above, the student’s "transaction record," with the different pieces of data such as the ID, $50, and date, would be stored in a single row in the table. The table would store other records of the same type too, so there might be lots of IDs, each with a transaction.

When you have a bunch of records of the same type, this is called a "set." You can define characteristics for the set so that you can sort or re-order the data elements within each record.

In a database, records are stored the same way regardless of whether they are for something small (like a transaction), or something big, (such as a code on a validation form that is used throughout the system). Be careful if you delete or change important records, because they may impact the system beyond what you are doing.

In Banner, records are created behind the scenes when you enter information on a form. Banner automatically saves the information you enter in the correct table when you perform a Save function.

You can also create and update records in your database by using SQL or some other tool.

Learn more about databases.

Find out more about tables.