A database program lets you create an index – a list of records ordered according to the content of certain fields. This helps you to search the database and sort records into numerical or alphabetical order very quickly. Modern database are relational – that is, they are made up of related files: customers and orders, vendors and purchases, students and tutors, etc. Tow database files can be related as long as they have a common field. A file of students, for example, could include a field called Tutor ID and another file with details of the tutors could include the same field. This key field can be used to relate the two files. Database like Oracle, DB2 and MySQL can manage these relationships.
A database query function allows you to extract information according to certain conditions or criteria. For example if a managing director wanted to know all the customers that spend more than €8,000 per month, the program would search on the name field and the money field simultaneously.
The best database packages also include network facilities, which can make businesses more productive. For example, managers of different departments can have direct access to a common database. Most aspects of the program can be protected by user-defined passwords and other security devices. For example, if you wanted to share an employee´s personal details but not their commission, you could protect the commission field.