A database management program is software for organizing, storing, finding, changing, and controlling access to information in a database. The more established technical term is database management system, usually shortened to DBMS.
What is a database management program?
It is a computer program—or set of programs—that helps people and applications define, create, use, and manage a database. An ERIC-hosted educational guide defines it as a program that “manages (organizes, stores, and retrieves) data (or information)” (ERIC, 1986). A technical definition from the IBM Dictionary of Computing, reproduced in a USPTO-hosted exhibit, describes a DBMS as a computer-based system for defining, creating, manipulating, controlling, managing, and using databases (USPTO-hosted exhibit, 2013).
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“Database management program” is accessible explanatory wording. In technical writing, DBMS is the more common label.
How is a database different from a DBMS?
A database is the organized collection of information. The DBMS is the software used to work with that information: it provides ways to create the data structure, retrieve records, make updates, and manage use of the stored data. The IRS describes a DBMS in functional terms as software used to access and retrieve stored data (IRS Internal Revenue Manual).
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The DBMS may be part of a larger system or supplied as a stand-alone system; it is not the same thing as the data it manages.
What does a DBMS do?
Specific capabilities vary, but a DBMS can provide services in several areas:
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- Define and organize data: establish how information is structured in the database.
- Manipulate and query data: add, change, remove, and retrieve records.
- Control access: govern how people or applications use the data.
- Help maintain reliability: depending on the system, support integrity checks, transaction controls, backup, recovery, validation, security, or monitoring.
Federal standards guidance describes data definition, manipulation, querying, and integrity—including transaction controls and referential constraints—as basic DBMS service areas (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs standards guidance). That guidance is older and explains concepts; it should not be read as a description of how every current product implements them. Not every DBMS offers every function in the same way.
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What information can a database management program handle?
DBMS software can support many kinds of record-keeping. An ERIC-hosted educational guide gives examples including business customer details, school-library book information, airline flight reservations, law-enforcement records, and adult-education enrollment or test records (ERIC, 1986).
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Example: a library
A library database might contain book and borrowing records. Its DBMS provides ways to organize those records, find a particular item, and update information such as a loan. This is a general illustration of the use case, not a claim about any particular library’s software.
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What should you remember?
- The database is the organized data; the DBMS is the software for managing and using it.
- “Database management program” and “DBMS” refer to software, not to the stored records themselves.
- Functions differ across systems, so a general definition does not establish that a particular product has a specific capability or is right for a given job.
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