What is a fully relational database?
A fully relational database is a database in which there are links between related records: links between an invoice and the work sold and the person who bought the work. Create an invoice and Artsystems automatically updates the work — marks it as sold, records the sale price, calculates profit, updates location (when shipped), adds to client’s record as a purchase, etc. With a fully relational Database, information from related records (contact addresses for an invoice, for example) is not redundantly ‘copied’ into a record, but rather is ‘related’ or drawn directly from the related record. This allows for more efficient program performance, less possibility of data corruption, and ability to jump directly to the related record. It also means that if you need to make a spelling or other correction, you only need to make it once — the system updates throughout. These are major advantages over competing systems.
