Foreign Key

Foreign Key : A data element in one entity (or relation) that is the primary key of another entity that serves to implement a relationship between the entities. 

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: Larry English, http://www.iaidq.com/main/glossary.shtml , 26-Jan-2009 09:26

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Foreign key - A column or group of columns in a table that corresponds to or references a primary key in another table in the database. A foreign Key need not itself be unique, but must uniquely identify the field or fields in the table that the key references.  

[Category=Database Management ]

Source: Northwest Database Services, 09 November 2009 08:42:30, http://www.nwdatabase.com/database-glossary-k.htm#keyforeign

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Foreign key - Column or combination of columns whose values are required to match a primary key in some other table.

[Category=Data Governance ]

Source: The Data Governance Institute, 08 December 2009 13:52:47, http://www.datagovernance.com/glossary-governance/

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Foreign Key - A foreign key is the primary key of one data structure that is placed into a related data structure to represent a relationship among those structures. Foreign keys resolve relationships, and support navigation among data structures.

[Category=Information Management ]

Source: Information-Management.com, 20 June 2010 08:06:23, http://www.information-management.com/glossary/f.html

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Foreign Key - A foreign key is the primary key of one data structure that is placed into a related data structure to represent a relationship among those structures. Foreign keys resolve relationships, and support navigation among data structures.

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: DataMentors, 20 August 2010 09:42:08, http://www.datamentors.com/News-and-Resources/Glossary.html

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Foreign Key - One or more columns in a relational database table that implement a many-to-one relationship that the table in question has with another table or with itself.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: Aexis Business Intelligence, 08 December 2010 09:16:09, http://www.aexis.eu/DataWarehouse-Glossary/

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Foreign key - One or more attributes in a relation (or columns in a table) that implement a many-to-one relationship that the relation (or table) has with another relation (or table) or with itself.

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: DAMA UK, 17 July 2011 08:56:13, http://www.damauk.org/glossary.php

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foreign key - [database structures] An attribute or set of attributes in one table that match the primary key attributes in another table. Foreign keys and primary keys are used to join tables in a database.

[Category=Geospatial ]

Source: esri, 23 April 2012 10:18:23, http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/GISDictionary/term/abbreviation  

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foreign key (foreign keyword) - A foreign key, also called a foreign keyword, in a database table is a key from another table that refers to (or targets) a specific key, usually the primary key , in the table being used. A primary key can be targeted by multiple foreign keys from other tables. But a primary key does not necessarily have to be the target of any foreign keys.

It is possible to change the primary key in a table when the specific needs of the users change. For example, the people in a town might be uniquely identified according to their driver license numbers in one application, but in another situation it might be more convenient to identify them according to their telephone numbers. When the primary key in a table is changed, the set of associated foreign keys, if there are any, often changes as a result.

Related glossary terms: record, flexfield, splay tree, in-memory database, virtual private database (VPD), Edgar F. "Ted" Codd, extent, field, object-oriented database management system (OODBMS / ODBMS), hash / hashing / hash algorithm

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: WhatIs.com, 11 August 2013 09:16:39, http://whatis.techtarget.com/glossary/Data-and-Data-Management