Primary Key

Primary key : The attribute(s) that are used to uniquely identify a specific occurrence of an entity, relation, or file. A primary key that consists of more than one attribute is called a composite (or concatenated) primary key. 

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: Larry English, http://www.iaidq.com/main/glossary.shtml , 06-Feb-2009 08:47

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Primary Key - A data element (or elements) whose values uniquely identify a row or record in the table. The primary key(s) will have a unique value for each record or row in the table. A primary key must be unique, stable, minimal, and not null.

[Category=Data Governance ]

Source: The Data Governance Institute, 19 December 2009 09:30:58, http://www.datagovernance.com/glossary-governance/

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Primary Key - A column or combination of columns whose values uniquely identify a row or record in the table. The primary key(s) will have a unique value for each record or row in the table.

[Category=Information Management ]

Source: Information-Management.com, 02 July 2010 09:39:33, http://www.information-management.com/glossary/m.html

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Primary Key - A set of one or more data characteristics whose value uniquely identifies each data occurrence in a data subject. A primary key is also known as a unique identifier.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: Sun.com, 09 August 2010 07:24:47, http://www.sun.com/third-party/dw/brochures/67198.Acrobat.pdf

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Primary Key - A column or combination of columns whose values uniquely identify a row or record in the table. The primary key(s) will have a unique value for each record or row in the table.

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: DataMentors, 25 August 2010 10:24:02, http://www.datamentors.com/News-and-Resources/Glossary.html

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Primary Key - A set of one or more columns in a database table whose values, in combination, are required to be unique within the table.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: Aexis Business Intelligence, 22 December 2010 15:01:58, http://www.aexis.eu/DataWarehouse-Glossary/

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Primary key - The set of mandatory attributes in a relation (or mandatory columns in a table) that is used to enforce uniqueness of tuples (or rows).

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: DAMA UK, 19 July 2011 10:10:18, http://www.damauk.org/glossary.php

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primary key - [database structures] An attribute or set of attributes in a database that uniquely identifies each record. A primary key allows no duplicate values and cannot be null.

[Category=Geospatial ]

Source: esri, 17 July 2012 08:04:15, http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/GISDictionary/term/abbreviation  

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primary key (primary keyword) - A primary key, also called a primary keyword, is a key in a relational database that is unique for each record. It is a unique identifier, such as a driver license number, telephone number (including area code), or vehicle identification number (VIN). A relational database must always have one and only one primary key. Primary keys typically appear as columns in relational database tables.

The choice of a primary key in a relational database often depends on the preference of the administrator. It is possible to change the primary key for a given database when the specific needs of the users changes. 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.

Compare foreign key.

Related glossary terms: Binary Large Object (BLOB), data structure, catalog, data mart, ECMAScript (European Computer Manufacturers Association Script), Visual FoxPro, segment, block, flat file

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: WhatIs.com, 02 September 2013 09:38:51, http://whatis.techtarget.com/glossary/Data-and-Data-Management