2. Relational Database

On the previous page, we saw that a flat file database wasn't always the best choice as it causes a lot of data duplication.

The answer to this is called a relational database.

In the database below, the data is split up into sensible groups i.e. customer data, pets data and appointments data. Then a separate table is made for each group.

Customer Table	Pet Table	Appointment Table

Once the tables have been set up, a relationship can be created to link them together - as shown by the lines linking the tables below.

This is known as a 'relational database'.