In a nutshell...
A term that's often used to describe data that's
stored in a Microsoft Excel Worksheet.
As an example: People working with
computers all day, often need to store information
for their work. Database are not the most intuitive
thing for a novice to build so a lot of people find
it simpler to put data straight into a spreadsheet.
The data grows and grows and before long, you have
an 'Excel Database'.
Tell me more...
Technically there's no such thing as an Excel Database
but in most office's around the world there are
Excel spreadsheets being used as databases. Is this
a good thing or a bad thing?
This is a really difficult question to answer because
there are so many variables involved. Microsoft
say that if the data is 'Relational', then it should
be stored in a database. If not, it can go into
a spreadsheet.
The descion where to store data needs to be constantly
evaluated. If you want to keep a list a peoples
names and addresses but there are only ten people,
why create a database? If that list grows, when
do you need to move it to a database? When it gets
to 15? 150? 1500?
Personally, I recommend you use a database to store
data use spreadsheets to analyse data - get the
best of both worlds.
If you currently use
a spreadsheet to store data:
Ask yourself the following questions: •
Do changes made in one spreadsheet force you to
make changes in others?
• Is the sheer amount of data unmanageable
or becoming unmanageable?
• Do you have several spreadsheets that
contain related information (such as separate
sheets with sales for branches in Birmingham,
Glasgow and London)?
• Can you see all relevant data on one screen,
or do you have to keep scrolling or switching
sheets to find information?
• Are several people accessing the data
at the same time?
• Do you have a difficult time viewing specific
data sets that you want?
If you answered yes to at least two of the questions,
you should think about moving your information
to a database application.
The benefits
of using a database:
Here are a number of benefits you will get when
you move your data to a dedicated database:
• Easier to share: You
can have two or more people editing a database
at the same time. But using a spreadsheet means
other users have to wait until nobody is using
a file before it's free for them to use.
• Better security: Along
with the ability to better share information is
the ability to better secure it. You can also
protect users from their own mistakes by enforcing
true validation.
• More efficient: Databases
are relational, allowing you to link related data
to minimise duplication, increase efficiency and
speed up data retrieval and updating.
• Greater capacity: Databases
also have the capacity to hold a greater numbers
of records (billions).
• Less duplication: Because
you can't share spreadsheets, everyone makes their
own a personal copies and nine out of ten spreadsheets
duplicate information that's already stored in
a database anyway.
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