Data Hierarchy

Following are the components of data hierarchy (ascending order of complexity) in an

information system:

1. Bit
The term “bit” is short form for binary digit. It can assume either of two possible
states and, therefore, can represent either 0 or 1. In secondary storage, a bit is used
to represent data through positive or negative polarity of an electrical charge on a
magnetic recording medium, such as tape or disk. Semi conductor storage is
usually used for primary storage. In semiconductor storage, a bit is represented by
an electrical circuit that is either conducting or not conducting electricity.

2. Byte
An ability to represent only binary digits in a computer system is not sufficient for
business information processing. Numeric and alphabetic characters as well as a
wide variety of special characters (such as, dollar signs, question marks and
quotation marks) should be stored. In a computer system, a character of
information is called a byte. A byte of information is stored by using several bits
in specified combination called “bit patterns.” A widely used bit pattern for
personal computers and data communication is the American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII). ASCII uses seven bits to represent one
character. Each 1 or 0 corresponds to a single bit.

3.Data Field or Item

The next level in data hierarchy is a field or item of data. A field or item of data is
one or more bytes containing data about the attribute of an entity in an
information system. An entity in a payroll system is an individual employee.
Attributes are the employee’s name, pay rate and so on. The basic pay is a field or
item of data.

4. Data Record
A record is a collection of fields relating to a specific entity. For example, a
payroll record contains fields of data relating to a specific employee. An analogy
can be made between a computer-based record and an individual folder in a
manual file. A folder in a payroll file may contain almost the same information as
a record in a computer-based payroll file. The field that identifies a record from
all other records in a file is the record key. For example, the record key in a
payroll record is usually an employee’s provident fund number or social security
number because it is different for each employee.

5. File
A file is a collection of related records. For example, the collection of payroll
records of all employees in a company is a payroll file. The concept of a computer
file is very similar to a manual file in a filing cabinet.

6. Database
A database consists of all the files of an organization. It is structured and
integrated to facilitate update of the files and retrieval of information from them.
The term has often been used rather loosely. Technically, a database consists of
those files that are a part of data base management system. However, a database is
often used to refer to all the files of an organization.
Now, all this is called as data hierarchy because databases are composed of files, files are
composed of records, records are composed of filed, fields composed of data bytes and
finally, data bytes are a group of bits. This is very well a hierarchical structure.

BASE
ORD
D
BIT
FILE
BYTE
D.REC
DATA
D.FIEL

HIERARCHY OF DATA