Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct regarding Data Dictionary…
2021
Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct regarding Data Dictionary in Database Management System? Statements: I. Data Dictionary is a collection of definitions, rules and advisories of data designed to be used as a reference with the data warehouse. II. Data Dictionary is the area of memory allocated for data storage.
- A.
Only I
- B.
Only II
- C.
Both I and II
- D.
Neither I nor II
Attempted by 701 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
A data dictionary (also called a system catalog) is a centralized store of metadata — "data about data." It records the definitions, structures, rules, constraints and relationships of the data objects in a database or data warehouse (tables, columns, data types, keys, views, owners, etc.). It does not hold the actual user records; it describes them so the DBMS and users can interpret the stored data.
Applying it to each statement
Statement I says a data dictionary is a collection of definitions, rules and advisories of data used as a reference with the data warehouse. This matches the definition of metadata exactly — a dictionary is precisely such a reference catalog. So Statement I is correct.
Statement II says a data dictionary is the area of memory allocated for data storage. That describes a data buffer, tablespace or storage segment — not a dictionary. A dictionary stores descriptions of data, not the data itself, so it is not a memory-allocation area. So Statement II is incorrect.
Conclusion
Only Statement I is correct; Statement II is false. The distinction to remember: a data dictionary holds metadata (descriptions), whereas memory/tablespace allocation is where the actual data values physically reside.