In a database, an example of a data element is a data field. One also says that a data element is an attribute of a data entity. A unit of data for which the definition, identification, representation (term used to represent it), and permissible values are specified by means of a set of attributes. For example, the data element “age of a person” with values consisting of all combinations of 3 decimal digits; A personnel record may include the data elements “name” and “address”. In the context of the personnel record, “name” and “address” function as an indivisible unit, e.g., the data element “name” and the data element “address” each can be stored and retrieved as an indivisible unit. However, in a different context, “address” itself may be considered a record that contains its own data elements “street address”, “city”, “postal code”, “country”.
