What term refers to a virtual table defined by a query that references real tables?

• A. View
• B. Table
• C. Row
• D. Field

Answer: (A)

View is the term for a virtual table defined by a query that references real tables. A view stores no data itself; instead, its contents are produced by running the defining SELECT against the underlying tables whenever you query the view. This makes it useful to simplify complex queries, present a tailored subset of columns and rows, and provide a stable interface. You can treat a view much like a table in queries, but it pulls fresh data from the base tables. In contrast, a real table actually stores data, a row is a single record, and a field (column) is a value within a row.