Difference Between Database Software and Presentation Software

Summary: Difference Between Database Software and Presentation Software is that a Database software is application software that allows users to create, access, and manage a database. While Presentation software is application software that allows users to create visual aids for presentations to communicate ideas, messages, and other information to a group.

Database Software

A database is a collection of data organized in a manner that allows access, retrieval, and use of that data. In a manual database, you might record data on paper and store it in a filing cabinet. With a computerized database, the computer stores the data in an electronic format on a storage medium such as a hard disk. Database software is application software that allows users to create, access, and manage a database. Using database software, you can add, change, and delete data in a database; sort and retrieve data from the database; and create forms and reports using the data in the database.

With most personal computer database programs, a database consists of a collection of tables, organized in rows and columns. Each row, called a record, contains data about a given person, product, object, or event. Each column, called a field, contains a specific category of data within a record.

The Fitness database consists of two tables: a Client table and a Trainer table. The Client table contains ten records (rows), each storing data about one client. The client data is grouped into eight fields (columns): Client Number, Last Name, First Name, Address, Telephone Number, Amount Paid, Balance, and Trainer Number. The Balance field, for instance, contains the balance due from the client. The Client and Trainer tables relate to one another through a common field, Trainer Number. Users run queries to retrieve data. A query is a request for specific data from the database. For example, a query might request a list of clients whose balance is greater than $45. Database software can take the results of a query and present it in a window on the screen or send it to the printer.

Presentation Software

Presentation software is application software that allows users to create visual aids for presentations to communicate ideas, messages, and other information to a group. The presentations can be viewed as slides, sometimes called a slide show, that are displayed on a large monitor or on a projection screen. Presentation software typically provides a variety of predefined presentation formats that define complementary colors for backgrounds, text, and graphical accents on the slides.

This software also provides a variety of layouts for each individual slide such as a title slide, a two-column slide, and a slide with clip art, a chart, a table, or a diagram. In addition, you can enhance any text, charts, and graphical images on a slide with 3-D, animation, and other special effects such as shading, shadows, and textures.

When building a presentation, users can set the slide timing so that the presentation automatically displays the next slide after a preset delay. Presentation software allows you to apply special effects to the transition between slides. One slide, for example, might fade away as the next slide appears.

Presentation software typically includes a clip gallery that provides images, photos, video clips, and audio clips to enhance multimedia presentations. Some audio and video editing programs work with presentation software, providing users with an easy means to record and insert video, music, and audio commentary in a presentation. You can view or print a finished presentation in a variety of formats, including an outline of text from each slide and audience handouts that show completed slides. Presentation software incorporates features such as checking spelling, formatting, research, and creating Web pages from existing slide shows.

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