View

Definition: Database views allow you to create "virtual tables" that are generated on the fly when they are accessed. A view is stored on the database server as an SQL statement that pulls data from one or more tables and (optionally) performs transformations on that data. Users may then query the view just as they would any real database table. Views are often used to alleviate security concerns by providing users with access to a certain view of a database table without providing access to the underlying table itself.