Relational table basic unit – UGC NET Question

The relational model represents data as relations, each of which can be visualised as a table with rows and columns. Each row corresponds to a record, and each column represents an attribute. Tables can be linked through keys to express relationships between entities. Thus, the basic structure described in the stem is correctly termed a table.

Option A:
Option A, spreadsheet, also uses rows and columns but is typically a general purpose tool for calculations rather than a formal relational database structure with keys and constraints.

Option B:
Option B, file folder, refers to a directory in a file system and does not itself contain rows and columns in the relational sense.

Option C:
Option C is correct because relational database theory explicitly defines a relation as a table like structure, and DBMS software uses the word table to describe these objects.

Option D:
Option D, node, is a more general term used for connection points in data structures or networks and does not specifically denote a row column arrangement.