File, record, and field hierarchy: in a computer file that contains several records, each individual record is composed of which structural units?

Introduction / Context:
Clear terminology prevents design and maintenance errors. In data processing, a file contains multiple records, and each record contains fields that hold the values for specific attributes (such as id, name, amount). This granularity enables indexing, validation, and reporting at the attribute level.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• A file here means a logical dataset or table.
• Records represent individual entities or transactions.
• We ask what structural units compose each record.

Concept / Approach:
Fields are the named, typed components of a record. While bytes and words are low-level storage units, database professionals reason at the field/column level when modeling data and writing queries. “Database” refers to the entire collection of files/tables and is not a component of a single record.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
In SQL, column definitions (name, type, constraints) correspond to fields. When you INSERT a row, you supply values for each field; when you SELECT, you retrieve fields from each qualifying record.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

Common Pitfalls:
Mixing storage terminology (bytes) with logical data modeling (fields); or assuming that “record” and “database” are adjacent layers with nothing in between.

Final Answer:
Fields