In database architecture (ANSI/SPARC), what is the term for an application's external view of data—the customized way a particular program or user group sees the database?

Introduction / Context:
Modern database architectures separate how data is stored from how it is viewed to improve flexibility and security. The ANSI/SPARC three-level model defines external, conceptual, and internal levels. Understanding the correct term for the application-level view helps you reason about permissions, data abstraction, and interface stability as systems evolve.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question targets the external level (how an application sees data).
• The overall database definition is handled at the conceptual level (schema).
• Physical storage details reside at the internal level.

Concept / Approach:
The subschema represents the external view tailored for a particular program or user group. It includes only the fields and relations required and can rename or restructure them for convenience. The overall logical design is the schema (conceptual level). The subschema shields applications from changes in the underlying schema and from unnecessary exposure of data they do not use.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Documentation for DBMS architectures consistently associates the external level with subschemas or external schemas, sometimes realized via views and permissions.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Module: generic programming term, not a DB architecture level.
• Relational model: a data model paradigm, not a level of architecture.
• Schema: the conceptual (overall) database definition, not the application-specific view.

Common Pitfalls:
Assuming “schema” equals any view; in ANSI/SPARC terminology, “subschema” is the precise term for the application’s external view.

Final Answer:
subschema