field

n. ComputingA storage area that is designated to hold a particular type of information and that, in some contexts, may be subdivided into smaller fields.

Notes

A field may be used to hold a string of characters, a numeric value, or a digital object. Fields may be fixed in length, truncating data longer than that length and padding unused space if the value is less than that length. Or, they may be variable length. Fields may be as small as a bit, a byte holding seven or eight binary fields, though this practice is now uncommon. Fields may be in header, computer instruction, or record. A record consists of one or more fields. For example, a MARC record includes fixed fields that facilitate machine processing, and textual fields for main entry, title, imprint, extent, different kinds of notes, and access points that are both human-readable and used for processing.