attribute

1. A characteristic or aspect of some entity which the developer can set. 4GL provides attributes for form fields (field attributes), screen forms (form attributes), database columns (column attributes), and for output text (display attributes). Field attributes are set on a field-by-field basis in the form specification file. Form attributes are set with the ATTRIBUTES clause of the DISPLAY FORM statement and of the 4GL user interaction statements. Display attributes can also be set with the ATTRIBUTES clause. Column attributes are set on a column-by-column basis with the Column Attributes Dictionary.

See also column, field, form, form specification file, user interaction statement.

2. In some database terminologies, a term used for a column.

See also column.