Tablen

Tablen is a term used in theoretical discussions of tabular data to denote a formal model for representing and manipulating tables. It emphasizes a clean separation between the logical schema of a table and its storage, with the aim of improving interoperability between database systems, data processing frameworks, and documentation tools.

A tablen model describes a table as a collection of columns, each with a name and a data type, together with a set of rows. It also allows optional metadata such as constraints (primary keys, unique constraints, not-null) and descriptive annotations. The model supports a minimal set of operations analogous to relational algebra, including projection (selecting a subset of columns), selection (filtering rows), joining of tables, and aggregation.

In practice, a tablen description can be mapped to various physical storage schemes, including row-oriented or columnar formats, and to different data interchange formats such as CSV, JSON, or SQL schemas. The abstraction thus enables tools to transform, translate, or render tabular data without assuming a particular backend.

Tablen originated in educational and theoretical discussions of data models and is not a formal standard with widespread implementation. It is used in textbooks and lectures to compare tabular data representations and to illustrate concepts of schema, typing, and queryability.

Related concepts include relational databases, data frames in data science, tabular data interchange formats, and query languages such as SQL. The term tablen may also appear in discussions of table-centric programming and documentation pipelines.