resultatset

Resultatset is a data construct representing the collection of items produced by a query, calculation, or data processing step. In most contexts, a resultatset is presented as a tabular structure consisting of rows and columns, where each row corresponds to a record and each column to a field or attribute.

The exact contents and shape depend on the source and the query. In relational databases, a resultatset usually has a defined schema with column names and data types, and the number of rows may be bounded or unbounded depending on the query. The result can be materialized in memory or delivered as a stream, via a cursor, iterator, or paging interface.

Operations on a resultatset include filtering, projection, sorting, and aggregation, which are typically defined by the query or the API. Applications may further manipulate the data in-memory, generate summaries, or convert the result into other formats such as CSV or JSON.

Interfaces for accessing a resultatset range from database drivers to data analysis libraries. In programming languages there are concrete concepts such as a Java ResultSet, a SQL driver’s cursor, or an iterator that yields rows one by one.

Practical considerations include performance and memory usage; for large resultatsets, pagination, server-side cursors, streaming, or batch processing are common strategies to avoid loading the entire set at once.

Terminology varies by language. In Norwegian Bokmål and Danish, the term is commonly written resultatsett, while the English form is result set.