attribute - technical definition

(1) In relational database management, a field within a record.

(2) In object technology, a single element of data. See instance attribute and static attribute.

(3) For printers and display screens, a characteristic that changes a font, for example, from normal to boldface or underlined, or from normal to reverse video.

(4) In an XML document, a sub element defined within an element. In the following example, GENDER and AGE are attributes within the PERSON element:

(5) A file access classification that determines how a file is retrieved, erased or backed up. See file attribute.