Difference Between Users and Databases - Advanced SQL Engine - Teradata Database

SQL Fundamentals

Product
Advanced SQL Engine
Teradata Database
Release Number
17.05
17.00
Published
June 2020
Language
English (United States)
Last Update
2021-01-24
dita:mapPath
zwv1557098532464.ditamap
dita:ditavalPath
lze1555437562152.ditaval
dita:id
B035-1141
lifecycle
previous
Product Category
Teradata Vantageâ„¢

Formally speaking, the difference between a user and a database is that a user has a password and a database does not. Users can also have default attributes such as time zone, date form, character set, role, and profile, while databases cannot.

You might infer from this that databases are passive objects, while users are active objects. That is only true in the sense that databases cannot execute SQL statements. However, a query, macro, or stored procedure can execute using the privileges of the database.