What is a foreign key in the context of Access?

A foreign key is a critical concept in relational database design, particularly in Microsoft Access. It refers to a field (or collection of fields) in one table that uniquely identifies a row of another table. Essentially, a foreign key establishes a relationship between two tables, allowing them to be linked together based on a common field, typically the primary key of the referenced table.

By linking tables through foreign keys, you can maintain referential integrity, ensuring that relationships between the records in different tables remain consistent. For example, if you have a "Customers" table with a primary key of CustomerID, you might have an "Orders" table where the CustomerID field serves as a foreign key. This connection enables you to pull related records from both tables effectively, making it easier to query and manage your data.

The other choices relate to database functionality but do not accurately describe the role of a foreign key in accessing and managing data. Sorting data is more aligned with querying capabilities in a single table rather than linking multiple tables. A unique identifier in a non-relational database does not capture the essence of relationship management present in relational databases. Finally, encryption methods pertain to security practices and not to the relational aspect of data, which is the primary focus of a foreign