An abbreviation is an alternate, usually shortened, name for a table. For example, the Projects table could be abbreviated to the letter p. Abbreviations are also sometimes known as correlation names or range variables. If you do not specify an abbreviation, QBF assigns the table name as the abbreviation.

Abbreviations are necessary when you want to join two identically named tables with different owners, or to join a table to itself. In these cases, use an abbreviation for one of the table names when you specify the join. For more information, see Single-Table JoinDefs (see page Single-Table JoinDefs).