Western Governors University (WGU) ITEC2116 D426 Data Management - Foundations Practice Exam

Relational algebra is a formal system used for manipulating and querying relational data. It provides a set of operations that allow users to perform various actions on relations (tables) within a database. The primary focus of relational algebra is on retrieving, combining, and transforming data to produce new relations.

When a user applies an operation from relational algebra, such as selection, projection, union, or join, they are working with relations (or tables) to derive a new relation as a result of those operations. This foundational concept enables database users to perform complex queries by combining and filtering data according to specific criteria, thereby returning a new dataset as output.

The other options fall outside the core purpose of relational algebra. Accessing multiple databases simultaneously is typically handled by distributed database systems or other database management functionalities, rather than through algebraic operations. Visualizing data in three dimensions is more related to data visualization tools and techniques rather than relational data manipulation. Converting data formats into XML involves data transformation processes but does not pertain to the mathematical operations defined in relational algebra.