The
Structure of Databases: Records, Relational & Sequential
Organization
Scope
Remember that the
major unit of a database is the
record,
which consists of types (Fields)
of information about a single item such as a book in a library
database.
Handling of
Records in a database
Records may be stored (ordered)
in a database in two ways:
Sequentially (flat
file)
Records (and all individual
fields) are stored as a list.
The list can be organized
alphabetically by some characteristic such as the title,
author, or other feature.
Example:
Record 001 - All the
information on the book "Beloved"
Record 002 - All the
information on the book "Beloved of Fred"
Record 003 - All the
information on the book "Beloved Socks"
A computer searches the
database by going through the list from beginning to the
end.
Example sequential database
program:
Filemaker
Relationally (a
relational database)
Every record and every
field are stored randomly in the database, but there are
pointers that tell the location of each piece information
and the relationship between in the pieces.
A computer can search this
database randomly, which can be much faster.
-
optimized for Netscape & 800x600
display