At the completion of this chapter, you

would have learned the basic concept

of files and the manner in which data on
files is organized. It dwells on how data
may be stored on computer media and
how they may be retrieved for
processing information. Data verification
and validation check will also be
covered in this chapter.
A file is term as a collection of
logical related records. A record is term
as a logical unit comprising of related
data items. Data item is term as field An
example of the relationship: students
file
ID
NO.
NAME
CLASS
CODE
PHONE
1234 Kathleen CS111F01 9307878
1235 Kaleena CS11F01 7743456
2211 Pat CS112F01 97891234
33 Joanne CS113F02 4456789
The relationship of data items to one
another can be viewed as physical or
logical. Physical file refers to the actual
arrangement of the data in a storage
device usually disk and its physical
details. Logical file refers to how a
programmer or user sees what a file
contains and relate the meaning of the
data elements to one another.
A file containing permanent or
semi-permanent data consolidated for
reference and updating. The master file
will have to be updated so that it reflects
the current status of the data it contains.
Example of this file are students master
file, customer master file.
A file containing source data or
transaction data about recorded events
used for updating the master file. For
examples students registration
transaction file is used to update the
students master file.
A temporary file used for the
storing of intermediate data for further
processing. Usually partially processed
data fril be used later to complete the
task. For example, some data in a
transaction file will be extracted out and
put into a work file for the process of
sorting during an external sort.
A temporary file created during
processing for a specific use. For
example, electricity meter readings
details for customers are extracted
from master and transaction files to form
a statement details in a transition file. This
is then used for the printing of monthly
meter readings statements.
An extra copy of a file to safeguard
against the damage or loss of current
versions.
They are a particular type of transaction files.
They play the same role as the posting in a
traditional ledger. For example, in a sales ledger
system the transactions recorded might include
invoice number, invoice date, amount, data
credited and so on. They will enable the auditor
to check the correct functioning of computer
based procedures by keeping a copy of all the
transactions in the audit files that cause the
permanent files to be changed. If the master files
records are different from the audit files, then the
auditor will notify the person in charge.
Information is one of an organizations most
valuable assets. In this chapter, students
examine databases and information
management. Data and information are
defined and two critically important aspects
data integrity and data security are
considered. File processing systems are
contrasted with the database approach.
Students explore features of database
management systems including the data
dictionary, data maintenance and retrieval,
data security, and backup and recovery. Two
popular database models, relational databases
and object-oriented databases, are described.
The role of the data and database
administrators.
Data is a collection of items such as
words, numbers, images, and sounds that
are not organized and have little meaning
individually. Data is processed into
information.
Information is data that is organized, has
meaning, and, therefore, is useful. A
student grade report (information), for
example, contains several data items,
including student last name, student first
name, student identification (ID)
For a computer to output
accurate information, the data
used to create the information
must have integrity. Data
integrity is the degree to which
data is accurate. If your name is
misspelled in a student
database, for example, the
data is inaccurate and is
considered a violation of data
integrity.
Data security involves protecting data so
it is not misused or lost. Most schools, for
example, have procedures that allow only
authorized personnel to access confidential
student data. The school also performs
backup procedures to protect against the
loss of data. Backup is refers to making
duplicate copies of data, files, programs, or
disks, which can be used if the originals are
lost, damaged, or destroyed. Making
backup copies ensures that you can
recover data in a timely manner and that
processing can continue.
Data redundancy wastes resources
such as storage space and employee
time. Storing the same data in more than
one file requires increased storage
capacity. When data is added or
changed, data maintenance takes
more time because employees must
update more than one file.
To overcome these and other
problems associated with file processing
systems, many companies use the
database approach for managing data.
The database approach overcomes
many of the limitations of file processing
systems by reducing data redundancy and
allowing for sharing of data. These and
other advantages of the database
approach are presented next. As previously
described, a database is a shared
collection of data. With the database
approach, many application programs in
an organization could use the data in this
single, shared database. A schools
database, for example, would contain
data about students and courses.
Where as each application in a file
processing environment has its own set
of files, the data in a database
environment belongs to and is shared by
the entire organization. Organizations
using databases typically set up controls
to define who can access, add, change,
and delete the data in a database.

A data dictionary stores data about
each file in the database and each field
within those files. For each file, a data
dictionary stores data including the file
name, description, and the files
relationship to other files. For each field, a
data dictionary stores data including the
field name, field size, description, types of
data (e.g., text, numeric, or date/time),
default value, validation rules, and the
fields relationship to other fields
A multimedia database that stores
images, audio clips, and/or video clips. A
geographic information system (GIS)
database, for example, stores maps; a
voice mail system stores audio messages;
and a television broadcast database
stores audio and video clips.
A groupware database that stores
documents such as schedules,
calendars, manuals, memos, and
reports. Users can perform queries to
search the document contents. One
query, for example, might search the
schedules for available meeting times.
A computer-aided design (CAD)
database that stores data about
engineering, architectural, and
scientific designs. This data in the
database includes a list of
components of the item being
designed, the relationship among
the components, and archived
versions of the design drafts.
A hypertext database contains text
links to other documents, and a
hypermedia database also contains
graphics, video, and sound. A variety of
hypertext and hypermedia databases
are accessible via the Web. You can
search one of these databases for items
such as documents, graphics, audio and
video clips, and links to Web pages.
Keeping an organizations data
centralized in a database requires a great
deal of cooperation and coordination on
the part of the database users. In file
processing systems, if you wanted to track
or store data, typically you would just
create another file, often duplicating data
already stored by someone else, in another
file. In a database environment, if you want
to track or store data, first you check to see
if some or all of the data already is in the
database or, if not, how you can add the
data to the database. The role of
coordinating the use of the database
belongs to the data and database
administrators.