Re: What is a FLAT FILE ?

In article <RtYT8.48$0U1.5734_at_petpeeve.ziplink.net>, "David Cressey" <david_at_dcressey.com> wrote:

> > What is a FLAT FILE ?
> >
> > A FLAT FILE is just one table organized easily into fields and rows.
>
>
> I would have defined it differently: A flat file is a sequence of
> records,
> all of a single record type.

Interesting.

I date back to "flat files" (20 years in IT starting with ISAM and direct files on 8 bit CP/M machines, Vaxes etc.)

As I recall the distinction, we thought of indexing structures as adding another dimension to the data.

Hence a "flat" file was one which had no access dimension - you had to traverse through a sequence of records or possibly jump directly to a record address.

There was no tree structure built into the file.

This doesn't preclude a flat file having different record types - the distinction is about access structures built on top of the raw data.

In a related idiom, I think I've heard streaming a tree structure out to disk called "flattening".

and now we're gonna get into Aussie vs US idioms

BTW a lot of us are thoroughly embarrassed by the latest Crocodile Hunter movie hitting your shores (I just had to say that SOMEWHERE! :-)

-- 
Andy Dent BSc  MACS  AACM    http://www.oofile.com.au/
OOFILE - Database, Reports, Graphs, GUI for c++ on Mac, Unix & Windows
PP2MFC - PowerPlant->MFC portability
**** OOFILE 1.4 IS OUT FOR MAC OS/X ******