云南农业大学计算机导论课件Chapter13 File Structures.pptVIP

13.1 ACCESS METHODS A file is an external collection of related data treated as a unit . Files are stored in what are known as auxiliary or secondary storage devices. 13.2 SEQUENTIAL FILES A sequential file is one in which records can only be accessed sequentially, one after another, from beginning to end. The following code shows how to access all records in a sequential file. UPDATING SEQUENTIAL FILES Sequential files must be updated periodically to reflect changes in information. The updating process is very involved because all of the records need to be checked and updated (if necessary) sequentially. Files Involved in Updating There are four files associated with an update program: the new master file, the old master file, the transaction file, and the error report file. New Master File First there is the new permanent data file or, as it is commonly known, the new master file. The new master file contains the most current data. Old Master File The old master file is the permanent file that should be updated. Even after updating, the old master file should be kept for reference. Transaction File It contains changes to be applied to the master file. There are three basic types of changes in all file updates. Add transactions contain data about a new record to be added in the master file. Delete transactions identify records to be deleted from the file. And change transactions contain revisions to specific records in the file. To process any of these transactions, you need a key. A key is one or more fields that uniquely identify the data in the file. For example, in a file of students, the key could be student ID. Error Report File It is very rare that an update process does not produce at least one error. When an error occurs, you need to report it to the user. The error report contains a listing of all errors discovered during the update process and is presented to the user for corrective action. Up