Limitations of file based system, Database Management System

Assignment Help:

Limitations of File Based System

The file-based system has some limitations. The limitations are listed as follows:

  • Isolation and separation of data: When the data is stored in separate files it becomes complex to access. It becomes very complex when the data has to be retrieved from more than two files as a large amount of data has to be looked for.
  • Duplication of data: Because of the decentralised approach, the file system varies to uncontrolled duplication of data. This is disagreeable as the duplication leads to wastage of a lot of storage space. It also money and cost times to enter the data more than once. For instance, the address information of student may have to be duplicated in bus list file data.
  • Inconsistent Data: The data in a file system can become inconsistent if more than one person changes the data simultaneously, for example, if any student changes the residence and the change is notified to only his/her file and not to bus list. Putting wrong data is also another reason for inconsistencies.
  • Data dependence: The physical structure and storage of data files and records are distinct in the application code. This means that it is very difficult to make changes to the existing structure. The programmer would have to recognize all the affected programs, change them and retest them. This characteristic of the File Based system is known as program data dependence.
  • Incompatible File Formats: As the structure of the files is embedded in application programs, the structure is fully dependent on application programming languages. Therefore the structure of a file generated by COBOL programming language may be quite dissimilar from a file generated by 'C' programming language. This incompatibility makes them hard to process together. The application developer may have to develop software to change the files to some common format for processing. Though, this may be time consuming and expensive.
  • Fixed Queries: File based systems are very much dependent on application programs. Any report or query needed by the organisation has to be developed by the application programmer. With type, the time, and number of queries or reports increases. Producing dissimilar types of queries or reports is not possible in File Based Systems. As a result, in some organisations the kind of queries or reports to be produced is fixed. No latest query or report of the data could be produced.

Besides the above, the maintenance of the File Based System is complex and there is no provision for security. Recovery is non-existent or inadequate.


Related Discussions:- Limitations of file based system

What is distributed system, What is Distributed system ? Distributed S...

What is Distributed system ? Distributed System - A distributed system consists of a number of processing parts in which are interconnected through a computer network and in

Three level architecture of dbms-logical architecture, Three Level Architec...

Three Level Architecture of DBMS or Logical DBMS Architecture The logical architecture defines how data in the database is perceived by users. It is not deals with how the da

What is a state chart diagram, What is a state chart diagram? State dia...

What is a state chart diagram? State diagrams (State Chart Diagram) explain all possible states that a particular object can get into, and how object's state changes as result

Describe application programming interface, Describe Application programmin...

Describe Application programming interface? Application Programming Interface - Commercial SQL implementations take one of the two primary techniques for involving SQL in a p

Write the sql code, Express the following queries in SQL: (a) Write the...

Express the following queries in SQL: (a) Write the SQL code that will create ALL the four tables given in the appendix. Your answer should not contain the primary key and

Weak entity, Entity types that do not have any key attribute, and therefore...

Entity types that do not have any key attribute, and therefore cannot be identified independently, are known as weak entity types. A weak entity can be recognized uniquely only by

What is sql?, What Is Sql?  Structured Query Language (SQL) is a standa...

What Is Sql?  Structured Query Language (SQL) is a standard query language. It is usually used with all relational databases for data manipulation and definition. All the re

Multivalued attributes, For every multivalued attribute 'A', we make a new ...

For every multivalued attribute 'A', we make a new relation R that contains an attribute corresponding to plus the primary key attribute k of the relation that shows the entity typ

Entity relationship diagram, The Enhanced Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)...

The Enhanced Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) produced with a drawing or case tool. Your EERD must use a ''standard'' notation style such as Crows Foot or Chen. Please note that t

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd