Determine the Disadvantages of file based systems

Some of the disadvantages of file based systems are like this:

• Data redundancy and inconsistency: the dissimilar application programs may require similar data but may store it in separate files to be employed by them only. For instance, in a college environment, the address, contact no. etc., may be kept both by the office staff and the library staff to sent suitable reminders to the fee defaulters or to the students who have not returned the books on due dates, correspondingly. If a student alters the residence and that is reflected in only one of the system after that it leads to inconsistency.
• Difficulty in accessing data: Although if the data is there in the file but if a new type of details is needed from the data, they cannot be retrieved if not and until a new application is written for it.
• Data isolation: as data are scattered in several files, and files may be in different formats, writing new application programs to retrieve the suitable data is difficult.
• Integrity problems: The integrity constraint can be applied by the application program, but not directly to the data file. For instance, there is a constraint to make sure that the balance of an account must not be below Rs. 1000, after that through application program this can be completed but someone may directly make the changes to the data file and violate this constraint.