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

Time stamp ordering, explain in detail about time stamp orderting/

explain in detail about time stamp orderting/

Differentiate between pl/sql functions and procedures, Oracle & Distributed...

Oracle & Distributed Databases 1. Differentiate between PL/SQL functions and procedures. 2. Draw the diagram of logical structure of oracle database and explain it in brief.

Mappings between levels and data independence, Mappings between Levels and ...

Mappings between Levels and Data Independence The 3 levels of abstraction in the database do not exist separately of each other. There must be some correspondence, or mapping

Define weak and strong entity sets, Define weak and strong entity sets? ...

Define weak and strong entity sets? Weak entity set: entity set that do not have key attribute of their own are known as weak entity sets. Strong entity set: Entity set that

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

In which format database schema is written, In which format database schema...

In which format database schema is written ? Data base schema is written in the DDL format.

What is meant by functional dependencies, What is meant by functional depen...

What is meant by functional dependencies? Consider a relation schema R and α C R and β C R. The functional dependency α ->β  holds on relational schema R if in any legal relati

Can a stored procedure call itself, Can a stored procedure call itself or r...

Can a stored procedure call itself or recursive stored procedure? How much level SP nesting is possible? Yes. Because Transact-SQL supports recursion, you can write kept proced

What are the two statements regarding transaction, What are the two stateme...

What are the two statements regarding transaction? The two statements regarding transaction of the form are:- A)     Begin transaction B)      End transaction

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