ADRIENNE WATT<\/b><\/p>\n
The way in which computers manage data<\/a> has come a long way over the last few decades. Today\u2019s users take for granted the many benefits found in a database system. However, it wasn\u2019t that long ago that computers relied on a much less elegant and costly approach to data management called the file-based system.<\/p>\n One way to keep information on a computer is to store it in permanent files. A company system has a number of application programs; each of them is designed to manipulate data files. These application programs have been written at the request of the users in the organization. New applications are added to the system as the need arises. The system just described is called the\u00a0file-based system<\/i>.<\/p>\n Consider a traditional banking system<\/a> that uses the file-based system<\/a> to manage the organization\u2019s data shown in Figure 1.1. As we can see, there are different departments in the bank. Each has its own applications that manage and manipulate different data files. For banking systems, the programs may be used to debit or credit an account, find the balance of an account, add a new mortgage loan and generate monthly statements.<\/p>\n Figure 1.1. Example of a file-based system used by banks to manage data.<\/i><\/p>\n Disadvantages of the file-based approach<\/strong><\/p>\n Using the file-based system to keep organizational information has a number of disadvantages. Listed below are five examples.<\/p>\nFile-based System<\/h3>\n