Database Files

Database files allow information to be permanently stored on the system. A database file is subdivided into groups of records called members. There are two types of database files: physical files and logical files.

A physical file is a file that contains data records (similar to disk files on other systems).

A logical file is a database file through which data from one or more physical files can be accessed. The format and organization of this data is different from that of the data in the physical file(s). Each logical file can define a different access path (index) for the data in the physical file(s), and can exclude and reorder the fields defined in the physical file(s).