Unit 2
Files and Databases



1. Method of access which starts at the beginning of a file and examines each item in turn is known as:
random
immediate
serial
direct

2. When placed in decreasing order of size, the correct order for the terms record, file, field is:
record > field > file
file > record > field
file > field > record
record > file > field

3. Which of the following applications is most likely to involve serial access files:
criminal records
seat reservations
payroll
hospital patient records

4. The term record used in connection with files refers to:
an organised collection of fields
a field
a collection of files
a disk based file

5. Grandfather, father, son files are:
three generations of computer
three types of magnetic tape
three examples of magnetic storage
recent copies of a file, kept for security purposes

6. Sales figures for an organisation stored in a master file, would be updated by using:
a transaction file
a trace table
a sort program
a verification process

7. Which is the smallest number of files involved in merging two serial files:
1
2
3
4

8. Meaningless total calculated purely for validation purposes:
hash total
checksum
batch total
control total

9. A point-of-sale terminal records transactions (sales and returns) on a transaction file which is processed each night after the store has closed. Which of the following items of data will not be stored on a transaction record?
transaction type
price of item
quantity sold or returned
item code

10. Records on a random file are stored:
at an address calculated by applying an algorithm to the key field
in the order in which they are input
anywhere there is room on the file
at an address generated at random


Score =

Correct answers: