Data Transfer : Data Files

Files containing data are used to store data that is being transferred in to or out of a database. There are two common formats for these files. The two formats are very similar.

• Comma Separated Value Files (CSV) : Each record in the database is represented by a line of text. The fields in each record are separated by commas. Sometimes the field names are included in the first line of the file. Here is an example CSV file containing the names of two people.

Surname, Forename, Title
Smith, John, Mr
Bloggs, Joe, Mr

• Tab Separated Value Files : Tab separated value files are identical to comma separated value files except for one minor difference. This is that a <Tab> character is inserted between each field instead of a comma.

CSV and Tab Separated Value files can only store the data that exists in a database. They can not store other information such as any queries or reports that have been defined.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004