Microsoft KB Archive/41594

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

File: Flat-File Manager Not a Relational Database
Last reviewed: October 27, 1994

Article ID: Q41594

Summary

Microsoft File is not a relational database; it is a flat-file database. Flat-file databases store the data in the data file in a flat, grid-like structure, with the records representing rows and the fields representing columns.

Relational databases are so named because they relate two or more fields together. Relational databases use fields common to several data files to maintain relationships among them. Many applications can maintain multiple relationships simultaneously.

For more information, query on the following words:

description and cabinet and records