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How Information Is Organized in a Computer

Information is organized in a computer in much the same way written information is organized in a file cabinet:

• Collections of related information, called files, are analogous to file folders. For example, most companies have personnel files.
• Each file has subdivisions called records, which are analogous to the papers in a folder. For example, the personnel file contains employee records.
• Each record contains basic units of data called fields, which are analogous to related fragments of information contained on the papers in a folder. For example, an employee record contains a name field.

The figure below illustrates the relationships between files, records, and fields:

┌───────────┐
│  S - V    │
│           └──────────────────────────────────┐
│                                              │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┴─┐
│ │   SAER,          #2210                       │  ◄----- EMPLOYEE
│ │                                              │         RECORD
│ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┴─┐
│ │ │   SAND, B     #3215                          │ ◄-----─┐
│ │ │                                              │        ├─── FIELDS IN
│ │ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┴─┐      │    THE RECORD
│ │ │ │   SMITH, CAROL  #1502                        │ ◄---─┘
│ │ │ │   429 APPLE ST.                              │
│ │ │ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┴─┐        IN A FILE CABINET
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │         E M P L O Y E E   F I L E            │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
│ │ │ │ │                                              │
└─┤ │ │ │                                              │
  │ │ │ │                                              │
  └─┤ │ │                                              │
    │ │ │                                              │
    └─┤ │                                              │
      │ │                                              │
      └─┤                                              │
        │                                              │
        └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

EMPLOYEE FILE

EMPLOYEE RECORD

┌────────┬────────┬────────┬───────────────────┐
│ CAROL  │ SMITH  │ #1502  │   429 APPLE ST.   │                  IN A COMPUTER
└────────┴────────┴────────┴───────────────────┘
   ▲       ▲        ▲            ▲
   │       │        │            │
   └───────┴──────┬─┴────────────┘
                  │
                  │
                  │
                  │

         FIELDS IN THE RECORD