The term “flat file database” also more broadly describes data repositories that can easily include a plaintext format-NoSQL databases that store unstructured data, Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Word documents, JSON documents, etc. Each order would simply refer to the corresponding entry in the customer table, rather than duplicating the customer information for every order (as is necessary with a flat file database). A relational database would contain multiple tables: one for the order details and one for the customer's information.The columns of the table would include the order ID and order details, as well as the customer’s personal information (name, address, etc.). A flat file database used for this purpose would only contain a single table, with each record in the table describing an individual order.To illustrate the difference between flat file databases and relational databases, consider an e-commerce company that needs to store information about its customers’ orders:

This distinction makes flat file databases different from relational databases (also known as SQL databases), which typically use multiple tables to store information. How Integrate.io Can Help with Flat FilesĪ flat file is one that stores a representation of a simple database, which is known as a flat file database. Flat files typically comprise text files with no markup, representing relational data by separating it with a comma or other delimiter.

When Should You Use a Flat File Database?.

‘Hey, they sent me two versions of the new sled,” she said, ‘Does that mean I get mine back?’” Rheaume said. A few years ago, he contacted Confer Plastics to ask if they still made the sled because he wanted his young daughters to have their own.Ĭonfer remembered the inquiry when he revived the product, and recently shipped Rheaume two sleds fresh off the assembly line at no charge. Rheaume, 45, loved the sled so much that he stole his sister’s when his went missing and kept it all these years. “Both my sister and I have great memories and love of these sleds,” he said. He recalled he and his sister barreling down hills on their Sno-Toboggans near their childhood home in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The sleds of the 1970s didn’t have those. The only notable difference is a small carve out in the mold for a required warning label. It still measures 39 inches in length and 16 inches in width and its handles, rope holes, and grooves are all in the same places. The toboggan coming off the line at Confer Plastics now is almost a carbon copy of the original.

Surplus flat files used