File Organization refers to the logical relationships among various records that constitute the

file, in context of means of identification and access to any specific record.

 Storing the files in certain order is called file Organization

Types of File Organizations

A. Sequential File Organization
Here, we store the records in a sequence, i.e one after other in the order in which they are
inserted into the tables

Insertion of new record

Pros and Cons of Sequential File Organization –

Pros –
 Fast and efficient method for huge amount of data.
 Simple design.
 Files can be easily stored in magnetic tapes i.e cheaper storage mechanism.
Cons –
 Time wastage as we cannot jump on a particular record that is required, but we have to
move in a sequential manner which takes our time.
B. Heap File Organization
Heap File Organization works with data blocks. In this method records are inserted at the end of
the file, into the data blocks. No Sorting or Ordering is required in this method. If a data block is
full, the new record is stored in some other block, Here, the other data block need not be the very
next data block, but it can be any block in the memory. It is the responsibility of DBMS to store
and manage the new records.

Pros and Cons of Heap File Organization –

Pros –
 Fetching and retrieving records is faster than sequential record but only in case of small
databases.
Cons –
 Problem of unused memory blocks.
 Inefficient for larger databases.

C. Hash organization
1. Bucket − A hash file stores data in bucket format. Bucket is considered a unit of storage. A
bucket typically stores one complete disk block, which in turn can store one or more records.
2. Hash Function - The hash function has a search key (an attribute/field on which searching is
done, e.g.: rollno) as its parameter/argument and generates the address of the record we are
looking for. One popular hash function is modulo-division (%) [Note: We use % to find
remainder of a division].
For example if a relation r has N no. of tuples then a hash function can be written as
ℎ (𝑥 ) = 𝑥 % 𝑁 (1)
In Eqn. (1), x is the attribute/field on the basis of which we looking for a record in disk. Thus for
sake of simplicity if we consider rollno to be a primary key of the relation r having information
of 60 no. of students then (1) can be written as
ℎ(𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑛𝑜 ) = 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑛𝑜%60 (2)
Thus a student with rollno 1 is placed on 1%60 = 1 th position in the bucket. The types of
hashing described as follows:
A. Static Hashing
In static hashing, when a search-key value is provided, the hash function always computes the
same address.

Concept of Bucket Overflow

The condition of bucket-overflow is known as collision. This is a fatal state for any static hash
function. The situation described as follows:
Consider we are using a hash function modulu-5 (that is obtaining the remainder when a number
divided by 5), also let us suppose the search key be roll of students, then what will be hash
output for roll nos 1, 6, 11 etc.
When roll = 1, 𝒉(𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐) = 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐%𝟓 = 𝟏%𝟓 = 𝟏 . Similarly, when
rollno=6,𝒉(𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐) = 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐%𝟓 = 𝟔%𝟓 = 𝟏, and for roll=11, 𝒉(𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐) = 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒐%𝟓 =
𝟏𝟏%𝟓 = 𝟏
Thus for roll = 1, 6, 11 the hash function is always returning 1, then this situation is called
collision because roll = 1, 6, and 11 will compete for 1th position in the bucket. This problem
can be resolved using the concept described as follows:
  CHAINING

 LINEAR PROBING
Linear Probing − An alternate to chaining is linear probing. When a hash function generates an
address at which data is already stored, the next free bucket is allocated to it. This mechanism is
also called Open Hashing. That is mathematically if hash (rollno) return a position where there
is already a value present, i.e., collision occurs then [slot for hash (rollno) % 5 is occupied in the
bucket, then we try (hash(rollno) + 1) % 5, If (hash(rollno) + 1) % 5 is also full, then we try
(hash(rollno) + 2) % 5, If (hash(rollno) + 2) % 5 is also full, then we try (hash(rollno) + 3) % 5
and so on.

 QUADRITIC PROBING
Quadratic Probing - Here, we look for i2th slot in ith iteration. Let hash (rollno) be the slot index
computed using hash function. If slot hash(x) % 5 is full, then we try (hash (rollno) + 1*1) % 5,
If (hash (rollno) + 1*1) % 5 is also full, then we try (hash (rollno) + 2*2) % 5, If (hash (rollno) +
2*2) % 5 is also full, then we try (hash (rollno) + 3*3) % 5
Dynamic Hashing
The problem with static hashing is that it is fixed or static and it does not expand or shrink
dynamically as the size of the database changes. Dynamic hashing provides a mechanism in
which data buckets are added and removed dynamically and on-demand. Dynamic hashing is
also known as extended hashing. However, hash function used in dynamic hashing, is made to
produce a large number of values and only a few are used initially.
D. B+ Tree File Organization
 B+ tree file organization is the advanced method of an indexed sequential access method. It
uses a tree-like structure to store records in File.
 It uses the same concept of key-index where the primary key is used to sort the records. For
each primary key, the value of the index is generated and mapped with the record.
 The B+ tree is similar to a binary search tree (BST), but it can have more than two children.
In this method, all the records are stored only at the leaf node. Intermediate nodes act as a
pointer to the leaf nodes. They do not contain any records.

The above B+ tree shows that:

 There is one root node of the tree, i.e., 25.
 There is an intermediary layer with nodes. They do not store the actual record. They have only
pointers to the leaf node.
 The nodes to the left of the root node contain the prior value of the root and nodes to the right
contain next value of the root, i.e., 15 and 30 respectively.
 There is only one leaf node which has only values, i.e., 10, 12, 17, 20, 24, 27 and 29.
 Searching for any record is easier as all the leaf nodes are balanced.
 In this method, searching any record can be traversed through the single path and accessed easily.
Pros of B+ tree file organization
 Searching becomes very easy as all the records are stored only in the leaf nodes and sorted the
sequential linked list.
 Traversing through the tree structure is easier and faster.
 The size of the B+ tree has no restrictions, so the number of records can increase or decrease and
the B+ tree structure can also grow or shrink.
 It is a balanced tree structure, and any insert/update/delete does not affect the performance of tree.
Cons of B+ tree file organization
 This method is inefficient for the static method
E. CLUSTER FILE ORGANIZATION
In this method two or more table which are frequently used to join and get the results are stored
in the same file called clusters. These files will have two or more tables in the same data block
and the key columns which map these tables are stored only once. This method hence reduces
the cost of searching for various records in different files. All the records are found at one place
and hence making search efficient.