Neco 2020 Data Processing Question 4

Practice essay / theory question 4 from the 2020 Neco Data Processing examination. This question covers Types of Files and File Organization .

Neco 2020 Data Processing Essay / Theory
Topic: Types of Files and File Organization
Question 4 NECO • 2020 • DATA_PROCESSING • essay

A secondary school computer lab maintains student records. Each record contains: admission number (8 digits), name (up to 30 characters), date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY), and three subject scores (each 0‑100). The lab administrator is considering two ways to store the records on a hard disk: (i) sequential file organization, (ii) indexed sequential access method (ISAM) with a primary index on admission number.

Question Parts

( a )
Define sequential file organization and indexed sequential file organization.
( b )
Calculate the minimum disk space required to store 500 student records using each method, assuming: each character occupies 1 byte, each numeric field occupies 4 bytes, and an index entry consists of the admission number (8 bytes) plus a 4‑byte pointer. Ignore block overhead.
( c )
Based on the calculations and typical operations (searching for a student, adding a new record, deleting a record), recommend which organization is more suitable and justify your recommendation.
( d )
Explain one potential drawback of the recommended method.

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About This Question

This is Neco 2020 Data Processing Question 4. It is one of the essay questions from the 2020 Neco Data Processing examination.

The question covers Types of Files and File Organization .

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