Record Structures

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To save space, we may use the delimiter ‘|’ to separate fields. However, we may lose track of the records when we write out customer information. For example,

Powerpuff Girls|715 N 40th St., #202J, Grand Forks, ND 58203|123456789|11/11/1980|4|Yu-Gi-Oh|P.O. Box 9015, Grand Forks, ND 58202|987654321|04/26/1970|2

Following are some of the most often used methods for organizing records:

• Make records a predictable number of bytes (fixed-length records).
  
  

  Powerpuff Girls	715 N 40th St., #202J, Grand Forks, ND 58203	123456789	11/11/1980	4
  Yu-Gi-Oh	P.O. Box 9015, Grand Forks, ND 58202	987654321	04/26/1970	2



• Make records a predictable number of fields.
  


• Begin each record with a length indicator.
  
  
  83Powerpuff Girls|715 N 40th St., #202J, Grand Forks, ND 58203|123456789|11/11/1980|4|70Yu-Gi-Oh|P.O. Box 9015, Grand Forks, ND 58202|987654321|04/26/1970|2|


• Use an index to keep track of record addresses.
  
  

  Powerpuff Girls|715 N 40th St., #202J, Grand Forks, ND 58203|123456789|11/11/1980|4|Yu-Gi-Oh|P.O. Box 9015, Grand Forks, ND 58202|987654321|04/26/1970|2|

  Record Address 1 0 2 84



• Place a delimiter (such as end-of-line) at the end of each record.
  
  
  Powerpuff Girls|715 N 40th St., #202J, Grand Forks, ND 58203|123456789|11/11/1980|4|
James Bond|P.O. Box 9015, Grand Forks, ND 58202|987654321|04/26/1970|2|