Flat file is static document, textual document that contains data which is unstructured and unorganized. Flat files form primitive database models. They do not have any relation with other flat files. Flat files have information stored in sequential manner. We could write information into a flat file, read information from flat file and send the flat file to others, share with others. A CSV sheet of an excel file forms an example of flat file. Each field in the database is separated by a comma also the data for each field is separated by a comma.

Accessing information from a flat file will need a sequential scan of the information we are looking for from the start of the file to the end of the file. This sequential scan of the entire file is time consuming process and there is no other structured or organized way to scan for a data from a flat file.

For example, consider a company ‘A’ stores their customer order information in a flat file and a company ‘B’ stores their customer order information in 2 tables in the relational database, Table one Customer table and Table two Order table. Whenever a customer places an order, Company A adds the customer details as well as order details in the same flat file as a new row each time while Company B adds the customer details in customer table and need not be added again and again and keeps a relation to all the orders by this customer in the order table.

When the customer has a change of address Company A has to change the details in all the records scanning through the flat file completely, but Company B has to just update the address field of the customer only in the customer table. This example explains how difficult is to manage a flat file database system.

Flat files were used in the initial period after the discovery of computers to store any data or information. With the invention of relational database management system, flat file based storage vanished and every one moved to RDBMS as they are powerful, structured and organized. However, flat files have become the best form to share a chunk of data from an RDBMS system with users who do not have access to the RDBMS system directly.

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