Briefly explain any four characteristics database system that distinguishes the database approach with file-based approach.

There are a number of characteristics that distinguish the database approach with the file-based approach. Self-Describing Nature of a Database System A database system contains not only the database itself but also the descriptions of data structure and constraints (meta-data). This information is used by the DBMS software or database users if needed. This separation makes a database system totally different from the traditional file-based system in which the data definition is a part of application programs. Insulation between Program and Data In the file based system, the structure of the data files is defined in the application programs so if a user wants to change the structure of a file, all the programs that access that file might need to be changed as well. On the other hand, in the database approach, the data structure is stored in the system catalog not in the programs. Therefore, one change is all that's needed. Support multiple views of data A view is a subset of the database which is defined and dedicated for particular users of the system. Multiple users in the system might have different views of the system. Each view might contain only the data of interest to a user or a group of users. No such view is present in the file based system. Sharing of data and Multiuser system A multiuser database system must allow multiple users access to the database at the same time. As a result, the multiuser DBMS must have concurrency control strategies to ensure several users access to the same data item at the same time, and to do so in a manner that the data will always be correct – data integrity. This does not happen with the file based system. Data Sharing The integration of the whole data in an organization leads to the ability to produce more information from a given amount of data, which is very difficult to achieve in the file based system.