what does the word "database" means?

well, what does the word "database" means?
i write data to a .txt file and then retrive the data store in the .txt file to my form....is it a database idea?

Database is an organized storage of data. If you keep data in the text file you have to come up with your own rules how to separate records and fields, which is already done by default in any database.

Iouri Boutchkine
[email protected]

A database is an organized structure of data but that does not necessarily mean it has to be a seperate program such as Microsoft Access or Oracle. In all actuality, the text file she is using is a database, by the true definiton of the word.

A database is simply a collection of data.

Hope that helps

What Iouri meant was, a database (such as Oracle and Access) makes things easier in the form of tables and joins. It is much harder to store data in the form of tables in a text file.