ECMap stores application data in flat files or databases. Flat files, often referred to as ASCII or text files, are made up of records. Databases are made up of tables and can be either ODBC or non-ODBC compliant. In ECMap, databases are the equivalent of files, and tables are the equivalent of records.
In ECMap, directories, files, databases, records, and tables are separate data objects. This provides flexibility in defining file-based application data. One directory can have many files, one file can have many records, and one database can have many tables. On the other hand, a number of files can point to the same record, and many databases can include the same table.
To interpret application data, ECMap must know the file type. ECMap recognizes seven file types:
Delimited – flat files. Contains records with data in variable-width fields separated by special characters called delimiters.
HTML/XML
Keyed Dbase – databases. The only non-ODBC database that ECMap supports, but it is generally used only for maps created in earlier versions of ECMap.
NDO
Sequential-ASCII – flat files.
Sequential-EBCDIC – flat files.
SQL database – databases. Files reside in ODBC-compliant databases.
