Question

Describe the way that you use a temporary file in a program that deletes a record from a sequential file.

Short answer

Question: Describe the process of using a temporary file in a program to delete a record from a sequential file. Answer: To delete a record from a sequential file using a temporary file, follow these steps: 1. Open the original sequential file in read mode. 2. Create a temporary file to write the modified data. 3. Read the records from the input file one by one. 4. Compare each record with the record to delete. 5. If there is no match, write the record to the temporary file. 6. Proceed to the next record and repeat steps 3-5. 7. Close both files after processing all records. 8. Delete the original file and rename the temporary file to the same name as the original. The temporary file now becomes the new sequential file without the deleted record.

Step-by-step solution

Open the sequential file to read

First, open the original sequential file in read mode (typically called the input file). This is the file from which we want to delete a record.

Create a temporary file

Next, create a temporary file (also called the output file) to write the modified data from the original file. This file will temporarily store all the records from the input file, except for the record we want to delete.

Read the record from the input file.

Read the records from the input file one by one. For each record read, perform a comparison check in the next step.

Compare each record with the record to delete

Compare the information in the current record (read in Step 3) with the information in the record that you want to delete. If the information does not match, proceed to Step 5. If it matches, skip to Step 6.

Write the record to the temporary file

If the record does not match the record we want to delete, write the current record to the temporary (output) file.

Proceed to the next record

Move on to the next record in the input file and repeat Steps 3-5 until all records have been read and processed.

Close both files

After all records have been read and processed, close both the input (original) file and the temporary (output) file.

Delete the original file and rename the temporary file

Delete the original file, as it still contains the record to be deleted. Then, rename the temporary file to the same name as the original file. The temporary file now becomes the new sequential file without the deleted record.