Outline what is meant by direct access as a method of file access.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2024). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] MP1 Direct access allows a record to be found in a file without other records being read.
2. [2] MP2 Records are found by using the key field of the target record // the location of the record is found using a hashing algorithm.
3. [2] MP1 In sequential files, an index of all key fields is kept
4. [2] MP2 The index is searched for the address of the file location where the target record is stored.
5. [2] MP1 A hashing algorithm is used on the key field of the record
6. [2] MP2 ... to calculate the address of the memory location where the target record is expected to be stored.
7. [2] MP3 Method to find a record if it is not at the expected location e.g. linear probing, search overflow area etc.