- THE RECORD ARE STORED CONTIGOUSLY REGARDLESS OF THEIR KEYS - THE SOLE WAY OF ACCESSING SERIAL SECONDS IS TO SEARCH THROUGH THE COMPLETE FILE STARTING WITH THE FIRST RECORD

1. Serial mode:

- The record are stored contigously regardless of their keys

- The sole way of accessing serial seconds is to search through the complete file

starting with the first record.

- It is sometimes possible to partition a serial files thus reducing the search time by

starting the search at the beginning of a known partition.

- A serial file is normally of a temporary nature awaiting sorting into a useful

sequence.