transaction file

transaction file

[tran′sak·shən ‚fīl]

(computer science)

detail file

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

transaction file

A collection of transaction records. The data in transaction files is used to update the master files, which contain the data about the subjects of the organization (customers, employees, vendors, etc.). Transaction files also serve as audit trails and history for the organization. Where before they were transferred to offline storage after some period of time, they are increasingly being kept online for routine analyses. See data warehouse, transaction processing and information system.

Following are the kinds of fields that make up a typical transaction record in a business information system. There can be many more fields depending on the organization. The "key" fields below are the ones that are generally indexed for fast matching against the master record. The account number is usually the primary key, but name may also be used as a primary key. See master file for examples of typical master records.

EMPLOYEE PAYROLL RECORD
  key  Employee account number
       Today's date
       Hours worked

       ORDER RECORD
  key  Customer account number
       Today's date
       Quantity
       Product number

       PAYMENT RECORD
  key  Customer number
       Today's date
       Invoice number
       Amount paid
       Check number

       PURCHASE ORDER
  key  Purchase order number
       Today's date
       Department
       Authorizing agent
       Vendor account number
       Quantity
       Product number
       Due date
       Total cost

       WAREHOUSE RECEIPT
  key  Purchase order number
  key  Invoice number
       Today's date
       Quantity
       Product number

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