EXALT contains some simple facilities for managing database files. A database file in EXALT is one that contains within itself information on the format and designation of the data it contains in a form readable by the EXALT SETUP statement.
Even a sequential file can be accessed using the database features of EXALT, allowing the data fields within it to be described within the file. Files providing some form of random access are required, however, for these features of EXALT to be used in a way that corresponds to the normal notion of a database.