Database file formats

Formats that hold a database or a table in files: the tables, their indexes and every record, laid out so a program can find the rows it needs without reading the rest. Some are whole databases in one file, some are single tables, and some are text that rebuilds a database when it is run.

Formats

.DBF

dBASE table

One dBASE table: a header, field list, then fixed-length text records.

.DUCKDB

DuckDB database file

An analytical SQL database in one file, its tables stored by column.

.MDB

Microsoft Access database

Microsoft Access tables, queries and forms in one file, on Jet or ACE.

.PARQUET

Apache Parquet

Large tables stored column by column, compressed, with metadata at the end.

.SQL

SQL database dump

A database backup as SQL text: CREATE TABLE, then INSERT for every row.

.SQLITE

SQLite 2 database file

The older SQLite database file, from before 2004; SQLite 3 cannot open it.

.SQLITE

SQLite 3 database file

A whole SQL database in one file, in pages of B-trees.