Basic question on SQL database file structure

Question

I'm learning to use JDBC / databases . I'm using JBuilder3 professional and HSQL (aka Hypersonic). I've
been following the Java Tutorial on learning databases.
So far I've sucessfully
set up the drivers / URL etc
connected to the URL
created a database (COFFEEBREAK , as per the tutorial)
added tables
added data
queried the database
------------- with the tutorial , so far so good. --------
My only database experience prior to this was using Microsoft access, where tables, data, queries etc are all
stored in one file <myfile.mdb>
But with the example I am following, not one but 4 files have been created:
COFFEEBREAK.data
COFFEEBREAK.backup
COFFEEBREAK.properties
COFFEEBREAK.script
the COFFEEBREAK.data file, looks like this (one line) in a text editor:
padding="0" cell
After I added data , using SQL ,I was expecting this file to grow ("as data rows were added") , but no change at all - still just one line.
The file that DOES change is the COFFEEBREAK.script file. The SQL instructions get added to the end of the file eg :
<various lines>
INSERT INTO FILES VALUES('.\COFFEEBREAK.properties','COFFEEBREAK.properties')
INSERT INTO FILES VALUES('.\COFFEEBREAK.data','COFFEEBREAK.data')
INSERT INTO COFFEES VALUES('French_Roast',49,8.99,0,0)
INSERT INTO COFFEES VALUES('Espresso',150,9.99,0,0)
INSERT INTO COFFEES VALUES('Colombian_Decaf',101,8.99,0,0)
INSERT INTO COFFEES VALUES('French_Roast_Decaf',49,9.99,0,0)
I had been expecting a single file ( a la Microsoft access) , with the data in it and not readable in ascii form.
Am I misunderstanding the structure of SQL / DBMS files , or is this just a pecularity of Hypersonic ??
How do I ship a finished Java application where a database can be interrogated - will the *.script file have to be shipped too? If so , all the data is there , so how is the DBMS password protected?
I'm confused ! Thanks in advance
M.

Answer 1

Thanks again for the response trejkaz.
If the database were encrypted, you could just use an ordinary SQL query tool to dump >> all the records to a text file, which would be just as readable as the .script file!I had in mind if the user name was "Bill" with his (self selected ) password "hisPass" then the encryption key would be derived from a mangled version of those two bits of data (eg qazBillwsxhisPass or whatever). As long as the mangling mechanism was secret hopefully that would stop access through regular SQL query tools.
You're giving them the software to read the database anyway .. what's the difference if they >> read the info from the flat file, compared to reading it through a program? Through the program the data is view only (maybe with a limited subset of the fields for printing). With a flat file a potential competitor gets a jump start by having an electronic copy to bootleg.
Two examples occurred to me, one simple & one closer to what I'm trying to achieve
1) An example of a multiple choice database for students where the computer tells them how they have done - couldnt the students just look up the answers beforehand in the script file ?
2) (hypothetical example) Suppose I'm an expert on gardening & I want to set up 'electronic garden advice' Inc. I prepare a database, say about 3000 records. A typical record may have a layout based on :
question
question ref. number
region
garden style ref.
plant type main
plant type sub
disease-prone?
commercial/non commercial
criticality weighting %
substitute plants
recommended treatments
preferred season
etc . Most of us can imagine more possible fields
Anyone can pay the $ , download the database & set themselves up as an expert, maybe extracting sub sets of the data, depending on their customers needs.
But any printouts might only have say the question & question number so the whole database woulnd't be printed to a text file from my Java app . (The non printed fields are used within the Java app say for cross referencing alternatives etc) so the whole database couldn't be downloaded via a print routine to a text file.
At the moment my options seem to be:
1) different SQL database , where the data isnt stored in ascii readable form
2) Just use a csv text file instead of dbms & write my own encryption
3) Encrypt the HSQL script file, have the java app decrypt it to a temp scratch file & load that way . (the problem there seems that in a multitasking OS, the user just copies the scratch file)
4) somehow do the decryption after loading from an encrypted script file but before presenting the data on screen.
5) any other ideas you can recommend...?!
Apologies for the long response, my thoughts on this are still evolving
Thanks again
Mike2z