reading files in java

O.k., here's the deal. I'm working on a project for a class I have. We're implementing threads using Java. The project calls for us tosimulate process scheduling and we have to read information from a file. The information will contain this information, the type, an id#, the process time. It seems easiest to read this from a database with each field containing one item. It would be very difficult to read from a string. So, I understand that I have to use a sequential file. Now, how do I construct one. Can I just create a file in Excel and read that in or must I creat a database? Does anyone know what type of file I should create? Thank you very much.

Dawn