Actian Zen (formerly Btrieve, later named Pervasive PSQL until version 13) is an ACID-compliant, zero-DBA, embedded, nano-footprint, multi-model, Multi-Platform database management system (DBMS).

Zen runs on system platforms that include Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

[2] Zen is embedded by OEMs like Sage,[4] Maestro* Technologies, ABACUS Research AG (Switzerland), and Unikum (Sweden) supporting software applications that address the accounting, finance, retail, point-of-sale, entertainment, reservation system, and medical and pharmaceutical industry segments.

“Users include Novell, Microsoft, PeachTree Software, Fair Isaac, Disney World, Radio Shack, Cardiff and others.”[5] The accounting industry formed a large part of its market in 2007.

Calls to the MKDE are made grammatically with Btrieve API[7] rather than through the use of a query language; therefore, Zen does not have to parse the request.

The MKDE operates in complete database transactions and guarantees full ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability).

In the MKDE, records are stored in files which are roughly equivalent to the tables of a relational database engine.

Zen Control Center (CC) is the main utility that enables the user to create and manipulate databases and tables, to access servers and clients, to set configurations and properties, and to edit data.