Data Indexing

Herbert A. Evans
Purposes of Data Indexing

What is Data Indexing?

Why is it important?

Concept of File Systems

Stores and organizes data into computer
files.

Makes it easier to find and access data at
any given time.

Database Management Systems

The file system that manages a database.

Database - is an organized collection of
logically related data.



How DBMS Accesses Data?
The operations read, modify, update, and
delete are used to access data from
database.

DBMS must first transfer the data
temporarily to a buffer in main memory.

Data is then transferred between disk and
main memory into units called blocks.
Time Factors

The transferring of data into blocks is a
very slow operation.

Accessing data is determined by the
physical storage device being used.


Physical Storage Devices
Random Access Memory Fastest to
access memory, but most expensive.

Direct Access Memory In between for
accessing memory and cost

Sequential Access Memory Slowest to
access memory, and least expensive.
More Time Factors

Querying data out of a database requires
more time.

DBMS must search among the blocks of
the database file to look for matching
tuples.

Purpose of Data Indexing

It is a data structure that is added to a file
to provide faster access to the data.

It reduces the number of blocks that the
DBMS has to check.
Properties of Data Index

It contains a search key and a pointer.

Search key - an attribute or set of attributes that
is used to look up the records in a file.

Pointer - contains the address of where the data
is stored in memory.

It can be compared to the card catalog system
used in public libraries of the past.

Two Types of Indices

Ordered index (Primary index or clustering
index) which is used to access data
sorted by order of values.

Hash index (secondary index or non-
clustering index ) - used to access data
that is distributed uniformly across a range
of buckets.
Ordered Index


Hash Index


Definition of Bucket

Bucket - another form of a storage unit
that can store one or more records of
information.

Buckets are used if the search key value
cannot form a candidate key, or if the file
is not stored in search key order.
Choosing Indexing Technique
Five Factors involved when choosing the
indexing technique:
access type
access time
insertion time
deletion time
space overhead
Indexing Definitions
Access type is the type of access being used.
Access time - time required to locate the data.
Insertion time - time required to insert the new
data.
Deletion time - time required to delete the data.
Space overhead - the additional space occupied
by the added data structure.
Types of Ordered Indices

Dense index - an index record appears for
every search-key value in the file.

Sparse index - an index record that
appears for only some of the values in the
file.
Dense Index


Dense Index Insertion
if the search key value does not appear in the index, the
new record is inserted to an appropriate position

if the index record stores pointers to all records with the
same search-key value, a pointer is added to the new
record to the index record

if the index record stores a pointer to only the first record
with the same search-key value, the record being
inserted is placed right after the other records with the
same search-key values.
Dense Index Deletion
if the deleted record was the only record with its unique
search-key value, then it is simply deleted

if the index record stores pointers to all records with the
same search-key value, delete the point to the deleted
record from the index record.

If the index record stores a pointer to only the first record
with the same search-key value, and if the deleted
record was the first record, update the index record to
point to the next record.
Sparse Index


Sparse Index Insertion
first the index is assumed to be storing an
entry of each block of the file.

if no new block is created, no change is
made to the index.

if a new block is created, the first search-
key value in the new block is added to the
index.
Sparse Index Deletion
if the deleted record was the only record with its search
key, the corresponding index record is replaced with an
index record for the next search-key value

if the next search-key value already has an index entry,
then the index record is deleted instead of being
replaced;

if the record being deleted is one of the many records
with the same search-key value, and the index record is
pointing particularly to it, the index record pointing to the
next record with the same search-key value is updated
as the reference instead.
Index Choice
Dense index requires more space overhead and
more memory.

Data can be accessed in a shorter time using
Dense Index.

It is preferable to use a dense index when the
file is using a secondary index, or when the
index file is small compared to the size of the
memory.
Choosing Multi-Level Index
In some cases an index may be too large for efficient
processing.

In that case use multi-level indexing.

In multi-level indexing, the primary index is treated as a
sequence file and sparse index is created on it.

The outer index is a sparse index of the primary index
whereas the inner index is the primary index.
Multi-Level Index


B-Tree Index

B-tree is the most commonly used data
structures for indexing.

It is fully dynamic, that is it can grow and
shrink.
Three Types B-Tree Nodes
Root node - contains node pointers to
branch nodes.
Branch node - contains pointers to leaf
nodes or other branch nodes.
Leaf node - contains index items and
horizontal pointers to other leaf nodes.

Full B-Tree Structure


B-Tree Insertion

First the DBMS looks up the search key value

if the search key value exists in a leaf node, then a file is added to
the record and a bucket pointer if necessary

if a search-key value does not exist, then a new record is inserted
into the file and a new bucket (if necessary) are added

if there is no search key value and there is no room in the node,
then the node is split. In this case, the two resulting leaves are
adjusted to a new greatest and least search-key value. After a split,
a new node is inserted to the parent. The process of splitting
repeats when it gets full.
B-Tree Root Node
Insertion into B-Tree
B-Tree Structure
This process results in a four-level tree,
with one root node, two branch levels, and
one leaf level.

The B-tree structure can continue to grow
in this way to a maximum of 20 levels.
Branch Node Example
Branch Nodes Pointing to Leaf
Nodes
The first item in the left branch node contains the same
key value as the largest item in the leftmost leaf node
and a node pointer to it.

The second item contains the largest item in the next
leaf node and a node pointer to it. The third item in the
branch node contains only a pointer to the next higher
leaf node.

Depending on the index growth, this third item can
contain the actual key value in addition to the pointer at a
later point during the lifespan of the index.
B-Tree Deletion
the DBMS first look up the record and removes it from
file

if no bucket is associated with its search-key value or is
empty, the search-key value is removed

if there are too few pointers in a node, the pointers is
then transferred to a sibling node, and it is delete
thereafter

if transferring pointers gives a node to many pointers, the
pointers are redistributed.
Insertion/Deletion Examples
References
Dr. Lees Data Indexing Lecture.

A. Silberschatz, H.F. Korth, S. Sudarshan: Database
System Concepts, 5th Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Umanath, Narayan S. Scamell, Richard W, Data
Modeling and Database Design: Thomson, 2007.

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