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Indexing Structures For Files

The document discusses different types of indexing structures used for files, including single-level indexes like primary, clustering and secondary indexes, and multi-level indexes like B-trees and B+-trees. It describes the properties and implementation of these indexes.

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Nadersamir Mostafa
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
18 views

Indexing Structures For Files

The document discusses different types of indexing structures used for files, including single-level indexes like primary, clustering and secondary indexes, and multi-level indexes like B-trees and B+-trees. It describes the properties and implementation of these indexes.

Uploaded by

Nadersamir Mostafa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 3

Indexing Structures for Files


Lecture Outline
• Types of Single-level Ordered Indexes
• Primary Indexes
• Clustering Indexes
• Secondary Indexes
• Multilevel Indexes
• Dynamic Multilevel Indexes Using B Trees and B+
Trees.
Indexes as Access Paths
• Indexes are auxiliary files that make it more
efficient to search for a record in the data file.
• The index is usually specified on one field of the file
(although it could be specified on several fields)
• One form of an index is a file of entries
<field value, pointer to record/ block>
which is ordered by field value
• A binary search on the index yields a pointer to the
file record
Indexes as Access Paths
• The index file usually occupies considerably less
disk blocks than the data file because its entries are
much smaller
• Indexes can be characterized as dense or sparse
• A dense index has an index entry for every search key
value (and hence every record) in the data file.
• A sparse (or non-dense) index, on the other hand, has
index entries for only some of the search values
Types of Single-Level Indexes
• Primary Index
• Defined on an ordered data file.
• The data file is ordered on a key field.
• Includes one index entry for each block in the data file;
the index entry has the key field value for the first record
in the block, which is called the block anchor.
• A similar scheme can use the last record in a block.
• A primary index is a non-dense (sparse) index, since it
includes an entry for each disk block of the data file and
the keys of its anchor record rather than for every
search value.
Primary index on the ordering key field
Types of Single-Level Indexes
• Clustering Index
• Defined on an ordered data file
• The data file is ordered on a non-key field unlike primary
index, which requires that the ordering field of the data
file have a distinct value for each record.
• Includes one index entry for each distinct value of the
field; the index entry points to the first data block that
contains records with that field value.
• It is another example of non-dense index where
Insertion and Deletion is relatively straightforward with
a clustering index.
A Clustering Index Example
• FIGURE 14.2
A clustering index on
the DEPTNUMBER
ordering non-key field
of an EMPLOYEE file.
Another Clustering Index Example
Types of Single-Level Indexes
• Secondary Index
• A secondary index provides a secondary means of accessing a
file for which some primary access already exists.
• The secondary index may be on a field which is a candidate
key and has a unique value in every record, or a non-key with
duplicate values.
• The index is an ordered file with two fields.
• The first field is of the same data type as some non-
ordering field of the data file that is an indexing field.
• The second field is either a block pointer or a record
pointer.
• There can be many secondary indexes (and hence,
indexing fields) for the same file.
• Includes one entry for each record in the data file; hence, it is
a dense index
Example of a Dense Secondary Index

Slide 14- 11
An Example of a Secondary Index
Properties of Index Types
Multi-Level Indexes
• Because a single-level index is an ordered file, we can create
a primary index to the index itself;
• In this case, the original index file is called the first-level index
and the index to the index is called the second-level index.
• We can repeat the process, creating a third, fourth, ..., top
level until all entries of the top-level fit in one disk block
• A multi-level index can be created for any type of first-level
index (primary, secondary, clustering) as long as the first-
level index consists of more than one disk block
A Two-level Primary Index
Multi-Level Indexes
• Such a multi-level index is a form of search tree
• However, insertion and deletion of new index entries is a
severe problem because every level of the index is an
ordered file.
A Node in a Search Tree with Pointers
to Subtrees below It
• FIGURE 14.8
FIGURE 14.9
A search tree of order p = 3.
Dynamic Multilevel Indexes Using B Trees
and B+ Trees
• An insertion into a node that is not full is quite
efficient
• If a node is full the insertion causes a split into two
nodes
• Splitting may propagate to other tree levels
• A deletion is quite efficient if a node does not
become less than half full
• If a deletion causes a node to become less than half
full, it must be merged with neighboring nodes
Difference between B-tree and B+-tree
• In a B Tree, pointers to data records exist at all
levels of the tree
• In a B+ Tree, all pointers to data records exists at
the leaf-level nodes
• A B+ Tree can have less levels (or higher capacity of
search values) than the corresponding B Tree
Dynamic Multilevel Indexes Using B Trees
and B+ Trees
• Most multi-level indexes use B Tree or B+ Tree data
structures because of the insertion and deletion
problem
• This leaves space in each tree node (disk block) to allow for
new index entries
• These data structures are variations of search trees that
allow efficient insertion and deletion of new search
values.
• In B Tree and B+ Tree data structures, each node
corresponds to a disk block
• Each node is kept between half-full and completely full
B Tree Structures
The Nodes of a B+ tree
• FIGURE 14.11 The nodes of a B+-tree
• (a) Internal node of a B+-tree with q –1 search values.
• (b) Leaf node of a B+-tree with q – 1 search values and q – 1 data pointers.

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