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Sparse Index

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Synonyms

Non-dense index

Definition

Consider a tree-based index on some numeric attribute A of a relation R. If an index record (of the form <search-key, pointer>) is created for some of the values that appear in attribute A, then this index is sparse.

Key Points

Tree-based indices are built on numeric attributes and maintain an order among the indexed search-key values. Hence, they provide efficient access to the records of a relation by attribute value. Consider for example an index built on attribute A of relation R. The leaf pages of the index contain index-records of the form <search-key, pointer>, where search-key corresponds to a value from the indexed attribute A and pointer points to the respective record in the indexed relation R with that attribute value. If not all distinct values that appear in R.A also appear in index records, this index is sparse, otherwise it is calleddense.

A sparse index needs a way to access even the relation records with values that do not directly...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Elmasri R, Navathe SB. Fundamentals of database systems. 6th ed. Reading: Addisson-Wesley; 2010.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Manolopoulos Y, Theodoridis Y, Tsotras VJ. Advanced database indexing. Dordecht: Kluwer; 2000.

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Silberschatz A, Korth H, Sudarshan S. Database system concepts. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2010.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencia da Computaçao, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Mirella M. Moro

  2. University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Vassilis J. Tsotras

Authors
  1. Mirella M. Moro
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  2. Vassilis J. Tsotras
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mirella M. Moro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. University of California-Riverside, Riverside, MA, USA

    Vassilis J. Tsotras

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Moro, M.M., Tsotras, V.J. (2018). Sparse Index. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_759

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