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What is the purpose of indexing?

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    #1

    What is the purpose of indexing?

    Good day,

    Could you please explain to me the purpose or gain from using indexes. Till now I have not defined any indexes, that I know of.

    But since everyone else is using it, maybe I am missing something.

    Regards
    George
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

    "Overview of Indexes and Queries" in User Guide chapter on sorting and selecting records would be a good place to start.

    Comment

      #3
      Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

      Wikapedia says
      A database index is a data structure that improves the speed of operations in a table. Indices can be created using one or more columns, providing the basis for both rapid random lookups and efficient ordering of access to records. The disk space required to store the index is typically less than the storage of the table (since indices usually contain only the key-fields according to which the table is to be arranged, and excludes all the other details in the table), yielding the possibility to store indices into memory from tables that would not fit into it. In a relational database an index is a copy of part of a table. Some databases extend the power of indexing by allowing indices to be created on functions or expressions. For example, an index could be created on upper(last_name), which would only store the uppercase versions of the last_name field in the index. Another option sometimes supported is the use of "filtered" indices, where index entries are created only for those records that satisfy some conditional expression. A further aspect of flexibility is to permit indexing on user-defined functions, as well as expressions formed from an assortment of built-in functions. All of these indexing refinements are supported in Visual FoxPro, for example.[1]

      Indices may be defined as unique or non-unique. A unique index acts as a constraint on the table by preventing identical rows in the index and thus, the original columns.
      Jeff Ryder

      Comment

        #4
        Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

        Indexes provide a way to find data records instantly. Instead of piling through a bunch of data looking for a record that you need, you perform a search using an index and the results are usually returned instantly.

        David

        Comment

          #5
          Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

          Jeff said:
          A unique index acts as a constraint on the table by preventing identical rows in the index and thus, the original columns.
          This statement is true for SQL relational databases. It's not true in DBF tables or in native Alpha Five tables. While defining an index tag if you opt to set the include range to "unique" instead of "All", you will not prevent the entry of records with duplicate keys.

          Use Alpha's validation field rules to prevent the entry of records with duplicate keys. Or, more typically, use the auto-increment field rule to generate a unique key for each new record.

          Comment

            #6
            Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

            Tom,

            Thanks for catching that. I should have read the text I cut and pasted from Wikapedia closer before posting.

            Jeff
            Jeff Ryder

            Comment

              #7
              Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

              And now for the million dollar question....


              Will the use of indexes make my reports faster?


              Regards
              George

              Comment

                #8
                Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

                George,

                That all depends on how complex your reports are to start with.
                Regards
                Keith Hubert
                Alpha Guild Member
                London.
                KHDB Management Systems
                Skype = keith.hubert


                For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

                  George

                  I would take a look at Lightning Query Optimisation in the help file for guidance on how best to create indexes and queries for maximum speed. If you follow these guidelines you should see a speed improvement as Alpha will use LQO when generating a report whenever it can.

                  Bob Whitaker
                  Bob Whitaker

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

                    Hi George,


                    Originally posted by georgefurnel View Post
                    Will the use of indexes make my reports faster?
                    Indexes allow instant access to a record by a specific key (say for a find or lookup), as well as external lookups (like a Lookup function), or to a group of records with the same key (e.g. DBCount()), or to a range of records between 2 key values (when a filter is applied in a function that allows using LQO). The last one requires that the filter expression be specified in a way that Alpha can apply LQO to an index.

                    If your report returns info from all records, it's doubtful that the query part of your report can be speeded up. However there are other things that slow a report down as well.

                    Having the Lock tables checked off in the report properties (and this is the default), using summary values that are not running values, placing summary values at tops of groups as opposed to bottom, sorting/beaking groups differently from the sort of the entire report are just a few things that slow a report down.

                    Use of a set that is overly complex for the report's needs is another bad idea.

                    Sometimes it makes sense to copy the needed table records to a local drive and run the report there (this requires some fair amount of code)
                    Regards,

                    Ira J. Perlow
                    Computer Systems Design


                    CSDA A5 Products
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                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: What is the purpose of indexing?

                      Thanks to everyone for contributing. I'm running off to see what a diference I can make to the speed of the reports.
                      Regards

                      George

                      Comment

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