The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 11, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 21, 1996
Gary Hallmark, San Carlos, CA (US);
Robert J Jenkins, Foster City, CA (US);
Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for executing queries on a set of data that has been partitioned into a plurality of partitions based on a partitioning key is provided. A query is received that includes a reference to a second key. The second key is not part of the partitioning key but has a predetermined correlation with the partitioning key. This second key is referred to as an overlapping partition key. A subset of the plurality of partitions is selected to be scanned based on the reference to the second key and the predetermined correlation with the partitioning key. The query is then executed by scanning only those partitions of the plurality of partitions that belong to the subset of partitions. The overlapping partition key provides for reduced query execution time even when the partitioning key is not directly involved in the query. Specifically, the overlapping partition key permits a partial table scan in situations that would require a fill table scan with partitioning alone.