Linear indexing
Indexing is defined as the process of associating a key with data location. The basic field of a data index includes a search key and a pointer. The search key is set of attributes that is used to look up records from a file and the pointer stores the address of the data stored in memory. The index file consists of records, also known as index entries, of the form shown in Figure. 7.1:
Figure 7.1: Example of index entries
Indexing helps in organizing a large dataset. A database has the following generic properties:
The records are in a structured tabular format
Records are searched using single or a combination of keys
Aggregation queries such as sum, min, max, and average are used to summarize the dataset
Indexing in databases is used to enforce a uniqueness into records, which helps in speedy access of data. A database can have several filesystems associated with it by using indexing. This is shown in Figure 7.2 using a store database example. The store database consists of...
