Composite partitioning keys  Indexes and partitions

Chapter 10: Partitioning Tables and Indexes

Partition pruning

Semantics-based partitioning can allow Adaptive Server to eliminate certain partitions when performing a search. Range-based partitions, for example, contain rows whose partitioning keys are discrete value sets. When a query predicate—a where clause—is based on those partitioning keys, Adaptive Server can quickly ascertain whether rows in a particular partition can satisfy the query. This behavior is called partition pruning, or partition elimination, and it can save considerable time and resources during execution.

For example, suppose the roysched table in pubs2 is partitioned on hirange and royalty—see “Composite partitioning keys”. Adaptive Server can use partitioning pruning on this query:

select avg(royalty) from roysched
where hirange <= 10000 and royalty < 9

The partition pruning process identifies p1 and p2 as the only partitions to qualify for this query. Thus, the p3 partition need not be scanned, and Adaptive Server can return query results more efficiently because it needs to scan only p1 and p2.

In these examples, Adaptive Server does not use partition pruning:

select * from roysched
where hirange != 5000


select * from roysched
where royalty*0.15 >= 45

NoteIn serial execution mode, partition pruning applies only to scans, inserts, deletes, and updates; partition pruning does not apply to other operators. In parallel execution mode, partition pruning applies to all operators.





Copyright © 2005. Sybase Inc. All rights reserved. Indexes and partitions

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