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Oracle® Database SQL Reference
10g Release 1 (10.1)

Part Number B10759-01
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Using Extensible Indexing

This section provides examples of the steps entailed in a simple but realistic extensible indexing scenario.

Suppose you want to rank the salaries in the HR.employees table and then find those that rank between 10 and 20. You could use the DENSE_RANK function, as follows:

SELECT last_name, salary FROM
   (SELECT last_name, DENSE_RANK() OVER
      (ORDER BY salary DESC) rank_val, salary FROM employees)
   WHERE rank_val BETWEEN 10 AND 20;

See Also:

DENSE_RANK

This nested query is somewhat complex, and it requires a full scan of the employees table as well as a sort. An alternative would be to use extensible indexing to achieve the same goal. The resulting query will be simpler. The query will require only an index scan and a table access by rowid, and will therefore perform much more efficiently.

The first step is to create the implementation type position_im, including method headers for index definition, maintenance, and creation. (Most of the type body uses PL/SQL, which is shown in italics.)


See Also:


CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE position_im AS OBJECT
(
  curnum  NUMBER,
  howmany NUMBER,
  lower_bound NUMBER,  --lower_bound and upper_bound are used for the
  upper_bound NUMBER,  --index-based functional implementation.
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIGETINTERFACES(ifclist OUT SYS.ODCIOBJECTLIST) RETURN NUMBER, 
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXCREATE 
    (ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, parms VARCHAR2, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXTRUNCATE (ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO,
                                     env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXDROP(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, 
                                env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXINSERT(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID,
                                  newval NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXDELETE(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID, oldval NUMBER,
                                  env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXUPDATE(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID, oldval NUMBER,
                                  newval NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXSTART(SCTX IN OUT position_im, ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO,
                                 op SYS.ODCIPREDINFO, qi SYS.ODCIQUERYINFO,
                                 strt NUMBER, stop NUMBER, lower_pos NUMBER,
                                 upper_pos NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER,
  MEMBER FUNCTION ODCIINDEXFETCH(SELF IN OUT position_im, nrows NUMBER, 
                                 rids OUT SYS.ODCIRIDLIST, env SYS.ODCIEnv) 
                                 RETURN NUMBER,
  MEMBER FUNCTION ODCIINDEXCLOSE(env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER
);
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE BODY position_im 
IS
   STATIC FUNCTION ODCIGETINTERFACES(ifclist OUT SYS.ODCIOBJECTLIST) 
       RETURN NUMBER IS
BEGIN
    ifclist := SYS.ODCIOBJECTLIST(SYS.ODCIOBJECT('SYS','ODCIINDEX2'));
    RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END ODCIGETINTERFACES;
 
STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXCREATE (ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, parms VARCHAR2, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER
IS
stmt   VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
-- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'Create Table ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME ||
        '_STORAGE_TAB' || '(col_val, base_rowid, constraint pk PRIMARY KEY ' ||
        '(col_val, base_rowid)) ORGANIZATION INDEX AS SELECT ' ||
        ia.INDEXCOLS(1).COLNAME || ', ROWID FROM ' || 
        ia.INDEXCOLS(1).TABLESCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXCOLS(1).TABLENAME;

EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;
RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXDROP(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS
stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
 -- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'DROP TABLE ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME ||
'_STORAGE_TAB';

EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;
RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXTRUNCATE(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS
stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
-- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'TRUNCATE TABLE ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME || '_STORAGE_TAB';
 
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;
RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXINSERT(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID,
                       newval NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS
stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
 -- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'INSERT INTO ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME || 
       '_STORAGE_TAB  VALUES (''' || newval || ''' , ''' || rid || ''' )';

-- execute the statement
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;

RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;
 
STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXDELETE(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID, oldval NUMBER,
                               env SYS.ODCIEnv) 
  RETURN NUMBER IS
stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
 -- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'DELETE FROM ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME || 
       '_STORAGE_TAB WHERE col_val = ''' || oldval || ''' AND base_rowid = ''' || rid || '''';

-- execute the statement
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;

RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXUPDATE(ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO, rid ROWID, oldval NUMBER,
                       newval NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS 
stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
BEGIN
 -- construct the sql statement
stmt := 'UPDATE ' || ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME || 
       '_STORAGE_TAB SET col_val = ''' || newval || ''' WHERE f2 = '''|| rid ||'''';

-- execute the statement
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE stmt;

RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

STATIC FUNCTION ODCIINDEXSTART(SCTX IN OUT position_im, ia SYS.ODCIINDEXINFO,
                      op SYS.ODCIPREDINFO, qi SYS.ODCIQUERYINFO,
                      strt NUMBER, stop NUMBER, lower_pos NUMBER, 
                      upper_pos NUMBER, env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS

 rid              VARCHAR2(5072);
 storage_tab_name VARCHAR2(65);
 lower_bound_stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
 upper_bound_stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
 range_query_stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
 lower_bound      NUMBER;
 upper_bound      NUMBER;
 cnum             INTEGER;
 nrows            INTEGER;
  
BEGIN
 -- Take care of some error cases.
 -- The only predicates in which position operator can appear are
 --    op() = 1     OR
 --    op() = 0     OR
 --    op() between 0 and 1
 IF (((strt != 1) AND (strt != 0)) OR
     ((stop != 1) AND (stop != 0)) OR
     ((strt = 1) AND (stop = 0))) THEN
   RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 
                           'incorrect predicate for position_between operator');
 END IF;

 IF (lower_pos > upper_pos) THEN
   RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 'Upper Position must be greater than or
   equal to Lower Position');
 END IF;

 IF (lower_pos <= 0) THEN
   RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 'Both Positions must be greater than zero');
 END IF;

 storage_tab_name := ia.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || ia.INDEXNAME ||
                     '_STORAGE_TAB';
 upper_bound_stmt := 'Select MIN(col_val) FROM (Select /*+ INDEX_DESC(' ||
                     storage_tab_name || ') */ DISTINCT ' ||
                     'col_val FROM ' || storage_tab_name || ' ORDER BY ' ||
                     'col_val DESC) WHERE rownum <= ' || lower_pos;
 EXECUTE IMMEDIATE upper_bound_stmt INTO upper_bound;

 IF (lower_pos != upper_pos) THEN
   lower_bound_stmt := 'Select MIN(col_val) FROM (Select /*+ INDEX_DESC(' || 
                       storage_tab_name || ') */ DISTINCT ' ||
                       'col_val FROM ' || storage_tab_name ||
                       ' WHERE col_val < ' || upper_bound || ' ORDER BY ' ||
                       'col_val DESC) WHERE rownum <= ' || 
                       (upper_pos - lower_pos);
   EXECUTE IMMEDIATE lower_bound_stmt INTO lower_bound;
 ELSE
   lower_bound := upper_bound;
 END IF;

 IF (lower_bound IS NULL) THEN
   lower_bound := upper_bound;
 END IF;

 range_query_stmt := 'Select base_rowid FROM ' || storage_tab_name ||
                     ' WHERE col_val BETWEEN ' || lower_bound || ' AND ' ||
                     upper_bound;

 cnum := DBMS_SQL.OPEN_CURSOR;
 DBMS_SQL.PARSE(cnum, range_query_stmt, DBMS_SQL.NATIVE);

 -- set context as the cursor number
 SCTX := position_im(cnum, 0, 0, 0);

 -- return success
 RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

MEMBER FUNCTION ODCIINDEXFETCH(SELF IN OUT position_im, nrows NUMBER, 
                              rids OUT SYS.ODCIRIDLIST, env SYS.ODCIEnv)
RETURN NUMBER IS
 cnum    INTEGER;
 rid_tab DBMS_SQL.Varchar2_table;
 rlist   SYS.ODCIRIDLIST := SYS.ODCIRIDLIST();
 i       INTEGER;
 d       INTEGER;
BEGIN
 cnum := SELF.curnum;

 IF self.howmany = 0 THEN
   dbms_sql.define_array(cnum, 1, rid_tab, nrows, 1);
   d := DBMS_SQL.EXECUTE(cnum);
 END IF;

 d := DBMS_SQL.FETCH_ROWS(cnum);

 IF d = nrows THEN
   rlist.extend(d);
 ELSE
   rlist.extend(d+1);
 END IF;

 DBMS_SQL.COLUMN_VALUE(cnum, 1, rid_tab);

 for i in 1..d loop
   rlist(i) := rid_tab(i+SELF.howmany);
 end loop;

 SELF.howmany := SELF.howmany + d;
 rids := rlist;

 RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;
 
MEMBER FUNCTION ODCIINDEXCLOSE(env SYS.ODCIEnv) RETURN NUMBER IS 
 cnum INTEGER;
BEGIN
 cnum := SELF.curnum;
 DBMS_SQL.CLOSE_CURSOR(cnum);
 RETURN ODCICONST.SUCCESS;
END;

END;
/

The next step is to create the functional implementation function_for_position_between for the operator that will be associated with the indextype. (The PL/SQL blocks are shown in parentheses.)

This function is for use with an index-based function evaluation. Therefore, it takes an index context and scan context as parameters.


See Also:


CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION function_for_position_between
                           (col NUMBER, lower_pos NUMBER, upper_pos NUMBER,
                            indexctx IN SYS.ODCIIndexCtx, 
                            scanctx IN OUT position_im,
                            scanflg IN NUMBER)
RETURN NUMBER AS
  rid              ROWID;
  storage_tab_name VARCHAR2(65);
  lower_bound_stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
  upper_bound_stmt VARCHAR2(2000);
  col_val_stmt     VARCHAR2(2000);
  lower_bound      NUMBER;
  upper_bound      NUMBER;
  column_value     NUMBER;
BEGIN
IF (indexctx.IndexInfo IS NOT NULL) THEN
 storage_tab_name := indexctx.IndexInfo.INDEXSCHEMA || '.' || 
                     indexctx.IndexInfo.INDEXNAME || '_STORAGE_TAB';
 IF (scanctx IS NULL) THEN
   --This is the first call.  Open a cursor for future calls.
   --First, do some error checking
   IF (lower_pos > upper_pos) THEN
     RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 
       'Upper Position must be greater than or equal to Lower Position');
   END IF;
   IF (lower_pos <= 0) THEN
     RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 
       'Both Positions must be greater than zero');
   END IF;
   --Obtain the upper and lower value bounds for the range we're interested
   --in.
   upper_bound_stmt := 'Select MIN(col_val) FROM (Select /*+ INDEX_DESC(' ||
                     storage_tab_name || ') */ DISTINCT ' ||
                     'col_val FROM ' || storage_tab_name || ' ORDER BY ' ||
                     'col_val DESC) WHERE rownum <= ' || lower_pos;
   EXECUTE IMMEDIATE upper_bound_stmt INTO upper_bound;
   IF (lower_pos != upper_pos) THEN
     lower_bound_stmt := 'Select MIN(col_val) FROM (Select /*+ INDEX_DESC(' || 
                         storage_tab_name || ') */ DISTINCT ' ||
                         'col_val FROM ' || storage_tab_name ||
                         ' WHERE col_val < ' || upper_bound || ' ORDER BY ' ||
                         'col_val DESC) WHERE rownum <= ' || 
                         (upper_pos - lower_pos);
     EXECUTE IMMEDIATE lower_bound_stmt INTO lower_bound;
   ELSE
     lower_bound := upper_bound;
   END IF;
   IF (lower_bound IS NULL) THEN
     lower_bound := upper_bound;
   END IF;
   --Store the lower and upper bounds for future function invocations for
   --the positions.
   scanctx := position_im(0, 0, lower_bound, upper_bound);
 END IF;
 --Fetch the column value corresponding to the rowid, and see if it falls 
 --within the determined range.
 col_val_stmt := 'Select col_val FROM ' || storage_tab_name || 
                 ' WHERE base_rowid = ''' || indexctx.Rid || '''';
 EXECUTE IMMEDIATE col_val_stmt INTO column_value;
 IF (column_value <= scanctx.upper_bound AND 
     column_value >= scanctx.lower_bound AND
     scanflg = ODCICONST.RegularCall) THEN
   RETURN 1;
 ELSE
   RETURN 0;
 END IF;
ELSE
 RAISE_APPLICATION_ERROR(-20101, 'A column that has a domain index of' ||
                         'Position indextype must be the first argument');
END IF;
END;
/

Next, create the position_between operator, which uses the function_for_position_between function. The operator takes an indexed NUMBER column as the first argument, followed by a NUMBER lower and upper bound as the second and third arguments.


See Also:

CREATE OPERATOR

CREATE OR REPLACE OPERATOR position_between
   BINDING (NUMBER, NUMBER, NUMBER) RETURN NUMBER 
   WITH INDEX CONTEXT, SCAN CONTEXT position_im
   USING function_for_position_between;

In this CREATE OPERATOR statement, the WITH INDEX CONTEXT, SCAN CONTEXT position_im clause is included so that the index context and scan context are passed in to the functional evaluation, which is index based.

Now create the position_indextype indextype for the position_operator:


See Also:

CREATE INDEXTYPE

CREATE INDEXTYPE position_indextype
   FOR position_between(NUMBER, NUMBER, NUMBER)
   USING position_im;

The operator position_between uses an index-based functional implementation. Therefore, a domain index must be defined on the referenced column so that the index information can be passed into the functional evaluation. So the final step is to create the domain index salary_index using the position_indextype indextype:


See Also:

CREATE INDEX

CREATE INDEX salary_index ON employees(salary) 
   INDEXTYPE IS position_indextype;

Now you can use the position_between operator function to rewrite the original query as follows:

SELECT last_name, salary FROM employees
   WHERE position_between(salary, 10, 20)=1
   ORDER BY salary DESC;

LAST_NAME                     SALARY
------------------------- ----------
Tucker                         10000
King                           10000
Baer                           10000
Bloom                          10000
Fox                             9600
Bernstein                       9500
Sully                           9500
Greene                          9500
Hunold                          9000
Faviet                          9000
McEwen                          9000
Hall                            9000
Hutton                          8800
Taylor                          8600
Livingston                      8400
Gietz                           8300
Chen                            8200
Fripp                           8200
Weiss                           8000
Olsen                           8000
Smith                           8000
Kaufling                        7900