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Indexes

Indexes are primarily used to enhance database performance (though inappropriate use may result in slower performance). The key field(s) for the index are specified as column names. Multiple fields can be specified if the index method supports multicolumn indexes.
 

 

Table indexes are created within the Index Properties dialog window. In order to open the dialog you should either

 

open the table in Table Editor and the Indexes tab there;
press the Insert key or select the Add New Index... item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar)

or

select the table in the explorer tree and use the Create New Index popup menu item

or

select the table Indexes node or any index within the table in the explorer tree and use the Add New Index... popup menu item.

 

 

 

Table indexes are edited within the Index Properties dialog window. In order to open the dialog you should either

 

open the table in Table Editor and the Indexes tab there;
press the Enter key or select the Edit Index item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar)

or

select the index to edit in the explorer tree and use the Edit Index popup menu item.

 

 

You can change the name of the index using the Rename Index dialog. To open the dialog you should either

 

select the index to rename in the explorer tree;
select the Rename Index item from the popup menu

or

open the table in Table Editor and the Indexes tab there;
select the index to rename;
select the Rename Index item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar).

 

 

 

To drop the table index:

 

select the index to drop in the explorer tree;
select the Drop Index item from the popup menu

or

open the table in Table Editor and the Indexes tab there;
press the Delete key or select the Drop Index item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar)

 

and confirm dropping in the dialog window.

 

 

 

Use the Columns drop-down list to select a key field(s) for the index.

 

Primary key constraint

With this option checked this field becomes a compound primary key. It is useful in case the table has more than one primary key.

 

Unique Index

If checked, creates a unique index for the table, i.e. the database system ensures that no two rows of the specified table have the same values in the indexed columns. In this way, if two rows both contain the NULL value for all columns of an index, the two index values are not considered to be identical. If at least one column does not contain the NULL value, two rows that have the same value in all non-NULL columns are considered to be identical.

 

Constraint

Creates an index on a specified table as a table constraint.

 

Index

Creates an index on a specified table as database object.

 

Ignore duplicate key

Specifies the error response to duplicate key values in a multiple-row INSERT transaction on a unique clustered or unique nonclustered index. If checked, a warning message is issued and only the rows violating the unique index fail. If not checked, an error message is issued and the entire INSERT transaction is rolled back.

 

Index Filegroup

If a Filegroup is specified the index is stored in the named filegroup.

 

Fill Factor

Specifies the percentage that indicates how full the Database Engine should make the leaf level of each index page during index creation or change.

 

Pad Index

Specifies index padding. If checked, the percentage of free space portioned by Fill Factor is applied to the intermediate-level pages of the index.

 

Secondary Type

Specifies the type of secondary XML index.

 

Create as CLUSTERED

If checked, creates an index in which the logical order of the key values determines the physical order of the corresponding rows in a table.

 

Do not automatically recompute statistics

If checked, out-of-date statistics are not automatically recomputed.

 

Primary

Defines primary key.

 

Sort in TempDB

Specifies whether to store sort results in a TempDB. If checked, the intermediate sort results that are used to build the index are stored in a TempDB.Fill factor

Use the parameter to determine how full the index method will try to pack index pages. For B-trees, leaf pages are filled to this percentage during initial index build, and also when extending the index at the right (largest key values). If pages subsequently become completely full, they will be split, leading to gradual degradation in the index's efficiency. B-trees use a default fill factor of 90, but any value from 10 to 100 can be selected. If the table is static then fill factor 100 is best to minimize the index's physical size, but for heavily updated tables a smaller fill factor is better to minimize the need for page splits. The other index methods use fillfactor in different but roughly analogous ways; the default fillfactor varies between methods.



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