accessing ORACLE BITMAP INDEX from c/c++/java program

[tkgayathri]

Hi,

I am working on my masters project and i would like to know if there is any way to access ORACLE bitmap index from a c/c++/java program??

More specifically, say I create a bitmap index on GENDER column, and i would like to retrieve the bitmap for GENDER = MALE? the answer should be something like 0100010. is there any way to do it from an end application??

I am currently simulating the bitmap index, but database index would be much optimized and could improve the performance of my algorithm significantly.

Please let me know.

Thanks in advance,
Gayathri TK

[tamilselvan]

You can't access the bitmap index blocks directly.
However, You can take a index block dump, and do your research.

Instead,
why don't you use a simple case statement?
case
when sex = 'MALE' then 1 else 0
end

Tamil

[tkgayathri]

I am trying to use bitmap index to determine dominance relationship among tuples.. It is a part of my masters' research project and hence i cannot reveal the details..

is it not possible in ANY COMMERCIAL DATABASE?????

Index block dump might not help in my case, as i want the database to do all the page-level or file level handling.. currently my program handles all that and wanted to know if there is any significant improvemnt if use database index.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

[slimdave]

OK, I'll bite ... what are "dominance relationships"

[tkgayathri]

say, we have three tuples:
A : 5 4 5
B: 3 3 5
C: 2 6 3


A dominates B but not C. A and C are incomparable.

so, A point dominates another point if it is as good or better in all dimensions and better in atleast one dimension.

[WilliamR]

is it not possible in ANY COMMERCIAL DATABASE?????

Index block dump might not help in my case, as i want the database to do all the page-level or file level handling.. currently my program handles all that and wanted to know if there is any significant improvemnt if use database index.

It is not possible in Oracle. Indexes are provided as a means to an end and not as a tool for you to retrieve a bitmap of the column's values for your own analysis, "dominance relationships" or otherwise.