B-tree index compression

You can compress detached B-tree indexes. You can also consolidate free space in the index and you can return free space at the end of the index to the dbspace. Before you compress an index, you can estimate the amount of disk space that you can save.

You can compress a detached B-tree index that is on a fragmented or non-fragmented table.

An index must have at least 2000 keys to be compressed.

You cannot compress the following types of indexes:
  • An index that is not a B-tree index
  • An attached B-tree index
  • Virtual B-tree indexes
  • An index that does not have at least 2000 keys

The compression operation compresses only the leaves (bottom level) of the index.

You cannot uncompress a compressed index. If you no longer need the compressed index, you can drop the index and then re-create it as an uncompressed index.

You can compress a new index when you create it by including the COMPRESSED option in the CREATE INDEX statement. You compress an existing index with an SQL administration API command.


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