Glossary

samelist

• Refers to a previously qualified list of Omnidex ids. Used in multiple qualifies to refine queries.

samelist operators

• AND, NOT, AND NOT (AND_NOT in oaqualify)
• Included in a QUALIFY statements WHERE clause preceding the criteria predicate
• Specified as an option is OAQUALIFY

scalability

• The ability of a system to easily adapt to support larger or smaller volumes of data and more or fewer users.

schema

• Database layout. A detailed and possibly graphical representation of a database's design.

scrubbing

• The process of cleaning data to make it consistent in preparation for data warehouse retrieval.

search item

• Primary key - SI
• A field within a table that is used for calculated access in parent tables, and chained access in child tables

select item

• An item in a SQL SELECT statement's select-list. See the SQL Reference for details on valid select-list items.

select-list

• A comma separated list of items to be returned to the application in a SQL SELECT statement. See the SQL Reference for details on valid select-list items.

sequential read

• A search of a file or database performed by comparing successive records with search criteria.

serial read

• A sequential read of records in a data set that is performed one block of records at a time.

server

• A hardware component dedicated to a specific purpose.
• The part of the client/server architecture which refers to the host CPU where the database and other corporate information is stored.

SI domain

• An affiliation of one parent table, and one or more child tables, linked at installation, whose keyword values are all indexed in the same indexes. See also: search item.

snowflake schema

• A type of database design used in data warehousing involving multiple tables in a hierarchy within a given dimension i.e., data is organized into parent tables with branches to child tables and so-called grandparent tables (snow flakes).
• When the schema is displayed graphically, it has the appearance of a snow flake.

soundex

• ;SX
• an indexing option which allows data retrieval based on phonetic arguments, useful for location of data with keys that are difficult to spell or that can be spelled in several ways.

source

• In Multifind usage, refers to the item, set, or database that is supplying the data values used as search arguments.
• Textual, uncompiled version of an Omnidex Environment Catalog.
• Textual, uncompiled version of a computer program.

special characters

• A character that is parsed by Omnidex before being indexed
• A character that is interpreted by Omnidex to have special meaning

SQL

• Structured Query Language
• A standardized computer language used to add, modify, delete, and retrieve information from a database

star schema

• A type of database design used in data warehousing composed of a large sized fact table combined with numerous dimension tables, i.e., parent tables branched to child tables.

summary table

• A table containing pre-summarized data, typically used in ROLAP data warehousing, used to perform fast look-ups against specific, predictable combinations of criteria.
• Omnidex aggregation indexes eliminate the need for summary tables.

superview

• The technique of flatening out multiple tables into a single table to facilitate very high-speed Omnidex access.

synchronous

• A process that is executed in conjunction with another process
• In Omnidex, index updates that are update at the same time that the data updates occur.

System Data Source

• Windows only. An ODBC data source that is stored in the System's registry. An Omnidex data source can be a System Data Source.

table

• a collection of data typically organized in two or more dimensions, usually by row and column (or field).

table cardinality

• The number of rows in a table. See also: column cardinality, cardinality.

table scan

• an exhaustive read of all rows of data in a table, comparing search criteria against the respective columns, and which can involve significant amounts of I/O activity.

target

• In Multifind, refers to the domain, data set, or field in which a list of keyword values is to be further qualified.
• Regarding DISC utilities, refers to a data entity on which a specified operation is to be performed.

TCP Sockets

• one of the transport methods used by OMNIDEX Client for transferring data packets between the client and server, used when clients access the server through a direct connection, as through a LAN.

TCP/IP

• Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol; the de facto standard Ethernet protocol used for inter-networks in the UNIX environment.

textual data

• data containing words, phrases, and sentences (as opposed to numeric or other fixed data).

thick client

• a client program or device which contains most of the presentation layer and program logic. See also: tier, thin client.

thin client

• a simple client program or device which relies on the server for most of the function of the system, are easy to maintain and deploy since program modifications are made only in a centralized location, and installation of updates are not required on each client seat. See also: tier, thick client.

tidmap

• tuple identification map; in OMNIDEX, six digits separated by commas that define the translation of native database row IDs to OMNIDEX IDs.
• As of version 4.0, tidmaps are no longer used.

tier

• a level describing client/server architecture, where a two-tier model is a thick client model (e.g., a PC running a user interface as client, combined with a host/server on which a database and the application resides). A three-tier model is a thin client model (e.g., a PC with a user interface as a client, a separate server contains a database, and a third server contains an application program).

TR - Transparency

• in OMNIDEX, the correlation of native database row IDs with OMNIDEX's internal equivalent through the use of a cross reference file.

TRR - Transparency / Row Number

• Transparency with Record Number; a variant of TR; used on index installation on flat file databases, relational databases with composite search items, and when it is necessary to intersect aggregation indexes with MDK qualifications in a TR parent table.

transformation

• as a data warehouse term, the data conversion process involved in transferring data from a legacy system to a data warehouse system.

transport

• a setting in the data source file that shows which transport method to use. See TCP Sockets and WRQ PPL.

trigger

• a process or set of instructions that is activated automatically within a DBMS based on certain events. For instance, an update trigger would automatically run everytime a database table was updated.
• used by ODXAIM to update the Omnidex indexes.

TSE

• Technical Services Engineer; a representative of DISC who provides OMNIDEX troubleshooting expertise, and who provides on-line and telephone support to customers. TSEs do not address database design issues; PSEs provide database design and OMNIDEX implementation consulting services.

tuning

• A process effected on a database by the database administrator (DBA) in an effort to improve the speed and efficiency of data retrievals and data throughput. Also known as database tuning.

tuple

• A set of field, or column, values in a data file or database table; (2) a structured collection of information or data treated as a unit; also known as a row or record.

unique key

• any column (preferably indexed) that uniquely identifies individual rows in a parent table.

unlinked child tables

• child tables that are not prejoined to a parent table during OMNIDEX installation.

upper case

• Alphabetic characters in capital form. ie, A is upper case, a is lower case. See also: lower case.

upshift

• Shift all alphabetic character to upper case.

user DSN

• An ODBC user level machine registry data source object.

wall time

• elapsed time as clock time or real time, as contrasted with CPU or system resource time.

well-behaved rowids

• unique record designations in a database table or set of data that are neatly sequential; for example, the first record is identified as row ID 1, the second record in the series is row ID 2, the third record is numbered 3, and so on. See record number, row ID, and ill-behaved row IDs.

wild card

• any character that is used to imply a partial search argument. The at sign ( @ ) is used as a wildcard in generic retrievals.

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