Method for performing an external (disk-based) sort of a large data file which takes advantage of “presorted” data already present in the input
US8001134B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Grant date | Aug 16, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 5, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/9535
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method of externally sorting large files in a computer system is presented. The contents of the input file to be sorted are investigated in order to identify presorted portions thereof. The presorted portions of the input file as thus identified are incorporated as sorted strings into an external sortwork file, by rearranging directory information rather than physically transferring data. If merging is necessary, the data may then be merged by a procedure wherein blocks of sorted data to be merged are incorporated into an output (sortout) file, by rearranging directory information rather than physically transferring sorted blocks to the sortout file. As a result of the process, portions of sorted data incorporated into the sortout file may physically remain in external storage space allocated to the input file, and/or in external space allocated to sortwork, thereby eliminating or reducing reading and writing from disk during sort-merge processing.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.