Join index hierarchy: An indexing structure for efficient navigation in object-oriented databases

A novel indexing structure-join index hierarchy-is proposed to handle the " gotos on disk" problem in object-oriented query processing. The method cons tructs a hierarchy of join indices and transforms a sequence of pointer cha sing operations into a simple search in an appropriate join index file, and thus accelerates navigation in object-oriented databases. The method exten ds the join index structure studied in relational and spatial databases, su pports both forward and backward navigations among objects and classes, and localizes update propagations in the hierarchy. Our performance study show s that partial join index hierarchy outperforms several other indexing mech anisms in object-oriented query processing.