Virtual path signature: An approach for flexible searching in object-oriented databases

Signature technique that is proposed for multikey indexing is used for flexible searching in the area of databases. In this article, we present a new signature technique called Virtual Path Signature for supporting query processing of aggregation hierarchy as a tree in object-oriented databases (OODBs). We derive cost formulas for its storage overhead as well as the retrieval cost. Comparing with the Tree Signature Scheme, the Virtual Path Signature shows significant improvement in the retrieval operation, especially when the target distance between the target class and the predicate class is high. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.